Free Republic

'Government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem," may well be President Reagan's most oft-repeated quote. And the reason it's so frequently quoted is because it's so damn true. And no example fits this quote better than the government actions taken before and during the Great Depression. In 1929, the single largest tax increase on traded products was passed by both the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate. In May 1930, this so-called Smoot-Hawley tariff was signed into law by President Herbert Hoover, which precipitated massive retaliation on U.S. products by foreign governments. From that moment...

WASHINGTON and OTTAWA -- The United States has ratcheted up its assault on the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) by slapping preliminary duties as high as 8.15 per cent on $400-million worth of Canadian wheat it claims is being dumped across the border. As with numerous other high-profile disputes with its largest trading partner, Ottawa vowed to vigorously fight yesterday's U.S. Commerce Department decision, which pushes interim duties on Canadian wheat to more than 12 per cent. Ralph Goodale, the minister responsible for the CWB, said the duties are part of a pattern of "trade harassment" by the U.S. government, and...