No End of Free Trade

jennifer; buy guns and stock up on food. you're about to see inflation and government intervention into your personal life.

and just how does obama know what he is doing? you can't tell by what he's done and his books paint him as a facist. he's never been in charge of anything so we don't know if he could lead a high school band. worry america. we're about to see the worst of times.

I am a working class mother of three. I own my own house and have since I was 19 years old. I always have paid my bills on time, I have no criminal record and I believe in helping out others in need. I am so baffled on how America has gotten the way that it is, and as I sit here and think of what is left of America it becomes scary. You already know the hurdles ahead of you as our next president, but I don't think the American people can go through any more hurdles. We are losing our jobs our health care and all that we have worked for our whole lives. We will be left with nothing. The big companies are still greedy, trying to get every last dime out of people until we just cant give anymore. It outrages me that I have credit cards and I am not late but I may soon be charged with a 24% interest rate. WHY??? oh the economy sucks so lets stick it to the ones still paying. Does anyone not learn form the mistake we are so fighting to survive in now? Six months from now there will be another collapse and everyone will pretend they do not know why. Companies/healthcare are setting the next wave of collapse up. We just wont survive. I cant stand to think that every thing I have worked for will be gone and I did my American part, paid taxes, abide by the laws, worked fulltime, helped out others, raised a family, and donate to the less fortunate. I know that I am not the only person who is ashamed of America right now. Greed has gotten us here, and greed will not get us out. Enough is enough. I voted for you and believe in you and I hope that you can help us before it is too late.

Jennifer Rumphol

If Asian currency manipulation was stopped and corporate taxes were changed to make it unprofitable for US multinationals to off shore production, you would see a renaissance in American manufacturing.

Unprecedented opportunities would open up for US based small business to open automated manufacturing operations and take business from the multinationals. The same multinationals that have not created a single net new job in the US in decades.

The Eastern countries that we trade with typically only purchase products from us until that time that they develop a domestic industry; then we are out the window. On the other hand, we allow them to suck our manufacturing base out from underneath us. The only reason this appeals to the capital elitists and the Republican party is that it keeps the American worker docile and scared. Some protection is in order.

I have just one thing to say.For the month of November 2008.The U.S. lost 500,000 jobs .
Trade, yea,right

The word trade should be dropped from the current U.S. policies.Trade implies that two parties have something of equil value to exchange.What our politicians are doing is giving away access to the world richest market in exchange for friendship.We outsource jobs to China,then let China flood are markets with cheap goods because we want a friend.We let Japan have our car market because we need a nival base there,England, France Germeny, the list goes on and on.But it is not trade.We dont even produce goods to trade.Obama was right to look at F.D.R. for a model.We have to go back that far to find an America that was more concurned about its people than, a one sided fake ,take all you can ,one sided arrignment in which we are doing all the giving.Bush economy reflict his knowledge of the world .He dont have any.

"and to instilling confidence in a free-market system based on fairness, transparency, and the rule of law. "
Wow, that goal crashed and burned! Imports flooding into our markets from China and India come from factories that have none of the environmental or labor protections that we are required to provide in this country. Transparency and the rule of law are nothing more than a joke in both of those countries.
This is free trade, but it is not fair trade. I was disappointed to hear BOTH candidates decribe themselves as free traders in the debate. Expect another four years of clueless leadership that takes us deeper into economic trouble. Obama may have thrown the Unions a bone, but he is not their man.

Republicans/ neocons skewed their agenda away from the unions to give big business as much power as they could handle. Conversely unions were run into the ditch by lawyers, big union bosses that were influenced by greed. The answer lies in the middle. Of all the social economic unrest that hinders our nation historically and currently, the answer remains in the "radical center!" Ideology that skews to the right or left is corrupt, narcissistic and greedy! White-collar crime is the worst- it destroys families by the millions thus opening the door to desperation and incivility- more crime!
The double standard that exists in American ethics regarding democracy will destroy our union if it is left unchanged! Millions of people are losing everything they have- not one person has gone to jail! Think about it! Is this a sound social economic model?

Republicans/ neocons skewed their agenda away from the unions to give big business as much power as they could handle. Conversely unions were run into the ditch by lawyers, big union bosses that were influenced by greed. The answer lies in the middle. Of all the social economic unrest that hinders our nation historically and currently, the answer remains in the "radical center!" Ideology that skews to the right or left is corrupt, narcissistic and greedy! White-collar crime is the worst- it destroys families by the millions thus opening the door to desperation and incivility- more crime!
The double standard that exists in American ethics regarding democracy will destroy our union if it is left unchanged! Millions of people are losing everything they have- not one person has gone to jail! Think about it! Is this a sound social economic model?

If by protectionism, what you really mean is that we'd have Fair Trade - trade that supports employee rights and living conditions, trade that provides a fair playing field for American industry rather than handicapping it, then hell yes - let's bring back protectionism. The Free Trade doublethink of the last twenty years has brought poverty and untenable economic systems all over the globe - all in the name of unbridled greed.

Barack OBAMA is a protectorate of his fellow democratic buddies.

The man of " C H A N G E " is not promoting change.

The appointment of Hillary Clinton and her political mob friends proves, Obama was a liar.

I voted for this man, I believed in this man.

I know Clintons and Daschle for what they are ---------- pond scum.

Until the government stops being 100% pro-corporate at the expense of its people we wil continue to go downhill. The greatest resource a country has is its people, and in the US its the most misused and exploited resource of all. Lobbyists run this country, they should be outlawed.

tcar13...

Today in America, unions have a secure place in our industrial life. Only a handful of reactionaries harbor the ugly thought of breaking unions and depriving working men and women of the right to join the union of their choice. I have no use for those -- regardless of their political party -- who hold some vain and foolish dream of spinning the clock back to days when organized labor was huddled, almost as a hapless mass. Only a fool would try to deprive working men and women of the right to join the union of their choice. -???Dwight D. Eisenhower

tcar13 - one way out of this problem would be to stop importing millions of workers a year for those "jobs that American's won't do". That would go a long way at lowering the numbers of jobs that need to be created to help those who are losing their jobs right now.

To solve your other 'problem' why not allow more workers to unionize? Anything wrong with that or do you long for the day when no worker can earn a decent wage that will support a family - you know the once thriving middle class.

"If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issuance of their currency, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all their property until their children will wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered."
-Thomas Jefferson

Abraham Lincoln...."I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country...Corporations have been enthroned, an era of corruption in high places will follow and the money-power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until the wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed."

To - John Dough and other...you must have as much money as your name implies because so called 'free trade', outsourcing/offshoring/onshoring has all been engineered by the gurus who brought us credit default swaps and who have sucked up trillions of dollars in bailouts.

These actions brought us to the brink of another great depression - NOT the belated cry to stop shooting ourselves in our feet.

Workers wages have been falling because we've been forced to compete with unregulated labor making a fraction of the pay an American makes. We've seens tens of millions of our jobs offshored so corporate profits can rise without an increase in pay for those few who are lucky to still have a job.

That wasn't enough so the gurus came up with another way to lower wages.... always claim a shortage of American workers despite all evidence points to the opposite and then import millions of foreign nationals willing to work for less.

So now in addition to competing with offshore workers, they bring workers on American soil who we have to compete against. It it a wonder why average wages have fallen after accounting for inflation since 'free-trade' has reigned supreme?

Do you think we would not continue to trade with other countries? That would be foolish and is part of the fear mongering that those folks who are afraid of losing some of their billions to us common folk. But we will have fair bi-lateral trade policies negotiated between the US and other countries, not things that are shoved down our throat by the unconstitutional WTO.

Yet despite everything negative that so called 'free-trade' has brought this country - folks like yourself cry 'protectionism' as if it's a bad thing. Trade policies in effect before NAFTA/CAFTA and the 'free-traders' came to power made us the strongest country in the world.

What have the gurus brought us to? Another great depression and our country now looks like a 97-pound weakling.

Why don't we go back to bi-lateral trade, what most refer to as 'fair-trade'? Eliminate offshoring/onshoring and the insane importing of workers for "jobs American's won't do". According to the shortage shouters there aren't enough Americans for ANY job since they just want workers who will work below what Americans are currently getting.

Bring back the old strong America - not what the wizards on wall street have foised upon us.

Protectionism will lead to a depression. I see no problem renegotiating Clinton's cave-ins on NAFTA and the GOP sign off on it. Protectionism is a tried and failed policy see the GREAT DEPRESSION.