When will Obama acknowledge that it's the phony "free trade" that's 1/2 of the economy's downfall?

[brentspeak]

(The other half being a combination of the housing market collapse, Wall St. shell games, and various pocketbook issues like the insane cost of health care).

Will Obama publicly address the issue of the outsourcing and Chinese debt elephants in the room?

[billyoc]

1. Yeah, that'd be never.

[Mimosa]

2. I don't think he will

The day Obama speaks honestly and in detail about those issues would be equivalent to the day JFK said he wanted to see the CIA split into a thousand pieces and tossed to the winds. Or it would be like when JFK announced plans for a drawdown of 'advisors' from Vietnam.Do you get what I'm saying?

I think Obama is going to have to act incrementally and more slowly than we'd all like him to on the issues you've mentioned. Hopefully even the corporate overlords must see that their policies have worked to lessen their profits in America.

[Just-plain-Kathy]

6. I hope you're right. I'd hate to think Obama is just an enabler.

...Though it's sad to think he may be fearful for his life.

[Hello_Kitty]

3. Shit, there's DUers that won't acknowledge it.

Unfortunately some "progressives" have drunk the Flat World Koolaid too.

[Skittles]

4. Obama doesn't get it

he truly does not get it

[Hello_Kitty]

5. Neither did Clinton and neither does any prominent Dem

Once they get surrounded by the likes of Larry Summers and Tim Geithner and Alan Greenspan. Not to mention all the CEOs like Bill Gates and Craig Barrett who fill their heads with globalization nonsense. Honestly, you'd think at least one of them would have the common sense to think "hey, if this free trade stuff is so great how come the explanation of why is so convoluted?" But they never do.

[Skittles]

7. true

it's why I wish it would be the topic of the next Michael Moore doco

[OhioChick]

12. True...

Without jobs, we'll never recover. No Jobs = No Recovery

[slipslidingaway]

8. I doubt it...

there were some who warned against this in 2000 before the bill was signed.

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h106-4444
"Oct 10, 2000: Became Public Law No: 106-286."

The High Cost of the China-WTO Deal:

http://www.epi.org/publications/entry/issuebriefs_ib137/

"February 16, 2000 Issue Brief #137

The High Cost of the China-WTO Deal
Administration's own analysis suggests spiraling deficits, job losses

by Robert E. Scott

"No one can predict the future. But the Clinton Administration is confidently forecasting that the huge U.S. trade deficit with China will improve if Congress accords China permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) in order to accommodate Beijing's membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO). President Clinton claims that the recently signed trade agreement with China "creates a win-win result for both countries" (Clinton 2000, 9). He argues that exports to China "now support hundreds of thousands of American jobs," and that "these figures can grow substantially with the new access to the Chinese market the WTO agreement creates" (Clinton 2000, 10)..."


July 30, 2008 | EPI Briefing Paper #219

http://www.epi.org/publications/entry/bp219/

The China trade toll
Widespread wage suppression, 2 million jobs lost in the U.S.

"The growth of U.S. trade with China since China entered the World Trade Organization in 2001 has had a devastating effect on U.S. workers and the domestic economy. Between 2001 and 2007 2.3 million jobs were lost or displaced, including 366,000 in 2007 alone..."

[tranche]

9. My fellow Americans, our entire economic system is a sham. A lie.

Kucinich can say it, Ron Paul can say it, primarily because they've become all but popular jokes, but can a sitting American president really make this case? Really?

Free trade and equalizing of living standards (consumption) around the world is 100% the reason for the economy's downfall. What exactly is he going to do after publicly addressing it? Really? Do you think things through before posting or do you just like looking for attention on message boards?

[brentspeak]

19. If all Obama does is simply point out the problem strongly enough

the floodgates of public discussion on the topic will open, and the American people will finally, at long last, pressure their politicians to quit screwing them on behalf of Chi-America Corp. What a President says can trigger quite a bit of resultant debate.

And in answer to your questions posed in the last sentence of your post: 'Yes, but not always 100% fully-thought out' to the first, and 'no' to the second.

[Name removed]

10. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[slipslidingaway]

11. Kissinger foresees brighter future for US-China ties

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/09chinausrelations/2009-01/07/content_7374028.htm

"NEW YORK -- The US-China relations will enjoy steady and continuous progress in a long period to come, as many problems in the world today require the two countries to cooperate in many ways, former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger said here on Monday.

pictured...

Stephen A. Orlins (R2), president of the United States National Committee on US-China Relations (NCUSCR), Henry Kissinger (R3), former US secretary of state, attend a ceremony marking the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the United States and China in the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, the United States, January 5, 2009. ...

Just hours before the interview with Xinhua in his New York office, Kissinger attended a special Opening Bell sounding ceremony at the New York Stock Exchange to mark the anniversary of US-China diplomatic ties, which officially fell on Jan. 1..."


http://www.ncuscr.org/who-we-are/board-directors


Interview from that day on the floor of the NYSE.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KD3BqK-9ZiU

[invictus]

13. It's 50% "free trade" which destroyed American industry and 50% financial deregulation under Clinton

nt

[denem]

24. You can fit the US economy into little dinky 50% boxes?

Lucky you. Why not start by saying that the economies of the rest of the world have no impact on the United States whatsoever?. At worst, simplistic thinking is a sign of a simpleton . Since both the "free trade" and financial deregulation took place under the Clinton administration, WJC is 100% responsible for the current recession. Fail.

There something Palinesque about 50% + 50% = Now.

[LWolf]

14. Never. nt

[bvar22]

15. Obama---"I am a Free Trader".

You will never hear Obama make a definitive statement about the damage "Free Trade" has dome to the American Working Class.

Like most issues, Obama was ambiguous about Free Trade during the campaign.
He has perfected the art of fence straddling and triangulation.

"Like all of you, I believe in free trade, but we have to acknowledge that for millions of Americans, its burdens have been outweighing its benefits. So if we want to avoid rising protectionism in this country, if we expect working Americans to accept and even embrace free trade, then I believe we all have a stake in embracing policies that will provide them some semblance of security."

(Obama speech on economy in New York City, Sept. 17, 2007)

During the campaign, Obama DID say he would "renegotiate NAFTA", but he also immediately dispatched representatives who met with concerned Canadians and told them in private that he had no intentions of renegotiating NAFTA, that he was just trolling for LABOR votes.

And, indeed, this has turned out to be the case. Any renegotiation of NAFTA appears to have fallen off the table. Obama quietly met with "trade representatives" from the ultra right wing government of Colombia last week to hammer out a new "Free Trade" agreement with them.

[avaistheone1]

23. Obama: "if we expect working Americans to accept and even embrace free trade..."

American to embrace free trade?

I think Obama broke the U.S. bullshit detector on that one. He should get a refund from his speech writer. What a bogus and arrogant statement. :grr:

[Freddie Stubbs]

16. He won't

He supports free trade.

[anonymous171]

17. Wall Street seems to be doing pretty well.

So no, he won't publicly address this issue.

[Jim Sagle]

18. Change we can fuhgeddaboud.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

20. He's probably waiting until after the economy recovers, unemployment numbers plummet...

etc, etc, etc.

[Bullet1987]

21. Free Trade is the backbone of elitist finanicial power

[BigBearJohn]

22. Wish I could recommend this threat 1000 times

[earth mom]

25. The way it's going, the U.S. will soon be a country of haves and have nots.

The Class War is alive and well with Obama at the helm.

[EndElectoral]

26. Free trade? Lower wages, no environmental protections, or labor protections met to destroy unions.