Posted by chuckmc on 04/07/11

I'm old enough to remember GATT. Even as a young man I didn't see how this could possibly help Americans. Nixon disliked GATT and was going to oppose it- the reason, some opine, that watergate happened, and Nixon, surrounded by Trilateralist traitors, resigned as per their advice.

Remember Nafta? Remember Perot? "Nafta will cause a giant sucking sound as jobs go..." He also said, "A Trade deficit is as bad as a budget deficit." Again, I knew Nafta was going to be bad for the working and middle class in America. How could our congressmen not know this as well? I would count Nafta as the first fledgling signs of the coming demise of our Republican Democracy, with it's replacemnet by what is called a Plutocracy- or rule by the very upper elite rich.

Currently, our government levies NO taxes at all on U.S. Corporation's foreign earnings as long as those earnings remain overseas!. As pointed out in a recent editorial in "The Week", this policy essentially engourages companies to reinvest their profits anywhere- but in the U.S.

Corporate profits in the 3rd quarter of 2010 hit an all time high of $1.659 Trillion- while at the same time, our nation was mired in one of it's deepest unemployment rates. Almost none of this money was taxed. Almost none of it went into the easing of our national debt.

Last Year we spent $59 Billion in foreign aid. Most of this went to the petty dictators whose puppet regimes we support. Mubarak is a rich man- to the tune of $40 billion. Not coincidently, during his lifetime as the president of Egypt he recieved $39 billion in foreign aid from the US. (BTW that amounts to $200 given to Mubarak by every single living person in the US. If you were actually ASKED if you wanted to contribute $200, what would you say. I, personally, would have rather seen it go to US public education).

In the March-April 2011 issue of "Mother Jones" a very interesting article about the current "Plutocracy" has some very pertinent figures, well documented....the one most telling to me: In 2010, $740 billion in lost wages, reduced benifits, reduced salaries, cola failures, was lost to the lower 80% of Americans. Concurrently, the upper 1% Gained $690 billion (with the missing $50 billion, I presume, going to the next 19%.)

This is the plutocracy at work. The upper 0.1% uber-rich have gained control over the reins of our government. The tipping point is long past. They own our congress, the federal reserve stooges in the executive branch, and now, with the recent ruling that a corporation has the same rights as a citizen, even the supreme court.

This means We cannot, by a legislative process improve the lives, wages, standard of living, and welfare of the lower 80% economic working/middle class. Period. The Plutocracy now pulls all the strings.

History has shown us that these situations always end with violence, with guillotines, and Robespierre's and "Let them eat cake".

Here's another solution: BUY ONLY AMERICAN MADE PRODUCTS. Right now that's hard to do- it takes some research to figure out which products actually ARE American made. But I notice that as more and more people demand foods not processed with High Fructose Corn syrup, that more and more brands are advertising, No HFCS. If we could get products labelled "MADE IN AMERICA" and we all started ONLY buying these products as our patriotic duty, we could put the squeeze on corporations. It would be tough for only a few years as we paid the higher prices....but soon, jobs would start filtering back to the US.  Corporate earnings, IN AMERICA, would increase, unemployment would decrease, our manufacturing base would by necessity, have to return to the US, and our standard of living would again start improving, making a better world for our kids! In effect we would foil the plans of the global economy and the one world currency.

Time is running out.

Posted 04/07/11 celticreeler Rolla, MO

I call it "Keeping My Countrymen Off Welfare." It's easier to do in a small town/rural area, where you can find craftspeople to make things, repair things. I've been trying to do this for 15 years. It's not getting any easier, and it's very time consuming. My family's consumption has gone way down over the past 3-4 years. We are simply doing without in many cases, because we cannot locate "American made." A month ago I went to one of those "house" parties, where the sales person demonstrates the product line (in this case, kitchenware). Looking for good culinary knives, I studied the blade...it said, "Germany." I said (incredulous), "Is this really made in Germany?" The nice lady said, "No, it's German steel, but it's made in China." That's bordering on fraud, if you ask me.

Posted 04/07/11 ProIndividual Rutland, OH

I disagree with a lot of what you say here. Boudreaux on Free Trade: Trade Deficits and Borders http://www.campaignforliberty.com/blog.php?view=40027 Frederic Bastiat on the Fallacy of Trade Deficits http://www.campaignforliberty.com/blog.php?view=40117 Stossel on Free Trade http://www.campaignforliberty.com/blog.php?view=40528 Embargo Act of 1807: Jefferson's Failed Attempt at Protectionism http://www.campaignforliberty.com/blog.php?view=40137 Smoo t-Hawley Tariff Act: The Economic Suicide of Protectionism http://www.campaignforliberty.com/blog.php?view=40091 Statist Economic Fallacies: Breaking Through the Nonsense (Part I) (see #4 and #5 on this list) http://www.campaignforliberty.com/blog.php?view=41436 Statist Economic Fallacies: Breaking Through the Nonsense (Part II) (see #6, #7, and #13 on this list) http://www.campaignforliberty.com/blog.php?view=41442 Statist Economic Fallacies: Breaking Through the Nonsense (Part III) (see #14, #15, #16, and #20 on this list) http://www.campaignforliberty.com/blog.php?view=41450 Trad e deficits are not bad (although all the trade agreements you mention are, we agree on that), trade deficits are not debt, compensation has always risen longterm despite the top 1% gaining a greater percentage overall, there is no war on the middle class, and buying American just for the sake of buying domestically despite price or quality shrinks GDP, makes us all poorer (buyers especially), lowers production, which lowers wages, which destroys the economy like all protectionism always does. You do the nation no good if you buy a more expensive product of comparable quality just for the pleasure of it being made in the USA. That means you have less to spend on other things (making you logically less wealthy), which means others won't have jobs to make those things you aren't buying, which shrinks the next company, and so on, until you get the minimum production and employment possible for the population. Adam Smtih's 'absolute advantage', David Ricardo's 'comparative advantage', and Frederic Bastiat's 'fallacy of trade deficits' and 'Broken Window Fallacy' apply heavily here. The only way to enforce a solution is statism...but the only real problem is already the state. There is no need to solve a problem being misidentified. The problem isn't Americans getting richer because of low cost, comparable quality, imports...the problem is misunderstanding the nature of trade, and the perverse incentives our government gives to corporations and traders. You mention several of those state caused problems. To understand them in better detail, check out those links I left you.

Posted 04/07/11 Scott from PA Hopwood, PA

I agree that we all should buy American when possible. There are two problems when trying to do so: 1) there is a small percentage of consumer goods still made in the U.S. and 2) many products labeled "made in U.S.A." are assembled here but have a high percentage of poor quality components made in China and/or other extremely low wage countries.

Posted 04/08/11 celticreeler Rolla, MO

I personally am not in favor of more regulation, trade barriers, etc. What I want is full disclosure, so I know when I am buying something full of plastic contaminated with heavy metals and all the radioactive garbage they'd like to ship abroad, made with political prisoner slave labor, contaminated with melamine to jack up the nitrogen content. I can choose to put my money into something my countrymen have made, which is of value to me and worth paying for, though it's not something any number crunching slave in a Beltway cubicle can get a handle on. Free people can choose.

Posted 04/13/11 chuckmc Ironton, MO

The comments were great! "Proindividual" My homework awaits! An example: I have been looking for products that do not contain High Fructose Corn Syrup. Slowly, over a course of 5 years, as more and more people did the same, products started being labeled, in big letters, NO HFCS. It is now much easier to buy products with real sugar. The same could happen with "American Made". As more and more people demand this,we will see more products so labeled. I am not suggesting ANY governmental interference. I am suggesting supply and demand. Will americans do it? Probably not, but in my "ideal" world, as demand for American made goods rose, corporations would find it profitable to come back to the USA. In the short term we would be poorer- a sacrifice in some ways similar to those made during the depression. In the long term as manufacturing returned- we would have new jobs, new spending capacity and new wealth. At present, in the plutocratic "wonderland" the US actually encourages overseas investment at the expense of none in the US (or tyou'll be taxed". I can only assume this is the workings of people interested only in a one world economy.

Posted by chuckmc on 01/18/09
Last updated 01/18/09

First I’m going to state that the war in Iraq is not about instilling democracy in a Muslim Nation. Nor is it about “freeing” the people from a ruthless tyrant, and I think we can all agree that the idea of WMD’s was laughable at best.
The war in Iraq is about oil, specifically, ExxonMobile’s oil; Oil that we in the US need, because we are oil dependent. Big Oil, in essence, has owned the white house, and in what can only be called the most beautiful economic maneuver ever by a mega-corporation, they have mobilized the US Military, at taxpayer’s expense, to protect their economic interests, while simultaneously reaping enormous profits on Halliburton’s non-bid services and projects.
We need the oil, for transportation and energy production…..But that is the pot WE have created, for US to boil in.
The cost of the war in Iraq is presently $1 Trillion. There is 301 million people currently in the US. The average family size is 3.18 and according to the census there are 111,090,617 housing units in the united states. $1 Trillion amounts to $3322 per person in the US. Or $10,564 per family. Aside from the obvious question of how in hell do we all pay this bill? Digging deeper, how ultimately is this going to affect our economy?
Spewing out more numbers: $1 Trillion amounts to $9, 008 per housing unit. $9, 000 buys roughly a wind generator capable of producing 200 kilowatthours per month, with 8 mph winds. $9,000 will also buy a solar photovoltaic system that will produce 200KWH in an area averaging 5 hours of sun/day. This is enough to offset electric usage in the typical household by 100%. Think about this….for every household in America, for $1 Trillion dollars, the government could have GIVEN a personal home energy generator that would have cut their electric usage to near nothing….think about no more burning oil (or coal) for electricity.
Let’s apply this to electric vehicles. On average, an electric car uses 0.3kwh/ mile. If driven 1000 miles per month, a home generator can supply 1/2 the energy needed for monthly transportation/ family, thereby cutting our oil demand by half.
And what if we apply these same formulas to group usage, ie instead of individual units per family, instead units for villages, for cities, or for counties? What if we apply it to increased public transportation systems. If a city of 5,000 population uses their Iraqi war gift and puts it in a pool, that amounts to $16,705,000 dollars. According to the US govt release from eere.energy.gov. wind farms cost about $1million per megawatt of installed capacity. With $16 million, a farm could be bought that therefore generated 16 megawatt capacity. By the same report, 1.5 megawatt capacity supplies energy for 500 homes. The town of 5000 population has 5000/2.60 (ave household size) = 1923 homes. With their combined pool, their wind farm provides for 2667 homes. They have just produced enough electricity for their own needs, and have 2 megawatts left over.
A megawatt is 1 million watts. A kilowatt hour is a unit representing the amount of work done by 1000 watts over an hour’s time. An electric car needs 300 watts/hour/mile.
2,000,000 watts would supply about 7000 free miles of travel every day in a public transport system, seems more than adequate for a town of 5000!
Scale this up to larger cities and the numbers get even better. Blanket the plains in wind turbines, and you supply energy for the surrounding 20 states!
Of course, not every area is suitable for wind generation, but a very similar economic argument can be made for solar power generation. The icing on the cake is: where wind power may not be appropriate, solar power IS appropriate, and vice-versa.
Do the math….no more coal-powered pollution from generating plants, no need to dam any more rivers, no need for more nuclear power, no oil dependence on nations who dislike, and extort, us.

I would ask you too, to consider the jobs this would have created- from manufacturing right on down to maintaining the grid and service. Bail-outs? Why? Let the danged bankers eat cake- let them fail, let the big three fail…because we’re talking about MORE $Trillions wasted here too! And all those people who NOW are without jobs, and all those people who very shortly will be without jobs, would find new employment.It would have been a win-win situation (except for Corporate CEO’s who wouldn’t get their golden parachutes….)
Drastic reductions in pollution, car exhaust, and greenhouse gasses and lo and behold, we’re not only meeting the Kyoto protocols for a better environment, we are the world leaders! How proud to say I’m an American under those circumstances!
Think about this $1 Trillion dollars, and countless American soldier’s lives…all to make sure Bush/Cheany and their oil cronies continued to profit at taxpayer expense. $1 Trillion dollars could have made us oil independent, with virtually free energy for every single household in our nation! We have been swindled, and duped; our money and welfare fraudulently stolen from us.
$1 Trillion dollars gone. 4200 American soldiers aren’t coming home. Estimates are we’ll easily spend $2 Trillion MORE before this ends…double all the figures I just used- and now we don’t need oil at all!!! We’re total electric. No gas, no pollution, no greenhouse gases…Nada, Zip, the Arabs can have it! or…start applying these savings to our schools, to our health care, to our needy…These are pure and simply, crimes against our national interests, against us. That these oil men perpetrate these crimes in the name of freedom and democracy just boggles my brain. How can this happen?

Posted by chuckmc on 12/20/08
Last updated 12/20/08

Paul Volcker, as Federal Reserve Chairman in the late 70's, a Trilateralist and Rockefeller "best boy" said in relation to the goal of globalism:
"The Standard of Living of the average American has to decline".
In "The Rockeffeller File", Gary Allen made a prediction in 1974 based on the Trilateral Commission's own printed documents- the "Triangle Files", that we could look for 4 major thrusts towards world economic controls from the Trilateralists in their quest for a one world government.
1. Pursue a world monetray system
2. Loot U.S. Resources for the further radicalization of "have not" nations.
3. Step Up trade with the Communist countries.
4. Milk the energy crises to gain greater international control.
This is all happening folks- this is the ideology of the Trilateralists, of which the Council of Foreign Relations is a sub chapter, and which owns the Federal Reserve through Rothschild, Warburg, Rockefeller and other European banking elitists.
They are looting our resources via bail-outs and wars on two different fronts that we cannot win, even as I write this.
America is being dumbed down by NCLB which steals and wastes millions of dollars of education money from our schools, and threatens our very public schools systems.
Nafta, Gatt, WTO, etc. has imported all our jobs and manufacturing to third world countries.
In the spirit of detente, and for their trade, we have given Russia and China our competitive edge in resource, developement, and technology.
We are not allowed to develop clean energy technology- solar, nuclear, wind as it takes away their ability to control us via oil. Fusion- a very real possability, will never be allowed in this country with its promise of clean, abundant, cheap energy.
And always we will be agitated, fighting senseless wars, going through even more senseless election cycles, caught in this SuperBowl mentality of US vs THEM, REPS vs DEMS, LIBS vs CONS when in reality- there is no difference, which in reality mean nothing:
Obama is a Trilateralist- as was McCain- as Was Cheaney-as was Bush Senior- As was their "best boy" Clinton- as is Hillary. And OBama just appointed the head of the federal Reserve to be our Treasury Secretary.
There will be no change, Obama is just the same wolf wrapped in different colored clothing. His goals are the same as the Trilateralists, the same as Cheany, Clinton, Bush Sr, Carter, etc. this the same downward spiral. And we will placatedly walk down this spiral, baaing like the sheeple we are, until finally, we wake up, and realize, we are third world people also. And America, if it even has a national identity anymore, will be no different from the rest of the world.
There were a few who begged us as a nation to escape the Repubs abd Dems and go with Ron Paul, Libertarians, anybody who still has their freedom....but we kill the messengers, with derision, with mockery, with believing a news media that in itself is owned by the trilateralists, and we stay content, chewing our cud, and being sheeple.

Posted by chuckmc on 12/20/08
Last updated 12/20/08

I would direct us to the bank bailout as a model. They are near spending 50% of the money- but there have already been reports written that the government is already one full month behind in its accounting of how the money is being spent. In other words, it is being spent completely without oversight.
Bear in mind that the good Chief Embezzlement Officers at Goldman Sachs, despite all the hoopla and criticism- did, in fact, give themselves their bonuses.
These are bonuses for what? Doing a good job? Putting their company on solid profit footing?
The answer is simple enough. We are seeing the looting of the American Taxpayer. We are seeing the grandest con game ever created.
The Chief Embezzlement Officers at Gm and Chrysler, appearing in their private jets to beg for money (as in let them eat cake attitude) will do the same as the banking CEO's. Take the money and use it to fund their own fortunes and pay for entitlements. The CEO of GM, when asked if he would cut his salary for his company said "I like my salary where it's at." (As in $21,7 million). The end result is simply a delay of what will eventually occur- not because of anything other than the fact: they have ignored the advice of the last 15 years, and continue to make a substandard product that no one wants. They will go bankrupt.
Read the current issue of Newsweek for the comparison of the foreign car manufacturers (aren't they really American now?) vs the lumbering oafs at the Big 3. This is what competition in the free market is all about.