Posted on 08/16/2002 9:04:00 AM PDT by Budge
Our Tigger Of A President
President Bush reminds me of Tigger, the bouncy, high-energy pal of Winnie-the-Pooh. The president's own doctors have recently pronounced him to be in superb condition. Let us all rejoice in that. Unfortunately, the president seems to possess Tigger's mindless optimism and self-confidence.
When Congress recently forfeited its constitutional duty to set trade policy by passing fast-track legislation (the new Orwellian euphemism is "trade promotion authority"), Mr. Bush announced that he would accomplish magic with this authority. He will increase the number of American jobs, increase American exports and raise the living standards of all American families.
Bosh and hog slop.
I don't accuse our Tigger of a president of lying. I just accuse him of being ignorant. After all, the effects of free-trade policy are not a mystery. Mr. Bush should have asked for a report that answered these questions:
1. How many good American jobs have been lost due to (a) American firms moving their manufacturing jobs to cheap-labor countries; and to (b) cheap foreign imports?
2. How many good jobs have been created by an increase in American exports?
3. How many viable farms did we have before the era of so-called free trade, and how many have survived?
4. How do you explain the enormous and continuing record trade deficits if, in fact, free trade results in more American jobs?
The answers to all of these questions present an argument against free-trade agreements, not one in favor. Of course, free trade is a false banner. What has been the policy since the John F. Kennedy administration has been managed trade, falsely labeled as free trade.
Free-trade agreements would be simple to write. We would only have to say: Our tariffs on all imports are, say, 6 percent. Sell you what you can to any American who wishes to buy.
When the so-called trade agreement, however, runs to 20,000 pages of fine print or more, then you know that what has been negotiated is a series of trade deals, usually favoring those segments of the American economy with the most political clout. And we all know that in our times, political clout is spelled m-o-n-e-y. More than the devil resides in the details these days; so, too, does political corruption.
I believe in old-fashioned free trade, in which a small tariff is imposed for revenue purposes. I don't believe, as a rule, in protective tariffs — tariffs so high as to prevent other manufacturers or farmers from competing with Americans. But there must be exceptions. Some industries necessary to national security — and certainly agriculture is one of those — should be protected. Any nation that allows its agricultural base to be destroyed by cheap imports is committing suicide in the long run. So, too, with stuff needed for the strategic forces of the country.
I also believe that there should be a third category of tariffs — punitive tariffs. Any American company that dumps its American workers into the unemployment lines and moves its manufacturing facility to a cheap-labor country should be assessed a punitive tariff of at least 100 percent when it tries to export into the United States.
It's simply another example of corporate corruption for an American firm to pay foreigners $3 or $4 to cut and sew a pair of blue jeans it will sell to Americans for $50. Such "imports" should be slapped with a tariff high enough to double their retail price in the United States.
Trade policy, of course, is more than tariffs. It should be the goal of the U.S. government to encourage Americans to make and buy everything possible here in the United States and to import only what cannot be feasibly made here. That, of course, is not on the radar screen of either President Tigger or his cohorts in Congress.
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© 2002 by King Features Syndicate, Inc.
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Now that George W. Bush is President, Reese's popularity has diminished because of his truthfulness.
Don't get me wrong, "Dubya" was/is by far the better choice!
Reese's popularity has dimished because of his association with "Spotlight" and other Nazi interest groups. He's still popular with the "freepers" posting in Arab media, though ;).
After all, the effects of free-trade policy are not a mystery.
They sure aren't.
But how does Charlie Reese still manage to remain so ignorant of them?
The most wonderful thing about Tiggers,
Is Tiggers are wonderful things!
Their tops is made out of rubber,
Their bottoms is made out of springs.
They're flouncy, jouncy, bouncy, pouncy,
Fun,fun,fun,fun fun!
And the most wonderful thing about Tiggers is...
I'm the only one!
My son STILL has his Tigger, which he took with him everywhere!
I don't think Charlie is going to get the rise out of all of us he wanted with calling W President Tigger. LOL!
There is, of course, an alternative explanation: Charlie Reese knows nothing about economics. He does not know he knows nothing. That, of course, means Charlie Reese is not only wrong, he is mindless.
People like Reese constantly assert President Bush is dumb. Since they don't know enough to support their arguments with facts, they resort to name calling. How dumb.
Bunkum and balderdash. If Congress doesn't like the deal, they can vote it down. It's impossible to negotiate a trade deal, then go back to Congress and get 300 amendments, then go back to negotiate. Doesn't work that way. We should have free trade anyway. Just put a 5% sales tax on all foreign trade to cover the costs of protecting the trade routes. The trade deals now are just ways to extort campaign contributions from various industries.
No he wasn't. Those of us who don't like anti-semitism have never given Reese the time of day.
This is in addition to Charlie's priceless insights on the Middle East and the Civil War. How this babbling fool got to be so popular on FR is beyond me.
You're really into that subliminal thang ain't ya LOL
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