Comments on: McCain Talks Trade With Ohio Autoworkers
Republican Candidate Tells Workers He's For Free Trade, Government Investment
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- It is globalization, not oil prices, that will undermine the U.S. economy. Oil prices affect most countries more or less equally.
When you have workers in other countries making 1/10th or less than U.S. workers, tariffs are necessary to keep things in balance. Without them, jobs will necessarily migrate to where labor is cheapest. That''''s why I believe that we are not in a recession but a long-term permanent trend of steady job loss and declining wages. Meanwhile the U.S. workers will continue to suffer for a long time to come.
Some might argue that tariffs keep products more expensive. That is true, but they also keep jobs at home and wages up. They act as a DISincentive for U.S. companies to move jobs abroad, because they don''''t gain anything when they try to sell their products back at home. Also, keep in mind that tariffs bring REVENUE to the government, revenue that it otherwise would need to collect in TAXES. Think of tariffs as an EQUALIZER that smooths out the disparity in labor income of different countries. - Reply to this comment
- Praise be to ExxonMobil! Taking on the world''s energy challenges by keeping America addicted to oil! God am I proud of American media!
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- McLame''s already said he wants to be aggressive on free trade - somebody should ask him point blank whether he would pursue a free trade agreement with India.
Because the trade agreements that have been detrimental are the ones which benefit corporations but cost workers jobs and therefore diminish consumer purchasing power. It''s those agreements with countries where there''s a big difference in standard of living, and where the net gain for corporations is cheaper labor. Somebody also ought to ask McLame outright what types of jobs he foresees down-sized autoworkers getting in the future after his ''retraining programs''. I think people deserve to know how much of a decrease in their standard of living they''re signing on for if they vote for him.
The outdated trade policy which so many of those economists from the 90''s still seem to embrace is that getting rid of protectionism is always a growth opportunity. But I don''t get the sense that enough attention is paid to what exactly is going to be traded between the countries. Like if we get rid of wine tariffs between us and France, that benefits both of us. If we get rid of banana and apple tariffs between us and say Brazil, then that would seem to benefit both of us. But what the heck did we get in return from China when we signed on to get cheaper labor? Isn''t that why the trade deficit is through the roof? Like what was the thinking there? - Reply to this comment
- yeah....hey there Ohio...........say, um, how''d that work out for y''all voting for GOP in 04?
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- yeah....hey there Ohio...........say, um, how''d that work out for y''all voting for GOP in 04?
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- GM already had the Saturn EV1 with a range of up to 160 miles. It was not a commercial success, but it was a great technological test bed, and keep in mind that it was developed 10 years ago with much older technology. People who leased the EV1 loved it and did not want to part with it. Some even offered to buy it from GM, but the cars were recalled and destroyed anyway. Instead of continuing and refining the technology which would make GM way ahead of the others, GM chose instead to focus on big, heavy, inefficient gas-guzzlers. Now they''re coming out with the Chevy Volt, with an electric range of 40 miles (that''s right, 40) and a gas engine to back it up, and a price tag that''s out of reach for budget conscious consumers. Gee, not exactly cutting edge technology. No wonder why GM is in trouble.
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- If McCain had any integrity, he would say something like this: "The GOP''s union-busting, tariff-busting trade policies contributed to the job loss. If the electric car came out tomorrow, our corporations will probably have it made in China anyway. Get ready for more job loss people."
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- when WE NEED Alternative energy plants, SMALL BUSINESS GROWTH and diversification in our energy generation so all those electric cars can have the power to charge up - the ADMINISTRATION puts a GAG on SOLAR PLANTS ALREADY ON LINE TO BE BUILT!!!
Guess if IT ISN''T STRIP MINING OR DRILLING or they AREN''T being BUILT BY BIG OIL the "little guy" gets LOCKED OUT once AGAIN!
Next up - a DECADE LONG "study" to keep non-BIG OIL INNOVATIVE BUSINESSES from manufacturing alternative energy vehicles - oh, I forgot "BIG OIL AND THE GOP" ALREADY DID THAT with EV1 and EV2 and oh so many others to our nations detriment!!!
That 300 million PAYOFF McSame is offering - I''m Betting there''s a 99.999 percent chance that BIG OIL will get it (probably using some "retiring" employee as a front) if McSame gets in!
Probably will take them about 20 minutes to DIG about a DOZEN qualifying PATENTS OUT OF THEIR ARCHIVES!!!
Chevy Volt?
Love the concept.
DOUBT it''ll ever be allowed to become "viable". A 140 mile range out where I live is a short trip to the doctor and my guess they''ll make up the gas savings in high priced car and battery costs.
Toyota, Tata, Honda all are FAR AHEAD on this.
My decked out automatic Yaris gets just under 40 MPG and my daughters standard Yaris get just over 40, lots of trunk and leg room - that ALREADY BEATS the "minimum MPG" clear out past 2030!!!! - Reply to this comment
- Yeah, Right, WHAT A LOAD OF BS!
Want to know what THIS GOP ADMINISTRATION REALLY THINKS - Here''s an example -
Check out THIS article:
Citing Need for Assessments, U.S. Freezes Solar Energy Projects
Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun, via Reuters
Mirrors channel sunlight onto a tube filled with oil at a solar power plant in Boulder City, Nev. The plant produces energy to power about 14,000 homes.
By DAN FROSCH
Published: June 27, 2008
DENVER %u2014 Faced with a surge in the number of proposed solar power plants, the federal government has placed a moratorium on new solar projects on public land until it studies their environmental impact, which is expected to take about two years.
The Bureau of Land Management says an extensive environmental study is needed to determine how large solar plants might affect millions of acres it oversees in six Western states %u2014 Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah.
But the decision to freeze new solar proposals temporarily, reached late last month, has caused widespread concern in the alternative-energy industry, as fledgling solar companies must wait to see if they can realize their hopes of harnessing power from swaths of sun-baked public land, just as the demand for viable alternative energy is accelerating..... - Reply to this comment
- As much as the Republicans have stuck it to the unions over the years, McCain was either very brave or very foolish to address these workers.
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- everybody is starting to see through his bull s h i t, he has nothing to offer, ok maybe the top 1% of the u.s.
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- Is this flip-flopping hypocrite war-monger still running or has he dropped out yet?
Doesn''t he realize that everyone who has a brain knows he is bush on steroids? I have not heard one good reason to vote for this bozo unless you like invasions and killing and don''t like money. - Reply to this comment
- The blogger covering this event said the ''crowd'' was a massive 60 people, who sat with arms crossed over their chests and didn''t applaud. He told them he''d be the president of everyone. Everyone in his little fantasy world of McBushistan, that is.
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