We haven't experienced free trade in this country since before WWI. And we had a run of pretty amazing growth when we did.
Id like to see our trading partners being free traders also. But they are heavily invested in their manufacturers and therefore we do not have free trade with such partners
Any agreement that gives non-citizens the right to develop what our policies will be, is off the table for me.
These are multi-national agreements, and their review process can morph the original terms.
Who doesn’t actually agree with Free Trade as long as it makes sense? If it’s contributing to the standard of living for our citizens, I’m pretty much for it. If it puts some folks out of work so someone who is still working can get a 25% discount on what they purchase, I think it’s a decaying process on the well-being of our nation.
We MUST HAVE EMPLOYED citizens to thrive. Employing the citizens of other nations while our populace puts up with 25% unemployment and another 25% of our citizens have to work for far less than they used to, doesn’t add up on the list of what healthy nations do.
I don’t like taxes, but we do have to have ‘some’ tax base. It’s silly to thing we don’t. As we build ever larger national debt, there are contributing factors. Those factors include the financial well-being of our citizens.
As for these agreements, there are always things included that have nothing to do with trade, but more a binding of our border status, across border security, and a myriad of employment practices.
My rule of thumb is this. If we could thrive as a nation without these multi-national agreeements thick enough so no sane person would read them, then why must we have them now?
Trade took place before. We obviously don’t need these agreements to conduct it now. Further, we don’t have to have 20 nations in an agreement to get an agreement.
These things get far afield. They shouldn’t.
Personal agreements nation by nation are a better way to go IMO. If there is a reason to alter the agreement, we can do so without offending the other 19 nations in the agreement.
We hobble ourselves, and make agreements that don’t benefit us all too often.
I just don’t agree with this drive to turn us into a multi-national co-op.
We obviously didn’t have to go this route. And when you look at where we were twenty-five years ago today, and where we are now, I defy anyone to say we’re better off economically today.
I pretty much have to agree with that. Capitalism works just fine when socialists aren't interfering with it. Unfortunately, they have been interfering with it for a long time and then they have the gall to claim that it doesn't work and, therefore, we need more socialism. It's like someone pouring sugar into their gas tank and then complaining when their car stops working and then demanding more sugar to fix it.
boy did this topic cause quite a stir 10 years ago!!!
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/954156/posts
But our system could never compete with Third wage slave gulags like Red China and India. American workers making 15 bucks an hour and benefits can never compete with some poor Chinese kid making 10 cents a 14 hour shift.
The Globalists know this and have used Red Chinese cheap labor to deindustrialize us and to deliberately wreck our economy. Without a strong middle-class or economic independence the USA can be easily submerged into the Globalist's One World Government.
The Globalists and their Free Traitor dupes have ruined this country.
There would not be free trade if only the US eliminated all tariffs, restrictions, etc. It's hard to see how one would motivate other countries to do the same without some sort of negotiated agreement.