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Pat Buchanan : America's Hollow Prosperity
WorldNetDaily.com ^ | 02/15/2006 | Patrick Buchanan

Posted on 02/15/2006 10:42:45 AM PST by SirLinksalot

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To: GadareneDemoniac

That's NOT the same thing at all. Neither is it true.


521 posted on 02/15/2006 6:33:59 PM PST by nopardons
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To: GadareneDemoniac
At the grocery store, the gas pump, the real estate closing table, etc., etc....

That's not what he meant.

522 posted on 02/15/2006 6:34:02 PM PST by Toddsterpatriot (Why are protectionists so bad at math?)
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To: CWOJackson

You're really on game tonight! LOL


523 posted on 02/15/2006 6:35:16 PM PST by nopardons
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To: CWOJackson
Please don't forget the valuable contributions freely given him by his followers...

Not always freely. His campaigns had a habit of stiffing creditors and ripping off volunteers.

524 posted on 02/15/2006 6:35:22 PM PST by Mojave
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To: Mojave

Gasp! Bilking the American worker! No way!


525 posted on 02/15/2006 6:36:11 PM PST by CWOJackson (Tancredo? Wasn't he the bounty hunter in Star Wars?)
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To: Jack Black
That is why, when I made the decision to create my own business in 1981, I spent a while deciding which industries will always need new people....and the only one I could come up with was the trucking industry. Since it is one of the few industries in the nation where ones behavior while away from work will determine ones longevity on the job.
526 posted on 02/15/2006 6:36:15 PM PST by JABBERBONK
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To: SirLinksalot
Buchanan may be right or he may be wrong, but no one here has refuted his strongest points about job loss, trade deficits and such. It's always about Buchanan. Lame. Weak. This is because (1) we don't have in this country an opposition. Moonbat left doesn't count, for obvious reasons. (2) Anyone who lost a contest is automatically considered a "loser". The Seahawks are "losers" having reached Super Bowl. Buchanan, Keyes are both now "losers" after being heroes on this very forum. I'll tell you who the real losers are: the infantile simpletons who operate using such categories.

As far as free trade, the only free trade, that is trade free of government intervention, I see, is drug smuggling, and smuggling in general. Let's not kid ourselves, the gummint exerts control over trade of all kinds of goods in small and big ways. "Free trade" as promoted by politicians is just another euphemism. End rant.

527 posted on 02/15/2006 6:37:34 PM PST by Revolting cat! ("In the end, nothing explains anything.")
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To: A. Pole

You posting self portraits now, dear?


528 posted on 02/15/2006 6:37:50 PM PST by nopardons
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To: hinckley buzzard

believe it. I see it every day.


529 posted on 02/15/2006 6:38:30 PM PST by oceanview
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To: Revolting cat!

Actually his protectionist points have been refuted...but who's keeping track.


530 posted on 02/15/2006 6:38:45 PM PST by CWOJackson (Tancredo? Wasn't he the bounty hunter in Star Wars?)
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To: CWOJackson
You sure do hate people who have succeeded through their own hard work and merit.

Sigh ... I do not hate such people. I respect them.

Also I admire other types of success even more. The material wealth is not the highest value.

531 posted on 02/15/2006 6:44:47 PM PST by A. Pole (The freemarketeers are economic men, greedy, rational and controlled by the invisible hand market.)
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To: CWOJackson
I Remember Buchanan's book "Right from the Start" he was for open markets...I wonder what made him change/ lose his mind? Could it have been the ass kicking he took from Bush 41? his hatred for the Bush's?
532 posted on 02/15/2006 6:44:55 PM PST by JABBERBONK
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To: A. Pole
You don't hate them...you just post silly little pictures that you think will humiliate them.

Wow...you are a weiner aren't you.

533 posted on 02/15/2006 6:47:39 PM PST by CWOJackson (Tancredo? Wasn't he the bounty hunter in Star Wars?)
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To: CWOJackson
Thanks, CWO,
I think we're in total agreement on that. The issue I'm trying to get a handle on, on this thread, is basically, are both sides taking extremist viewpoints? I believe in free trade, but I also think there's a counterbalancing moral ethic to what practices are acceptable.

Using the fire codes as an example: In 2003, approximately 100 people were killed in a fire at a Rhode Island dance club while the group "Great White" was performing. Several factors contributed: The club had violated fire codes in areas of construction materials, access to exits, and overcrowding. The band "Great White" had not announced they were going to use pyrotechnics, which started the blaze, because they didn't want to get turned down, and because many municipalities require pyrotechnic permits. These permits can be expensive, as they usually require a visit by an inspector to ensure safe operating conditions of the pyrotechnics. All of the decisions were short-term decisions based on immediate profitability. The owner of the club saved some money on the building, and increased profits by overselling of the venue capacity. Great White saved money by not purchasing a pyrotechnics permit, and not having to send an advance man to spend several days working out the details.

If another club operator in the same area wanted to compete with the club that burned, they would have been economically pushed to cut the same corners. if they spent more money to have the club properly constructed, then reduced the seating capacity to ensure exit access, they would have more overhead (mortgage or rental cost) and less revenue (fewer tickets sold). The perceived economic benefits of cutting corners were, of course, eventually destroyed by the fire, and borne by concert goers who died, and the community that had to pay firefighters, police officers, and paramedics. Hospitals most likely ate hundreds of thousands of dollars in expenses from medical treatment to club patrons who had no insurance.

I don't believe that erecting trade walls to keep out foreign competition is the right way to go. However, I also believe that it is appropriate to establish a floor of accountability in our trade policy. Americans should not subsidize slave labor, and American companies should not have to compete for the market with companies that work their employees sixteen to eighteen hours a day for slave wages. I think this is different from propositions such as protectionism in the automobile industry, where Toyota workers overseas, for example, have reasonable wages and working conditions. In this instance, all it does is encourage inefficiency on the part of GM, Ford and Chrysler.

To me, the question is "Where is the appropriate level of trade regulation?" What is the level of accountability? I think both Buchannan's AND the absolutist free trade argument are wrong.

534 posted on 02/15/2006 6:49:35 PM PST by Richard Kimball
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To: JABBERBONK
His hatred of both President's Bush is amazing. I think it stems back to being fired by President Reagan and the GOP endorsing George the first.

Remember, buchanan is also the one who claimed on national TV that Al Gore was more qualified to be the President over Governor Bush.

535 posted on 02/15/2006 6:49:50 PM PST by CWOJackson (Tancredo? Wasn't he the bounty hunter in Star Wars?)
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To: nopardons
No, it is how I imagine a typical successful freemarketeer.

And this a freemarketeer who did not succeed yet:


536 posted on 02/15/2006 6:50:03 PM PST by A. Pole (The freemarketeers are economic men, greedy, rational and controlled by the invisible hand market.)
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To: nopardons

Nice dodge. Don't worry. I won't post to you again.


537 posted on 02/15/2006 6:50:53 PM PST by Richard Kimball
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To: Richard Kimball

My objective on this thread is simply to point out the political agenda of the author of this article. I don't believe buchanan gives a wit about the U.S. economy but if you review his collected works over the last six years you will see what he does care about.


538 posted on 02/15/2006 6:52:08 PM PST by CWOJackson (Tancredo? Wasn't he the bounty hunter in Star Wars?)
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To: A. Pole
Still living in the 1930s, are you?

The political cartoons of the 1800s, are actually far better; dear, and much more up your alley. :-)

539 posted on 02/15/2006 6:52:18 PM PST by nopardons
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To: Revolting cat!
but no one here has refuted his strongest points about job loss, trade deficits and such

He says trade deficits are bad. Do you agree? Why are they bad?

540 posted on 02/15/2006 6:54:11 PM PST by Toddsterpatriot (Why are protectionists so bad at math?)
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