1. Free trade in all its forms is contrary to Democrat goals and aspirations. A controlled populace is pure gold to them.
2. The GOP shouldn't get a pass. Because of their love of tariffs we have the 16th Amendment. When they had control why didn't they kill the sugar tariff, the one that benefits 3-5 families?
Both parties are political and seek political solutions that satisfy their elite constituencies. Conservatives need to lever the natural conflicts between the elites to attain our goals. That's the only historically proven path to victory.
Lewinsky remembers being with Clinton on President's Day 1996, when he spoke to a Florida sugar grower named something like Fanuli. Phone logs show Clinton spoke to sugarbaron Alfonso Fanjul that day.Time Magazine, September 21, 1998.
The 16th amendment compensated for the loss of income due to the lifting of import tariffs.
One of the democrat techniques for surprising the opposition vote is to spread the idea on conservative forums that there's no difference between the parties so conservatives shouldn't bother voting. It got Obama reelected. My personal take is that there actually is a difference between the parties; I focus on policy; smaller gov't, lower taxes, moral virtues in society, etc. and I'm finding that there really is a difference in the policies being pushed.