Senator Max Baucus (D-Montana)On Wednesday Congress approved of three free trade deals with South Korea, Columbia, and Panama, ending a four-year drought in approving this bill. This bill once again will give the U.S. an incentive to outsource more jobs overseas. Congress and the President will go to lengths to pass free trade deals which will eventually result in America's jobs heading overseas but Congress won't do anything to help provide a favorable climate to keep manufacturing jobs in the United States. The stated purpose of forming these free trade deals is for the supposed purpose of stimulating America's economy and putting people back to work. Consequently, we heard the argument that NAFTA would be good for America concerning job creation back in the early 90's when former presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton promoted this free trade deal. NAFTA made it easier for manufacturing jobs to exit the U.S. and go to Canada and Mexico. How does the United States compete with a country that doesn't abide by the same standard living as Americans do? How can our manufacturing sector compete with countries such as Mexico that doesn't pay the same rate of wages to their employees as we do in America and don't have to abide by the same type of regulations that American businesses face? These free trade agreements place America at a competitive disadvantage with countries that don't have to pass muster with the EPA.
According to FoxNews.com, in rapid succession the House and Senate voted on three trade pacts which the administration says could boost exports by $13 billion and supports tens of thousands of American jobs. None of the votes were close despite the opposition from labor groups and other critics of free trade agreements which argued these trade deals could result in the loss of jobs and ignore the rights of labor problems in partner countries.
Whenever you have two political parties coming together in the spirt of "bipartisanship", you can assume that they're up to no good. We hear much talk of the need for both political parties coming together in the "spirit of bipartisanship" to get things accomplished for the American people. They're not accomplishing things for the American people. They're accomplishing things that will harm the American people and put the United States at a disadvantage. Take a look at some of the legislation that was passed by Congress over the last ten years in the spirit of bipartisanship: The Patriot Act, TARP, Prescription Drug Coverage, etc. Bipartisanship hasn't been beneficial for America. The American people are on the raw end of the deal whenever Congress unites to pass some bill. I'm not a fan of bipartisanship simply because I know Congress doesn't have the best interest of the American people at heart.
How can America's economy be revived? In order to revive America's economy first of all, Congress needs to renege on these free trade agreements that have placed us at a competitive disadvantage such as NAFTA and CAFTA, to name a few. Is free trade wrong? No. Free trade is fine as long as it's fair trade. The problem is that American businesses aren't just competing against themselves--they are competing against businesses across the world. Hence, you see the phrase "global economy." If the United States engages in trading with a country such as China that won't play by the same rules as the United States, then the U.S. will be a competitive disadvantage. We'll receive all kinds of cheap goods from the Chinese but they won't buy very much of our exports. Those kind of trade deals won't work. Secondly, we need to place tariffs on our imported goods. During the early part of our nation's history, tariffs were placed upon imported goods to protect America's manufacturing base. The tariffs were used to fund the operation of the federal government prior to the passage of the Sixteenth Amendment in 1913.
Secondly, Congress needs to remove the vast majority of regulations which stifle business. Many businesses are unable to compete in the marketplace due to the fact many of the regulations come from Washington or the EPA. The private sector needs the freedom to operate their businesses without excessive interference from the government. The private sector is much more efficient in operating a business than the government is. The private sector has to operate within a budget or it will go asunder. The government taxes its citizens and wastes money. The private sector has to be more cautious in handling money or they can't remain competitive. Lastly, the corporate tax rate needs to be greatly reduced. The more taxes a business has to pay, the less money it has to invest in its employees and the business itself. The type of measures I just mentioned will enable the economy to recover. The problem is that government wants to intrude upon the private sector and dictate what, how, when, and where it sells it's product. The government wants to control everything. The government espouses the concept of central planning, which is part of the communist playbook. Under central planning, the government chooses what the market will sell instead of the private sector. A recent example is the Obama administration providing stimulus money to Solyndra to create "green jobs" in solar energy. That's turned out to be a disaster. The government isn't designed to run the economy. The private sector is more efficient in running the economy than the federal government.
Click on the above link from FoxNews.com to read the story about the free trade deals passed by Congress on Wednesday.
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