Maybe I will be able to use them soon.

Free trade is the equivalent of rape. That’s an interesting take.

MarkTheGreat on February 13, 2009 at 4:27 PM

No you miss the point. Free trade is the equivalent of sex and being abused by your trade partners is the equivalent of rape.

Badger40 on February 13, 2009 at 4:58 PM

God bless and good luck.

One bit of amusing advice, start growing wagyu beef. I understand a new market has sprung up unexpectedly.

genso on February 13, 2009 at 4:32 PM

I think my husband would drink all the beer it takes to make this product!
I do have one cow I can massage. But she’s my old bottle calf. I don’t think I can eat her quite yet.
She’s my sweetie!

MrScribbler on February 13, 2009 at 4:25 PM

What people like you don’t understand is that growth can not exist in a closed system. It needs to discard some things and refresh itself from outside. “people like” me, if I make profits from overseas, actually help the process by returning money back into the US. Or is that only something that should be left to the government to handle for us. At the rate they are selling our dollars abroad I would say that it would be a bad investment.

We have too many easily bribed political hacks and people like “genso” who are willing to put their own nation’s prosperity at risk to save/make a buck.

MrScribbler on February 13, 2009 at 4:25 PM

I feel for you, but what sacrifice are you expecting me to make for you? Would you feel better if I only invested in American companies even though my profit potential is less? More importantly, will it increase your profits?

If there are no companies on the market that provide what you want, the odds are you are the only one demanding it.

MarkTheGreat on February 13, 2009 at 4:32 PM

Good point. Many craftsmen are in business today because they can supply the small demands.

We have too many easily bribed political hacks and people like “genso” who are willing to put their own nation’s prosperity at risk to save/make a buck.

MrScribbler on February 13, 2009 at 4:25 PM

The only one here putting this countries prosperity at risk is you. Because you care more about your job than you do about the condition of the American consumer.

Badger40 on February 13, 2009 at 4:08 PM

Badger40…man I feel for you guys in the beef industry. You’ve been beaten up by everyone from vegans to environmentalists. To be sure you cannot pick up and move overseas for a level playing field.

You represent the problems we have with government intrusion. The USDA, as do all government agencies, give preferential treatment to the big guys of the industry and write regulations that add another burden on you. I guess those guys are too big to fail or something. I didn’t realize that you couldn’t label your product so that your beef could stand out against others. That does take a competitive advantage from you. One bit of amusing advice, start growing wagyu beef. I understand a new market has sprung up unexpectedly.

But intense regulations cause problems for all small businesses who can not afford to lobby and sue and pay off officials.

Look at Detroit back in the 70′s and 80′s. They made crappy, over priced cars. And didn’t care, because they belived the consumers had no choice. The consumers disagreed, because they started buying Japanese.

Detroits response was not to improve their product, but rather go crying to Washington to eliminate the unfair competition.

Soooo… a factory that is made unprofitable BECAUSE of government regulations, laws, and rules, deserves to go out of business?

Level playing field? I agree… problem is that we don’t have a level playing field.

Romeo13 on February 13, 2009 at 3:52 PM

If the people won’t reform the govt to get rid of the govt created problems, then yes, the factory deserves to go out of business.

DFCtomm on February 13, 2009 at 3:44 PM

I haven’t said — and don’t believe — that free trade is a bad thing. What’s bad is when we get “free trade” agreements that sell our own workers and industries out. Those who have negotiated trade deals for this country simply haven’t had the guts to use the leverage we have (or used to have) to ensure that what is fair to one side is fair to the other.

And yes, the tax/regulatory structures here don’t help. That’s especially true when the trade “partners” impose dranconian measures against us, and not their own industries.

But saying U.S. companies “deserve to fail” because they can’t compete with the deck stacked against them is sheer hypocrisy.

And the minimum wage — or even the concept of paying decent wages — has less to do with the cost of production than most people think. It’s an effective red flag to wave, though.

We have too many easily bribed political hacks and people like “genso” who are willing to put their own nation’s prosperity at risk to save/make a buck.

The internal stresses it mainfests are nearing the point of being totally unsustainable. You have, what, 13 countries with vastly different economies all trying to share a common currency and the basket cases have already disposed of the stability framework.

It is only a matter of time.

Which is why I applaud, and invest in, those companies smart enough to move their manufacturing overseas where they are appreciated.

genso on February 13, 2009 at 3:54 PM

I see your point. Unfortunately this does nothing for family businesses like mine.
All it does is screw us over.
So the entrepreneur at the small level is screwed from the beginning.
We should never involve ourselves in protectionism.
But there is something wrong when companies are allowed to get so freaking huge that nobody knows who owns what anymore.
Doing business in ‘bulk’ has advantages, but those advantages to the consumer start to disappear when the company gets so big they no longer care about a few disgruntled consumers. This leads to giving the consumer anything & if it’s substandard, so what. Where else do you have to go & get this product? Nowhere? Yeah. That’s right. Bcs now only a few guys sell it.
I don’t know what the solution for these problems are, but ‘free-trade’ deals are really unfair to people like me in the cattle business. The meat we produce is not marked as to its origin.
So when you go & buy a hamburger or steak, you have no idea where it comes from. And bcs 3 packers monopolize the market, they can give you anything to eat & you basically have to shut up & eat it, go to the farmer/rancher next door, raise it yourself, or become a vegetarian.
I think labeling laws are important for all products so Americans can make better informed choices about the clothes they wear & the food they put into their bodies.
I am confident in my superior product, but when it’s blended with inferior product from 2 other countries, you don’t know what you’re getting.
This may seem unimportant to some, but it illustrates to me how unbalanced trade & agreements can be.
Mexico & Canada etc can use drugs on their animals that I can’t (& wouldn’t want to) increasing pounds, but an inferior-tasting product.
I raise the tastier more efficient product, but at a higher cost bcs of American laws & taxes.
So why do they get to sell their product here in competition with me & never telling you what you’re eating?

If not, expect the EU system to collapse entirely, and the Euro along with it.

Ed, you say this like it’s a bad thing!
I would be delighted if the EU collapsed and the Euro along with it!
It’s way past time for these independent countries to stop play-acting that they’re united and that the EUro is propped up by anything but hot air!
Celebrate diversity, Europe, and go back to being nationalistic and productive!

Level playing field? I agree… problem is that we don’t have a level playing field.

Romeo13 on February 13, 2009 at 3:52 PM

Which is why I applaud, and invest in, those companies smart enough to move their manufacturing overseas where they are appreciated.

Any factory that isn’t competitive, deserves to go out of business, I don’t care where that factory is located.

MarkTheGreat on February 13, 2009 at 3:47 PM

Soooo… a factory that is made unprofitable BECAUSE of government regulations, laws, and rules, deserves to go out of business?

Level playing field? I agree… problem is that we don’t have a level playing field.

Free trade sex is always good. Even when your trade partners aren’t free traders rapists.

MarkTheGreat on February 13, 2009 at 3:45 PM