Is "free Trade"  fair to Americans when we compete with countries whose standards of living are far inferior to ours? We are told by the government and by business that it keeps prices down, but don't you think it only allows business execs and stockholders to rape more money out of the companies, while slowly decreasing the American workers way of life?
137061
Yes, we are being killed by free trade.  What happened to "made in America"?  If we keep this up, there will be no jobs for Americans.  I would gladly pay more for a product that is Made in America.
143371
Actually its a super conflict between government and corporations.  Most "anti capitalist" think the government does not do enough and the pro capitalist think the government holds the companies back.  Take for example our (America's) little oil &#92; gas problem.  We can't drill in Anwar, can't drill within a 100 miles of our coast or even on our coast anywhere for that matter, and have not built an oil refinery in this country for nearly 30 years.  Do you think that is because of the legal powers of big companies?  Not one bit.
284959
yes, essentially. they are just betting on the future supply of oil, which seems dumb when right now the price should be much lower. unfortunately this is not anti-american. capitalism is the american way and overall, it is a great system. we just have to live with a few unfortunate excesses.
444664
All we have to do is change the rules. Bring back the tariffs that Reagan weakened. The corporations want to set up shop overseas no problem more power to you, but if you want to bring your goods back it will cost you to the point that they will have to set up in both countries or just stay here. Right now if China wants to ship and sell a car in American they pay 2% tariff but if we want to sell cars in China we pay 20% tariff and in S. Korea we let them sell cars here but we can`t sell cars there. How is this fair trade?
104959
so? can you explain to us how that effects the average working family in this country? The stock holders make money when people get laid off as well as when there are expansions. It is a meaningless point to quote one aspect of the economy. A better question would be: who is going to have to pay back the world's largest recorded deficit ? Who is paying the interest on that right now? Where could all that wasted money be going other than financing our ever sky rocketing debt? The stock market is the biggest pyramid scheme ever conceived. Every once in a while the market plummets and the big fish gobble up all the little fish and start over again. It is a vicious cycle for anyone that is not of mammoth proportions when hard times hit. It may as well be the lottery. All the things that you point to as good for right now are artificially held in limbo until all this fiscal irresponsibility comes to bear, then we are all in for a world of pain.\n\n  The average working family already has jobs, or they woulf be unemployed, you must be a brain surgeon I guess.\nwho was talking about social security....bait and switch debating is ineffective.\n\n I noticed you skipped mentioning about the debt (the main point). Your have no point except for the sound of your own voice (in your head as you type). \n\n When I hear a fascist call me a whiner, I get goosebumps.\n\nwatch LOU DOBBS if you want the truth about our economy and the real problems that swirl around your head while you stare blankly in the darkness that is your own ignorance.\n\n  I believe it is you who is the hypocrit. If you look a little closer than you would care to, the facts might come out and bite you. Fact....the 5 million jobs you refer too are replacing jobs that were lost by downsizing, at a fraction of the pay of the original jobs lost. Shrinking the middle class. Fact....you cannot single out the dow jones and stock market as an acurate indicator of our over all economy because it is one sided. So you would rather dwell on a possible positive for your side than to delve a little deeper and see what is really going on. I suppose I can't blame you there....it gives your argument more flash, but very little substance. You are only looking to prove your own point here, so I will leave you to it in your little bubble world that you call right wing denial. Good luck with all that money you must have rolling in. Where do you keep it all...there must be truck loads.
564495
I can say that I am mad about the outsourcing of jobs and the dependence on foreign items, but I cannot answer the question based on facts. My opinion is that we're being outsourced because its cheaper to produce things outside the US. Our dependence for foreign items comes with the outsourcing of jobs and perhaps that we can't preoduce itmes for ourselves fast enough that we look for outside items. I would like the politicians who benefit or support outsourcing to be ousted from Congress.
181460
Wisesayer makes sense.  Note: the Smoot-Hawley Act killed free-trade.  Farmers would have lost the 'world markets' for their products.  The net result would be a temporary oversupply of farm products in the U.S.  This would quickly result in bank loan foreclosures on the insolvent farmers who couldn't sell the products of their labor for a profit.  Destruction of free trade was an important piece of the downward economic spiral the government created for depression era Americans (and the world).\n\nThe question is, have we learned anything?  Bush, in his first term signed  laws that again limited some free trade (steel, lumber and possibly cattle tariffs).  I am not a supporter of much of what Clinton did as President, but the one economic issue he 'got right' was his strong support of free trade.
217220
I disagree.  This is basically a communist idea.  The Universal Living Wage would cause america to lose a ton of jobs to lower wage countries.  We are already having problems competeing with counrtries that pay their workers 500 dollars a year.  This would drastically raise unemployment which is bad especially for poor people.  We would be looking at unemployment rates like those found in France and Germany of around 12 percent.  It would also stunt long term growth.  Everyone in America can eat well enough.  I have know obese people who were on welfare.  People in America are well off, poverty is more of a relative thing.  Poor people in America still have a lot more than people in the Sudan.  It is only when compared to insanely rich people in Manhattan that they seem so poor.  That is not to say that poverty is not a problem in America it is, but a Universal Living Wage would amplify this problem not fix it.
16075
The Economist ran a contest in 2004 that adressed that very question.  In my analysis (I submitted an entry) I mentioned several examples around the subject which was import workers or export jobs.  If jobs are exported, the playing field, for it to be "fair" to workers who lose their jobs in the USA or otherwise see deflationary pay, then the "rules" need to be fair overseas.  Just as how American workers compete with Indian, Chinese, and other countries for jobs, so should those very Indians, Chinese, and other countries.  In other words, jobs sent overseas to, say, India, need to be made available to ALL Indians, not just routed through specific agencies, employers, and arms of some overseas entity.  This way, fair competition rules that apply in North America are exported.  In other words, both the jobs (and technologies, ultimately) as well as the framework under which those very jobs were created in the first place, are exported.  Thus elevating standards of living while raising costs - which make for a fairer assessment of whether or not it makes sense to export the jobs in the first place.
658924
Yes, and do you remember when the economists and professors  and sundry politicians told us that the WTO would be good for America, then years later admit ed that by good for America they didn't mean for the workers or small business owners or the poor or middle class or the economy but rather that it would be good because it would "streamline" trade negotiations? Kind of a big difference right? \nOh and remember NAFTA was negotiated by Clinton, such a nice gift on top of his tax increases that helped to make relocating to Mexico more attractive.
269287
Why should we in the U.S. care about the plight of ILLEGAL immigrants when we have our Own to help!!\n\nWhy shouldn't we as bad for the poor in the U.S. as much as others feel sorry for those in other countries? How is what happened in New Orleans any different than the Asian tsunami? Why should it be 'self pity' for us to aknowelge our fellow citizens who are living in squallar? Anyone can see the U.S. is becomming a two tier economy. It's been heading in that direction for quite a while now, and there's no sign things will change for the better. If you don't know what a two tier economy is, please look it up and educate yourself! Almost all of the income growth in the States since 1975 has been for the richest 20 percent of households. Today the economic gap between between rich and poor in the United States is greater than ever. There's nothing like taking a walk around your (bank-owned) house, then going outside and kneeling down in your (bank-owned) lawn and grabbing a handful of (the bank's) dirt to make you realize how precious (their) land is. Americans aren't that 'rich'! lol. \n\n\nWhy are Americans above all nations so self-delusional? They aren't that rich, majority are poor. They work longer hours for things they will prob. never REALLY own. They have to BORROW more, as in credit cards. The american education system is laughable. No health care. What does the U.S. REALLY have going for it besides WEAPONS??!!!!!! Nothing......\n\nDidn't the Roman empire died eventually? Why do Americans think that it will continue to be the "world leader" in anything? Many, many people around the world don't like Americans because they believe they are full of themselves.\n\n\nWhy shouldn't the world feel as bad for the poor in the U.S. as americans feel about others? Is it a feeling of superiority?? Possibly?\n\nWhat about New Orleans?? PEOPLE STARVED TO DEATH WHILE THE U.S. GOV. WATCHED ON T.V.!!! What about the elderly and the children who are "lost"?
642002
Less fortunate? Look they come here and give so called "cheap labor", which by the way is $10-12 tax free (I don't call that cheap), then they send all that money back to Mexico where the exchange rate benifits them so they live like Kings over their shambled surroundings. What pisses me off the most is not that they came here and jumped to the front of the line of all those waiting poor and hungry to get in legally, and not that they don't pay a dime in taxes, and not that they feed off the well-fare system, and not that some of them refuse to learn English, and not that they bring their crime rate with them, but what pisses me off terribly is that they come here and demand things from OUR government like we owe them ANYTHING, and they use our humanity against us, saying we stole land from them? I'm not racist, and I'm not Anti-immigration. I'm anti-illegal immigration, and they shot themselves in the foot with the way they acted recently.\n\nContrary to belief of those who don't work construction or landscaping, Americans CAN BE hard workers. In fact I lost a tooth because two "cheap" laborers wouldn't do the work and I was working right along side of them, told them if they don't keep up with me they don't get paid. So they fought me and even though I lost a tooth, I sent one of those little F***ers running like a little girl. We do work hard and America would not be where it is today were it not for hard working citizens. If Americans are so lazy, then why is it that America is an economical giant and Mexico is still a primitive almost 3rd world country with lazy idiots that kick back and drink all day(ok that was a stereotype, sorry I probably just ruined my credibility)?\n\nAnyway don't say Amercians are spoiled. You might be spoiled, but most of us are not.\n\nHere is a better analogy: If your company was struggling to pay your paycheck, do you think you could run to another company and get them to give you full benefits and a nice paycheck without filling out an application? Hell no you wouldn't. And as for the less fortunate, if you really want to help them, go down to your local soup kitchen and cook dinner for the guys. They'll really appreciate it. Take care of people at home first, and when no American is sleeping in the cold, then we can start looking at helping foreigners.\n\nHere's something else-- Do you want another crowd of people to die senselessly a bloody and painful death? If not I would suggest  you support border control, because at anytime, one of those terrorists could come in unbeknownst to the nation by hopping the border.\n\n\n\n\nI think we've beat this issue death. None of us are listening to the opposite arguement, and it's not going anywhere. I don't know where you got the idea that there are just as many Americans working tax free. Have you ever driven by a parking lot with a bunch of Americans sitting there waiting to get work? I don't thinks so. You can't possibly live anywhere near one of the large cities where immigration is a problem. If you did you wouldn't be saying things like that, because they're just not true. I live right here in the heart of it. I live in a neighborhood, and I think that me, my next door neighbor, and one Mexican family down the street are the only legal households in the entire neighborhood. When we have problems out here, they will beg not to call the police, because they don't have papers. That means they don't work on a social security number or they wouldn't be worried about it. You don't need a social security number. The majority of them just get picked up, paid cash and dropped off. And most of them will tell you life is good back home in Mexico. I gotta give it to them for live in such tight quarters for a year at a time-\n\nAmerica has come way too far to say we're lazy, dishonest, and government dependant. That's not true at all.
371406
Not only are we endorsing the slave labor in China, we are also going to reduce our wages to the same level in order to compete.\n\nWe should not trade with nations that do not observe basic human rights.
105955
If these companies weren't so greedy and always thinking about profits all the time...americans needs jobs, too.  The state in which I live in have offered some companies here very nice incentives for them to stay instead of moving operations to Mexico or somewhere where is are plenty of cheap labor.  There are too many greedy companies and corporations out there.  Seriously, what are they going to do with all that money?
115112
It's what they use as read between the lines. Not all policies are good for the American People. Alot tend to go towards the Capitalists and Imperialists, for profits only, at the expense of the American People. You can surely understand that! They have hidden agendas in Legislature such as the Patriot Act. Raising fuel cost's, with record profits after Hurricane Katrina, and so on, and so on.
229770
"Third, I don't like the idea that they take jobs from Americans who are willing to work. However, many of the jobs they take are jobs that legal Americans are unwilling to do because they are "demeaning". Also, Americans expect to be paid more because we want to buy the house and the car and the big screen television. They on the other hand want to put food on the table and clothes on their kids."\nMaybe Americans also want to put food on the table and clothes on their backs?  And what's wrong with wanting to get paid more to buy a house or a car?\n\n"Further more, have we forgotten that Texas was originally Mexico? Let's give it back! While we're at it, let's give back Hawaii to the Hawaiians, Alaska to the Russians, Louisianna to the French, Florida to the Seminoles, The Midwest to the Cherokee and Sioux and the East Coast back to England. Oh, and while we're at it drag all the Americans back from Japan, China, Taiwan, South Africa, and Australia."\n\nUh, many of those places you speak of were purchased.  And regardless of what the past was like we live in the present now.  It doesn't matter if the land belonged to someone else before.  The U.S. is U.S. property and it will and should not change.
229085
I'm guessing you've never been to America.  I've traveled through most of Europe, the standard of living is nowhere even close to that of America.  There are a few cities that have a different standard but are on par with the USA. As far as being relevant...Yes the USA is a major purchaser of European goods and their economies are interlinked.  If the US economy fails so will be the fate of Europe's just as if Europe's economy fails so is the fate of America's.