I bet the people would see the repeal of "Free Trade" as 'change'.

[Union Yes]

President Obama and The Democratic Party could heal alot of wounds with the people if they enact total reform of our disasterous "Free Trade" policies.

As a tiny bonus..

They can save their nation from economic collapse.

That's "Change".

[Hippo_Tron]

1. Smoot and Hawley would agree with you

[Union Yes]

3. Smoot and Hawley were Ray-Gun-ized and rendered impotent. nt

[Hippo_Tron]

5. Huh?

[Union Yes]

7. Just sayin. Reagan despised any form of 'protectionism'..

Smoot Hawley Tarriff included. Ray-gun worked to defang all protectionist trade policy. Rendering said laws "impotent". Hope that makes better sense.

[Hippo_Tron]

9. Smoot-Hawley was overturned before Reagan was even a Governor

And its proponents during the depression were saying exactly what you are saying now. That a big dose of protectionism will create jobs and help mitigate the country's economic crisis. It turned out to be a complete disaster because other countries retaliated and ultimately it made the depression worse.

[pampango]

10. Actually, S/H was FDR-ized. He didn't like it. GATT was FDR's idea to avoid tariff wars after WWII.

FDR actually believed that trade promoted peace and prosperity (something progressives in Europe believe, too, hence the free trade on their continent), but he had been through the Great Depression and WWII and learned some hard lessons. Those lessons have largely been forgotten, because few of us lived through that period, so tariffs have regained their luster to many.

[JVS]

2. Not gonna happen

[Union Yes]

4. Your right, but it's a novel concept! No?

[Syrinx]

6. "fair trade" would be good policy

And GREAT politics. Yet it seems our party "leaders" are beyond the price range of the PEOPLE. :(

[Joanne98]

8. That would work!

[Selatius]

11. I believe in fair trade, and I believe in bare minimums with environmental/labor standards.

If a country continues to pollute its environment and turn it into a toxic waste dump or continues to imprison or kill off workers who try to form labor unions, then that country should be free to do so. However, we should not have to be trading with those regimes no matter how much corporations here in the US seek it out for the sake of global labor arbitrage, fancy talk for simply exploiting cost differentials between different groups of workers in different countries. That's not seeking out comparative advantage; that's a form of absolute advantage that is not mutually beneficial.

[OHdem10]

12. Unfortunately, they will continue to dig the hole deeper instead of

trying to get out of the hole.

[Edweird]

13. Unfortunately, more free trade also qualifies as change.

'Change' isn't necessarily for the better.