[caddie]

I think that Buchanan has made the point, correctly, that tariffs are really a part of American foreign policy from the get-go, without which this young nation would never have survived its early years.

Tariffs are not good or bad: They are a tactic, a point of leverage, or whatever you want to call it, that can protect certain vulnerable aspects of one's economy.

I think people equate free, no-tariff, trade, with egalitarianism and virtue, and I think that's a little naive.

We need to protect American industry, because it can be destroyed by our heavy taxes and THE LACK OF tariffs.

[Protagoras]

I think you have a warped view of tarriffs based on your post. A basic economics course would remedy that. I can suggest some books by Nobel winning economists if you would like.

[ex-snook]

"We need to protect American industry, because it can be destroyed by our heavy taxes and THE LACK OF tariffs. "

Pat is called a 'socialist' for wanting to protect American industry. Those that oppose protecting American industry extol the benfits of 'free trade' agreements. These are some 60,000 pages of GOVERNMENT TO GOVERNMENT negotiations with imput from favored lobbyists and campaign contributors but kept secret from the public and elected representatives. The drastic effect of mounting trade imbalance is having an effect on the dollar and stock market.