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"When are we going to wake up and realize that we can't export every job and import every item?

And that's the crux of it. No business ever survived by payout out more than it brought in. None. Ever."

Same with countries. The only reason we can import stuff is because we export other stuff. Sometimes it is movies, sometimes education, sometime stock certificates, and sometimes software.

While our unemployment rate is around 6% and dropping, look at Europe which implements more restrictionist trade policies, and their unemployment rates are 8% - 15% and stable. Shall we join them in restricting trade and killing jobs? It has worked for them for over 20 years.... Double the unemployment line anyone?

The only reason we can import stuff is because we export other stuff.

Current account deficit hits record (Trade Deficit)
U.S. Trade Deficit 2nd Highest on Record

TRADE DEFICIT: Formally termed a balance of trade deficit, a condition in which a nation's imports are greater than exports. In other words, a country is buying more stuff for foreigners than foreigners are buying from domestic producers. A trade deficit is usually thought to be bad for a country. For this reason, some countries seek to reduce their trade deficit by--

establishing trade barriers on imports,

reducing the exchange rate (termed devaluation) such that exports are less expensive and imports more expensive, or

invading foreign countries with sizable armies.

>Well, here are the facts:

Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the measure of the USA's output of goods and services, is calculated by the Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis using the following items:

Personal consumption expenditures: Personal consumption expenditures are far and away the largest and tends to be the most stable of the four expenditures, averaging about 65-70% of gross domestic product.
Gross private domestic investment: Expenditures on capital goods to be used for productive activities in the domestic economy that are undertaken by the business sector during a given time period. Gross private domestic investment tends to be the least stable of the four expenditures, averaging between 12-18% of gross domestic product.
NET EXPORTS OF GOODS AND SERVICES Net exports of goods and services is the smallest of the four expenditures, averaging around 2% of gross domestic product. Unlike the other expenditures, net exports of goods and services can be either positive or negative. They are positive when exports are greater than imports (Trade Surplus) and negative when exports are less than imports (Trade Deficit). In recent years, net exports of goods and services have been negative.
Government consumption expenditures and gross investment measures government purchases undertaken by the government sector. Government consumption expenditures and gross investment averages between 15-20% of gross domestic product. This percentage tends to be ebb and flow a little with the political winds.

The BEA News Release for FIRST QUARTER 2003 provides us with the following current data for these items. (Seasonally adjusted at annual rates)

Gross domestic product (GDP)............................. $10,697.7 billion
Personal consumption expenditures.......................... 7,502.8 (70.13% of GDP)
Gross private domestic investment.......................... 1,626.9 (15.21% of GDP)
Net exports of goods and services........................... -485.7 (-4.54% of GDP)
Government consumption expenditures and gross investment... 2,053.6 (19.20% of GDP)

The current BALANCE OF TRADE is in deficit, which is considered unfavorable.
It is SUBTRACTED from those items that comprise GDP.

And at historic highs, it diminishes our domestic economy by about 4½% - more than twice the normal variation. This is NOT insignificant.