Free Republic

“The private sector is doing fine,” Barack Obama assured us in June, but we haven’t seen much evidence for that argument. Today’s report from Commerce on the trade deficit certainly doesn’t provide any reassurance for that claim. In fact, exports dropped in October by the biggest margin since Obama took office, and the trade gap with China widened to a new record:

There is growing pressure on US President Barack Obama to sell advanced F-16 fighters to Taiwan. “The time to provide these fighters is now,” Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart, a Florida Republican, told a major hearing held by the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission on Thursday. It became clear as witnesses were questioned that many, if not most, of the commissioners agreed. Taiwan’s request to buy 66 F-16C/D fighters is now being considered by the White House. “The military and strategic imperatives for Taiwan are real and urgent,” said Diaz-Balart, the opening witness at the day-long hearing on developments across the...

<p>Most Members of Congress don't spend a lot of time boning up on the economics of trade. So thanks are due to the U.S.-China Business Council for a report detailing state-by-state exports to China. It makes enlightening reading for anyone on Capitol Hill eager to launch a trans-Pacific tariff war.</p>