I'm tired of this "Free Trade" BS

[Confusious]

The reason the United States got so rich?

3 reasons. Tariffs, Tariffs and more Tariffs.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/6134226/Tariffs-in-the-United-States

The only people "Free Trade" helps are the rich, who can pay shit wages, and sell it back here at an outrageous markup.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_System_%28economic_plan%29

Probably the reason repuglicans defund the schools is so people don't learn that little bit of history, and they can get the ignorant to lap up the "Free Trade" BS

[safeinOhio]

1. at the time we also had

over 90% tax rate on the rich. With tariffs and high taxes we became the leading country in the world. Now with our low taxes and no tariffs, we are making China the leading country in the world. Way to go Republicans.

[RKP5637]

2. That's the way I see it too! n/t

[safeinOhio]

3. Capitalist ideologues disregard history and rely on

A. Rand fiction.

[pipoman]

5. Damn, I wish

we could blame this shit on Repugs. No Such Luck! This is, IMHO, more the fault of our own party...the former 'labor party', who summarily screwed labor in this country. I will never, ever, forget the news conferences leading up to NAFTA and GATT with 'bipartisan' support for 'fast tracking' these agreements through, without the least regard for the 90% of US citizens who opposed them. Yes, our Dem leaders with their tongues placed lovingly and mutually in the orifices of the Thugs while they took corporate chotskis for their part in fucking their constituents...this is what gave us these 'free trade agreements'.

[JHB]

6. We had a 90% _top marginal tax rate on personal income_...

...Nobody was so rich that their real tax rate was anywhere near 90%.

(that's a clarification of what safeinOhio said, not an argument, for anyone who can't tell)

Perhaps we should call high marginal tax rates a "Gravy Tax". It doesn't apply to a meat and potatos income. It only kicks in once you're in the territory where it's all gravy.

[Gaedel]

11. Unfortunately, if you read history

The Republicans (and the Whig and Federalist predecessors) were the party of high tariffs. The purpose was to protect American industry from foreign competition.

The Democrats were the free trade party and argued that high tariffs caused high prices for the common man and high profits for the industrialists.

The GOP Smoot-Hawley tariffs were considered to be one of the causes of the Great Depression (or at least aggravated the problem).

The GOP conversion to free trade is quite recent.

Free trade and "kumbaya" with all nations was a "progressive" idea through most of the 20th century.

I agree that we need prootective tariffs, we need them fast, and screw the rest of the nations that compete with us.

[jody]

12. Why introduce facts about tariffs and Republicans/Whigs/Federalist, that's Pat Buchanan's theme. n/t

[jody]

4. How would you implement tariffs today? n/t

[Confusious]

7. Do you really want to know?

I've read some of your posts, and you wouldn't like it, and we wouldn't agree.

[jody]

8. Please, I do want to know. n/t

[Confusious]

9. Of course, what I want will never happen

and I know that. Trade with China has caused nothing but problems here in the US. While I think they have every right to increase their standard of living, and ours needs to come down, what has happened is nothing short of a shock.

Basically, tariffs should be set to bring the price under (10%) what it would cost to make in the receiving country.

I have other thoughts on the subject, but I'm tired, and the mind is fuzzy.

[jody]

10. Perhaps you might start by critiquing Obama's latest proposal on trade policy, link below.

Obama outlines strategy to boost US exports -- and jobs (Christian Science Monitor, March 11, 2010)

Obama outlined a multipart "national export initiative":

• He signed an executive order "instructing the federal government to use every available federal resource" to boost exports. The order created an "export promotion cabinet," made up of the secretaries of State, Treasury, Agriculture, Commerce, and Labor, plus the US trade representative and other officials.

• He revived a separate body, called the President’s Export Council, and named Boeing CEO Jim McNerney and Xerox CEO Ursula Burns as co-chairs. The panel will make recommendations on trade policy.

• Multiple cabinet departments will help create a "one-stop shop" for small employers that want help identifying opportunities and setting up operations overseas. The effort would include embassies and consulates abroad, as well as agencies like the Departments of Agriculture and Commerce.

• Obama pledged to promote new free-trade agreements while also enforcing laws on the books, such as intellectual-property rights. "China moving to a more market-oriented exchange rate would make an essential contribution" to a more-balanced global economy, he said. That move could also help narrow the large gap by which US imports exceed exports.

• The administration will increase access to trade financing. Obama commended efforts by the Export-Import Bank over the past year to step up its activities when US credit markets were impaired.

[meow2u3]

13. This is what conservos and multinational thieves call "protectionism"

It's protectionism, all right--protection of the masses against the 21st century robber barons!