[central_va]

I recommend that you take a look at the economic literature on the roles of export led industrialization, currency manipulation, and high levels of US taxes and regulations in the decline of US manufacturing.

I have. I suggest you look at the role of global labor arbitrage as the real reason for off shoring. You may learn something.

If I have to choose between sanctimonious Free Traitors&!513 and the Reagan Democrat blue collar workers of America I will choose the legion of Reagan Democrats every time. Really there is no common ground between Free Traitors™ and the protectionist. One has to leave the party. I say the globalist can go pack sand.

[Rockingham]

Cheap labor is not the be all and end all of global industrial competitiveness. Traditionally, the US had and was determined to preserve the advantage of higher labor productivity. That takes capital investment and labor flexibility, yet high taxes and union work rules tend to discourage both.

In contrast, China's government run financial system channels its citizens' savings into industrialization and infrastructure, while a lack of unions makes the Chinese workforce unusually adaptable -- if often badly exploited. And, to return to a key point, entirely apart from such practices, China's policy of currency depreciation is part of what keeps their labor cheap.