Reply #76: I will take these one at a time:

[woo me with science]

Paragraph one boils down to a whole lot of empty verbiage saying essentially, "Yes, trade deals have historically led to outsourcing, but *Obama's* trade deals will be different, I promise." The little lesson on the constitution (sic) was an especially nice bit of pedantic filler.

Yes, we all know that the administration is focusing on exports now. Do you realize why? Because they have determined that recovery will not be driven by Americans as consumers...because Americans don't have any money anymore. Instead, we are looking for nations which rely heavily on their OWN exports, and with which we have always had a trade gap, to rescue the American economy by buying all the things we are not even manufacturing. As many economists have opined in print since the administration announced their focus on exports, this plan is a recipe for continued economic sputtering, trade wars, and continued economic pain for Americans who have essentially been abandoned in the quest to keep corporate profits rolling in.

Paragraph two is flatly false. We were here, remember? I have summarized this whole debacle many times here, and you are welcome to look up my posts, which contain extensive links to the President's own words and media accounts at the time. Just google, "Be careful what you ask for. Here's your reality sandwich," along with my screenname. You are entitled to your own opinions, bhikkhu. You are NOT entitled to your own facts.

Paragraph three: "I don't know quite what you mean by Third Way and so forth..."

Of course you don't. :eyes:

And it gets better: "but I assume it is objection to policies which in some cases benefit businesses as employers - such as the bailout of the auto industry that saved a whole sector of US manufacturing, and hundreds of thousands of good jobs. Other things are similar - preventing people from losing jobs sometimes means helping businesses."

Sometimes? Sometimes? When has he done otherwise?

Classic Republican talking points: "We need to help the job creators." I am surprised you did not throw in the bit about regulations' making businesses "insecure," and the need for tax cuts for them, too.

So this is what we have come to in the Democratic Party: celebration of free trade agreements and austerity/budget slashing, defense of putting Social Security and Medicare on the bargaining table, and an exhortation that we need to help the job creators. Good god.

With a "Democratic" Party like this, who needs Republicans? Thank goodness for OWS.

Good luck to you. With this administration, we are all going to need it.