Posted on 07/28/2012 4:02:37 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Mitt Romney and Barack Obama are currently fighting over who is the more patriotic. Obama slams Romney for having outsourced jobs to China during his Bain Capital days. Romney punches back by labeling Obama Outsourcer in Chief. The latest is that both John Boehner and Harry Reid are voicing outrage over Americas made-in-China Olympic uniforms. Burn them! thunders Reid.
Republicans and Democrats strangely agree that outsourcing is unpatriotic, and that the moral and patriotic thing to do is to Hire American and Buy American.
Well, no. Not in a thousand years. The fear of outsourcing and international trade is economic nonsense and moral blindness. More than that: this anti-profit attitude is un-American.
Despite the ongoing Europeanization of America, America still symbolizes the land of freedom, entrepreneurship, profit-making, above all, individualism.
But collectivism is the premise of Hire/Buy American: we are to view ourselves and others not as individuals, but as units of a nation. Businesses are urged to pay more in labor costs, simply to hire workers who are American; consumers are urged to forgo Walmarts low prices, pay more, simply because the pricier goods were made by our guys. This is not rational patriotism, it is not Americanism, it's primitive tribalism.
American individualism means making buying decisions on the basis of economic merit, giving no regard to the nationality or race of the seller. Lets not hide behind patriotic-sounding slogans. Lets name things straight for a change: giving preference to American sellers over foreign sellers is the same mindless injustice as giving preference to sellers who are white over those who are black.
Economic nationalism is as morally outrageous as racism. Buying on the basis of nationality or race is the same collectivist evil: judging men and their products by the group from which they come, not by merit.
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
We have unlimited energy sources in the U.S. . It’s better to develop these energy source to create jobs and industry Here in the U.S.A. That’s better than importing anything. We have unlimited oil,oil shale , natural gas ,coal etc. And you free traitors call drilling for our own oil etc. you call this idiocy . look in the mirror.
If the stated policy aim is to save jobs and increase domestic manufacturing, then cut taxes across the board. Don't expect some government bureaucrat to choose which of your taxes he needs to raise, and which industry he wants to favor over another. Which is all tariffs do . . . even protectionists admit to as much.
I disagree w this 1000000%.
Fixed with your true intent.
We know that it will take more money out of your wallet and give it him . . . .
It causes inflation(pain) and unmasks the true costs of a stupid policy. Off shoring eliminates the inflation(pain) and is heroin to the economy. Tariffs restores the pain.
And how does a higher rate of inflation increase domestic employment and production? Run it by me again.
Sure it's simple, the high cost of energy, in this example, will cause the sheeple to actually react and apply political pressure on the professional political class. Then the stupid policy can be overturned and everything hopefully back to normal in the DOMESTIC energy sector. See wasn't that hard was it?
When politics gets involved in domestic commerce, the solution has to be political also. Running into the arms of Communists is not a solution.
Apart from some periodic caterwauling about the Strategic Petroleum Reserve on the part of the professional political class, there is nothing in the record that indicates your theory works.
And by that, I mean the greenies and the nimbys will continue along their path (and even welcome the higher prices), and the “drill here, drill now” folks would drill anyway in the absence of the higher prices.
Oh yeah on more thing, and free trade has sure pressured pols into lowering corp tax rates. /sarcasm
And, our corporate income tax rate has fallen. Incidentally, during a period coinciding with free(r) trade. I'm not saying the two are directly correlated, but you don't appear to know what our corporate income tax rate is now, and what it used to be.
The only people who believe that free trade will lead to a social revolution, as did Marx, are protectionists. And even not all protectionists are that stupid.
Agreed on all your points.
Free Trade is an article of faith to some on this site.
I don’t know how anyone can think allowing our country to be destroyed is a conservative principle.
America first in all things. Free trade among the states (the states of this republic). Favored trading relations with our best allies. This list can change with time but pretty much includes the major English-speaking countries, UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand (when they behave themselves). You could probably include Japan and a few other countries in the favored trading block. These allies have proven themselves over time. They deserve greater access to our markets. Bilateral trading relations (quid pro quo) with most other countries in the world. Moderate tariffs and bilateral agreements should be applied with this group. Finally, very limited trading and heavy tariffs with any other country not making the first two lists. My beliefs are the traditional view of trade which made this country strong. Sorry, it’s not a conservative principle to give favored trading status to countries who are hostile to our national security.
Australia
Bahrain
Canada
Chile
Colombia
Costa Rica
Dominican Republic
El Salvador
Guatemala
Honduras
Israel
Jordan
Korea
Mexico
Morocco
Nicaragua
Oman
Peru
Singapore
Great post!
No Harry putting money before country is unpatriotic. This is patriotic.
Corrupt politicians of both parties have ceded authority to the World Trade Organization. We may not technically have free trade with China or other countries hostile to our national interests, but since we are now subject to the dictates of the WTO, that is the practical effect.
As for this list provided, some of these countries deserve a favored trading status with the US, but none should have unfettered access...nobody deserves that.
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