Steel Makers Succeed in Keeping Tariffs

AP via Yahoo! Finance ^ | October 10, 2007 | Christopher S. Rugaber

[1rudeboy]

Funny how those “free traders” have the audacity to spend their own money without your permission.

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

Agreed.

[airborne]

Yeah. Funny how you care more about your bank account than anythjing else.

Ha Ha.

[1rudeboy]

I feel rather attached to my bank account. So keep your fingers off of it.

[antinomian]

For starters...

I would eliminate all import tariffs. True free trade is unilateral.

I would eliminate all business taxes. Why do we tax the most efficient?

Eliminate the income tax. Apart from being a form of slavery it taxes the very things we should be encouraging.

I would eliminate class action lawsuits. Class action is just a mechanism to circumvent the constitutional requirement for standing.

Every state should have the same rights over their public lands that Texas got when it joined the union. That would effectively neuter the EPA and the Interior Department.

[econjack]

I agree with almost all your points. However, I hate property taxes as they do not fit the two theories of taxation (Benefits Received, Ability to Pay) plus they are a real burden on the elderly. I favor a flat tax, but still don’t see any benefit from tariffs. The 19th century playing field, level or otherwise, is just too different now for tariffs to make sense. I’m not sure I buy the strategic arguments either. Back in the 50’s when Ike was President, the oil companies asked—and got—protective tariffs on oil saying that the $.10 in the midEast was unreliable so we should put tariffs and quotas on imported oil for military reasons, even though the domestic price was $.50. If you buy the military argument, we should have capped our wells, sucked theirs dry and saved $.40 in the process. If there was a conflict, our reserves would have been untouched while we drain theirs and saved money in the process. No...tariffs always distort resource allocation and I’m not in favor of it.

[econjack]

Not a bad list! I’d make one modification: If you sue in a civil suit and lose, you have to pay the other side’s legal expenses.

[DeaconBenjamin]

Actually:

Union Pacific was entangled in the Crédit Mobilier scandal of 1872. Its early troubles led to bankruptcy during the 1870s, the result of which was reorganization of the Union Pacific Railroad as the Union Pacific Railway on January 24, 1880, with its dominant stockholder being Jay Gould. The new company also declared bankruptcy, in 1893, but emerged on July 1, 1897, reverting to the original name, Union Pacific Railroad.

[DeaconBenjamin]

Actually:

Union Pacific was entangled in the Crédit Mobilier scandal of 1872. Its early troubles led to bankruptcy during the 1870s, the result of which was reorganization of the Union Pacific Railroad as the Union Pacific Railway on January 24, 1880, with its dominant stockholder being Jay Gould. The new company also declared bankruptcy, in 1893, but emerged on July 1, 1897, reverting to the original name, Union Pacific Railroad.

[billbears]

Bump!

[airborne]

I feel rather attached to my bank account. So keep your fingers off of it.

It's not me you need to worry about.

I'm sure Hillary will be happy to continue marching down the road towards the 'North American Union', and then you can convert all of your dollars to 'Americos'. After all, if it's profits you seek, amnesty will provide all the slave labor you need! And Hillary will gaurantee that.

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=15233

I wonder what your precious money will be worth then?

Hey, as long as you're making a profit, who cares about the details.

[antinomian]

I’d make one modification: If you sue in a civil suit and lose, you have to pay the other side’s legal expenses.

Yeah, I believe that was one of the bullets in the Contract with America.

I would rather do that and get rid of class action, but repeal these award caps that have passed in some states. I think the threat of class action discourages legitimate business activities by creating legal uncertainty; but award caps encourage illegitimate behavior by limiting potential liability.

[airborne]

A good list, but first we need term limits to do away with the career politicians that have corrupted the Congress.

[antinomian]

A good list, but first we need term limits to do away with the career politicians that have corrupted the Congress.

I'm not sure that will work. That will probably just insure that all congressmen are inexperienced and incompetent.

I don't think any sort of tampering with the electoral process will do anything positive in the long term. Look at how fast the politicians got around that silly McCain-Feingold act. It was supposed to take the money out of politics but only took control of the money away from the candidates. I don't think there is any substitute from reducing the power of the government.