This whole thing came up during the Bush administration. I think it may have even come up during the Clinton administration. It’s that “Free Trade” part of the North American Free Trade Agreement. Once you stop allowing free trade, your trading partners stop allowing free trade.

There’s always some special interest group out there who wants to throw out the part of free trade that costs them money. They can’t be given the veto.

Free trade works. Restricted trade provokes reactions from the nations you restrict trade with, and shoots everybody in the foot just to protect some small group with political clout.

ThereGoesTheNeighborhood on March 18, 2009 at 1:03 AM

What products does ending this program restrict? What tariffs have been increased? What exactly is being restricted except the access of foreign nationals.

There’s always some special interest group out there who wants to throw out the part of free trade that costs them money. They can’t be given the veto.

Free trade works. Restricted trade provokes reactions from the nations you restrict trade with, and shoots everybody in the foot just to protect some small group with political clout.

all this bs over trade issues while we absorb 100s of thousand illegals with absolutely nothing but mexican gov guide books for the invaders to increase their odds of surviving the journey and instructions to the nearest commie lawyer.

Its hard for me to consider civil issues as our country is being pilfered.

That’s ok, folks. Obama has much bigger fish to fry: he wants to screw our trade relationship with China and really tank the world economy.

No problem. It just means that there will be more motive to manufacture here with domestic businesses instead of over there.

I want to join the winning side!!

VIVA LA RAZA!!

Anyways, just how many trucks are we talking about here?

Non sequiter [sic?].

Count to 10 on March 17, 2009 at 4:11 PM

You’re a comedian right? You have to be. You try to dazzle with jargon, and show just how smart you are and then misspell one of the terms your using to dazzle. It’s got to be satire.

DFCtomm on March 17, 2009 at 4:19 PM

“Count to 10″ is an admirer of Sid Caesar, me thinks.

In “The Professor”, Caesar was the daffy expert, a Germanic expert scientist in everything and nothing, who bluffed his way through his interviews with earnest roving reporter Carl Reiner. In its various incarnations, “The Professor” could be Gut von Fraidykat (mountain-climbing expert), Ludwig von Spacebrain (space expert), or Ludwig von Henpecked (marriage expert).

Considerations on the margin, small enough to have little back reaction, will not remain accurate when extrapolated to majority considerations. Thus, the effectiveness of importing a cheap good in no way implies that it would be even more effective (or even possible) to produce nothing and import everything. As the perturbation approaches unity, the theory fails.

Count to 10 on March 17, 2009 at 4:05 PM

I have no idea what you are talking about and I don’t think you do either.

sethstorm on March 17, 2009 at 5:37 PM

LOL….Nafta was Clinton all Clinton all the way. Face it the democrat burned you. Now 9/10 a rep would have signed it also but the fact that a dem like Clinton signed Nfata just gives me a warm fuzzy feeling. at least the reps say they support free trade but a dem pres signing the most sweeping free trade pact ever? that is just rich beyond words..

From today’s Sydney Morning Herald comes this headline: US may penalise imports from carbon free-riders

MMM, I love the smell of Smoot-Hawley in the morning!!!

/SIGH

The only one opposing it was Perot.

thecountofincognito on March 17, 2009 at 6:12 PM

At least Perot can’t be said to be Anti-American for making his stand.

Clinton campaigned on supporting NAFTA, with a Democrat majority in congress at the time and for over two years after. The only one opposing it was Perot.

Clinton that signed Nafta nevermind

unseen on March 17, 2009 at 5:34 PM

At the force of a Republican-leaning Congress about to take a Contract On America.

Why can’t all you people out there including Mexico, Russia, Cuba, and China, just stop the Racism and love Obama. After all I think that man has been beaten enough, I have a theory of how Michelle Obama’s arms have become so toned. This is unproven, but I think she beats her husband, remember the argument over the dog on television!
Think about it!

Never mind that he also signed an amnesty bill in 1986.

sethstorm on March 17, 2009 at 4:34 PM

your right when Reagan signed NAFTA oh wait a minute it was Clinton that signed Nafta nevermind

TimothyJ on March 17, 2009 at 5:16 PM

I have no problem with that.

Both should be severely limited.

Speakup on March 17, 2009 at 4:49 PM

That is where I agree completely.

So they can go ahead and do a blockade..

PLEASE
Close the damn border
Keep all of the mexicans at home

PLEASE..?

There had not been a vacation my wife and I had taken to Mexico where Mexicans weren’t protesting or striking against something. And I’m going back to our vacations beginning in 1996.

As for the violence… I expect to see anger taken out at the border, my Texas border.

But don’t worry. We’ll handle it. Oh, yes. We’ll handle it.