Want to know why the US left-wingers are looking stupid? This past week none other than US Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders has been hitting the streets of America trying to raise a revolution against the tariffs being implemented by the Trump White House. Our own leaders, the two Chris', Hipkins and Luxon, should join him. After all, as NZ First Leader and Foreign Minister Winston Peters explained, they have become increasingly hysterical on the topic.
Sanders is the Senator who wants to hike taxes on Americans - especially capital and wealth taxes - he's our equivalent to Labour Opposition Leader Hipkins. On Sanders attacks on Trump, who is none too pleased with how globalization, being the free movement of goods, services & capital around the world, has hurt America's lowest earning workers, here was how Sanders saw things 15 years ago, in 2011, in a Senate Speech:
"Mr. President [Obama], I rise in strong opposition to the free trade agreements with Korea, Colombia, and Panama. Let’s be clear: one of the major reasons that the middle class in America is disappearing, poverty is increasing and the gap between the rich & everyone else is growing wider and wider is due to our disastrous unfettered free trade policy. If the US is to remain a major industrial power producing real products and creating good paying jobs we must develop a new set of trade policies which work for the American middle class and working class and not just for the CEOs of large corporations. In other words, we must rebuild our manufacturing sector and, once again, manufacture products that are made in the USA. Mr President, over the last decade, over 5.5 million factory jobs have disappeared; and we now have fewer manufacturing jobs today than we did in May of 1941 .. According to a recent study conducted by the Economic Policy Institute, Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) with China has led to the loss of 2.8 million American jobs .. NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Agreement) has led to the loss of over 680,000 jobs. We cannot keep outsourcing our future to low-wage countries by passing even more unfettered free trade agreements.
Let’s be clear: approving these trade agreements is insane. Unfettered free trade has failed us in the past, and will fail us in the future .. over the last decade U.S. multi-national corporations slashed 2.9 million American jobs .. And, here is what President Clinton said about PNTR with China in 1999: “In opening the economy of China, the agreement will create unprecedented opportunities for American farmers, workers and companies to compete successfully in China’s market.” Well, the results are in. Since PNTR with China was signed into law in 2000, the U.S. trade deficit with China has exploded. In 2000, the U.S. trade deficit was $83 billion. Last year, the U.S. trade deficit with China was a record-breaking $273 billion. Since 2000, 2.8 million American jobs have been eliminated or displaced as a result of the increased trade deficit with China .. When Barack Obama was campaigning for President in 2008 he recognized just how bad these trade deals were".
This Blog is certainly not advocating tariffs. But it is pointing out the rank hypocrisy of the leftists not only in NZ but world-wide, including the UK Prime Minister, who are now going berserk telling us how wonderful free trade is and how awful are tariffs when they've spent the past thirty years telling us how free trade was destroying the working class of the West. Before they go into total meltdowns about the Trump Tariffs, I would like to know, "What has been their solution to the inequality, homelessness and lives of despair caused by free trade agreements that have been signed with low wage economies these past decades?" Obviously they haven't had one, because they have had plenty of time to implement it.
"Mr. President [Obama], I rise in strong opposition to the free trade agreements with Korea, Colombia, and Panama. Let’s be clear: one of the major reasons that the middle class in America is disappearing, poverty is increasing and the gap between the rich & everyone else is growing wider and wider is due to our disastrous unfettered free trade policy. If the US is to remain a major industrial power producing real products and creating good paying jobs we must develop a new set of trade policies which work for the American middle class and working class and not just for the CEOs of large corporations. In other words, we must rebuild our manufacturing sector and, once again, manufacture products that are made in the USA. Mr President, over the last decade, over 5.5 million factory jobs have disappeared; and we now have fewer manufacturing jobs today than we did in May of 1941 .. According to a recent study conducted by the Economic Policy Institute, Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) with China has led to the loss of 2.8 million American jobs .. NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Agreement) has led to the loss of over 680,000 jobs. We cannot keep outsourcing our future to low-wage countries by passing even more unfettered free trade agreements.
Let’s be clear: approving these trade agreements is insane. Unfettered free trade has failed us in the past, and will fail us in the future .. over the last decade U.S. multi-national corporations slashed 2.9 million American jobs .. And, here is what President Clinton said about PNTR with China in 1999: “In opening the economy of China, the agreement will create unprecedented opportunities for American farmers, workers and companies to compete successfully in China’s market.” Well, the results are in. Since PNTR with China was signed into law in 2000, the U.S. trade deficit with China has exploded. In 2000, the U.S. trade deficit was $83 billion. Last year, the U.S. trade deficit with China was a record-breaking $273 billion. Since 2000, 2.8 million American jobs have been eliminated or displaced as a result of the increased trade deficit with China .. When Barack Obama was campaigning for President in 2008 he recognized just how bad these trade deals were".
This Blog is certainly not advocating tariffs. But it is pointing out the rank hypocrisy of the leftists not only in NZ but world-wide, including the UK Prime Minister, who are now going berserk telling us how wonderful free trade is and how awful are tariffs when they've spent the past thirty years telling us how free trade was destroying the working class of the West. Before they go into total meltdowns about the Trump Tariffs, I would like to know, "What has been their solution to the inequality, homelessness and lives of despair caused by free trade agreements that have been signed with low wage economies these past decades?" Obviously they haven't had one, because they have had plenty of time to implement it.
Professor Robert MacCulloch holds the Matthew S. Abel Chair of Macroeconomics at Auckland University. He has previously worked at the Reserve Bank, Oxford University, and the London School of Economics. He runs the blog Down to Earth Kiwi from where this article was sourced.
2 comments:
The headless chook brigade.
Having spent the last week screaming about the damage being done, note how most are now queuing up wanting to negotiate a deal with the US which will reduce their own large tarrifs on American goods.
It's all part of the plan.
Well said. This all reminds me of War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Strength is Ignorance. The amazing mental gymnastics needed by those hating Trump is impressive.
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