Steel Thyself, Karl Rove

WSJ Online ^ | 8/6/03 | Wall Street Journal

[Texas_Dawg]

After all George Bush has done for steel, the United Steelworkers of America yesterday returned the favor and endorsed Richard Gephardt for President. Call it more evidence, if any more were needed, that the Administration's decision to impose 30% tariffs on steel imports last year was a major economic and political blunder.

[Texas_Dawg]

When politicians pander to evil with horrendous economic ideas, we all pay heavily.

[Texas_Dawg]

ping

[dr_who_2]

Amen.

[wheelright]

As Limbaugh says; It doesn't pay to try and make friends with these people.

Defeat them and do the right thing. Then and only then will the country and the party benefit.

[Alberta's Child]

This article misses a very important point. The issue isn't who the United Steelworkers of America endorse, but which candidate their members vote for.

If the Democratic candidate in 2004 gets more than 30% of the votes among this union, I'll be surprised.

I'm no fan of those steel tariffs, but there's no disputing the fact that George W. Bush is now the president largely because he got a lot of votes among steelworkers in West Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee.

[Redleg Duke]

The union thug leadership can be expected to pander to the RATS. I will be interested to see how the rank and file votes. I believe they are one hell of a lot smarter than their fathers were.

[OldPossum]

As they say, "no good deed goes unpunished."

[The South Texan]

Bush needs to tell al of these special interest Democrat groups that he has pandered to go stick it once and for all.

[You Dirty Rats]

You make a good point that union membership doesn't vote with the bosses these days. However, I'm not so sure there are that many steelworkers in Kentucky or Tennessee. There might be members of the Steelworkers Union in those states (in other industries), but I don't think a lot of unionized steel is produced there.

[Tokhtamish]

You think those steel workers won't vote for the candidate most likely to protect their jobs, Gephardt ? You think they care a rat's ass about free market orthodoxy ? You think those steel workers don't stare at the ceiling at 3 am every night worrying what is going to happen to their lives and their families ? You think they will settle for the 'let them eat cake' attitudes of the free traitors on this board ?

[Texas_Dawg]

Bush needs to tell al of these special interest Democrat groups that he has pandered to go stick it once and for all.

This move was a pander to the Paleo Right and Buchanan Brigade just as much though.

[Texas_Dawg]

You think those steel workers won't vote for the candidate most likely to protect their jobs, Gephardt ? You think they care a rat's ass about free market orthodoxy ? You think those steel workers don't stare at the ceiling at 3 am every night worrying what is going to happen to their lives and their families ? You think they will settle for the 'let them eat cake' attitudes of the free traitors on this board ?

Huh?? Gephardt is far more willing to steal everyone else's money to "protect" their jobs as Bush is. Voting for Gephardt over Bush by your populist logic would make perfect sense.

[Texas_Dawg]

You think those steel workers don't stare at the ceiling at 3 am every night worrying what is going to happen to their lives and their families ?

Why don't you care as much for all the people "staring at the ceiling at 3am" because they lost their jobs thanks to the steel tariffs?

[xm177e2]

I dunno about this, just because the union head goes for Gephardt way doesn't mean the workers will.

[Choose Ye This Day]

Correction, should read:

union president Leo Gerard...called the field of Democratic contenders "an embarrassment of reactionary policies, protectionism and quotas."

Not: union president Leo Gerard praised Mr. Gephardt's trade record but never once mentioned the dive Mr. Bush took for steel. Far from it, he called the field of Democratic contenders "an embarrassment of riches, any of whom we can support over the reactionary policies of the current Administration." On protectionism, Mr. Gephardt is indeed hard to beat. He fought against fast track, against permanent normal trade relations with China and in favor of steel quotas.

[Texas_Dawg]

I dunno about this, just because the union head goes for Gephardt way doesn't mean the workers will.

Then Bush doesn't need to be trying to protect these union jobs anyway.

[austinTparty]

Anti-free-traders never worry about jobs lost because of protectionism. I'll bet those longshoremen on the docks stare at ceilings at 3am, too. They never seem to understand that protectionism works both ways: if you don't let goods in without hefty tariffs, your own goods don't get make it into OTHER countries without hefty tariffs. EVERYBODY loses.

In fact, a true free trader is as happy (if not happier) to see a high number of imports as a high number of exports. Exports are the cost, imports are the payoff. You send out what you can make cheaply and import what others can make cheaply. Saves everyone money, and markets adjust to producing that which they best produce.

So much idiocy and ignorance to combat, so little time.

[Seydlitz]

You don't think those steel workers don't stare at the ceiling at 3 am every night worrying what is going to happen to their lives and their families?

So, now other people have to stay up at night worrying about their families because high steel tariffs have raised the prices of steel goods such that steel consumers have to fire workers in order to cover the higher costs costs? Wow, that's a really clever idea.

There is no such thing as a free lunch. Raise steel tariffs to protect steel workers and anyone who works for a steel consumer, such as auto workers, start losing their jobs.

[massadvj]

When you look at the economics of it, the steel tariffs were a terrible idea. This country hasn't been a world competitor in the production of raw materials since WWII. We compete by transforming raw material into sophisticated durable goods. Steel tariffs were like shooting ourselves in the foot.

On the other hand, the effects are overblown because most buyers can bring steel in through Canada or Mexico tariff-free. Longshoremen suffer, but Teamsters are happier. There are always winners and losers.

The tariff was almost strictly a political move. Like most of Bush's domestic agenda, I think it was terribly short-sighted. He's feeding elixir to the masses, using debt to overheat the economy, all in a gamble to get that "final victory" for Republicans in '04.

The trouble is, what will we have won when we have embraced socialism in order to acheive the victory? By 2008, after the economic ramifications of all this take hold, no amount of campaign cash will be able to save us.

[Poohbah]

When you look at the economics of it, the steel tariffs were a terrible idea. This country hasn't been a world competitor in the production of raw materials since WWII.

And for about a decade afterward. Of course, there was a REASON why we were a competitor...after everyone's industry is destroyed, the only country with an industrial infrastructure left can charge top quality prices for bottom quality goods.

I was somewhat hesitant to mention that fact. I don't want to give the Marxist-Buchananists any ideas that are crazier than the ones they already have.