Posted on 08/10/2005 11:36:47 AM PDT by Willie Green
Virginia Republican Rep. Frank Wolf sent a strongly worded letter to Akin Gump Strauss Hauer and Feld, questioning the firm "being on the payroll of the Chinese government" and lobbying on behalf of state-owned China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC).
Unocal's directors now favor Chevron's offer. CNOOC has thus withdrawn its bid, but is reportedly looking to acquire other American oil companies. Mr. Wolf, who chairs the powerful Science-State-Justice-Commerce Appropriations subcommittee, cited a Pentagon report warning that China's need for oil, gas and other energy resources "appears to be driving the country toward becoming an expansionist power." Mr. Wolf asked in his letter, "Is there no bright line to separate who the lobbyists in Washington will or will not represent?" Beijing thinks it knows the answer, and it's not the one Mr. Wolf wants to hear.
The public would be shocked at the work done in Washington by American firms on behalf of overseas interests trying to influence U.S. policy. James Sasser, ambassador to Beijing during the Clinton administration, once said, "The Chinese really don't do any lobbying. The heavy lifting is done by the American business community." This may be changing. In the July 23 National Journal, Bara Vaida reports that Beijing is now hiring a number of "politically connected lobbying and public relations firms to help press its message." Still, its most effective support comes from its business partners.
(Excerpt) Read more at washtimes.com ...
"Merchants have no country. The mere spot they stand on does not constitute so strong an attachment as that from which they draw their gains."
--Thomas Jefferson to Horatio G. Spafford, 1814. ME 14:119
ping
Personally, I am worried about China. But we aren't going to outdo them by protectionism. That's not how America got great. It got great by competing.
China's growing like crazy now, but if its communist government continues to control everything from Beijing, it will soon learn that there are limits to what communism can do for you.
They have 1.2 billion mouths to feed...they still can't do it. I wouldn't worry too much.
And lets not forget that they are destorying their environment in the run up to world power status - I for one am supremely confident that the government will self destruct well before then.
You can't compete against slave labor and remain free.
We've been doing it for 140 years.
What Washington is practicing is PAC funded 'destructionism'.
The Government must be funded by taxpayers. Politicians are funded by PACs. American companies located here are loaded down by taxes, regulations, employee health care and pension costs. If the goods are made at their foreign location, they come in here free of these costs. Our horse in the business race is carrying additional weight so this cannot be a fair race.
So it's pay me now or pay we later. What we save in cheap consumer goods, we pay the government with interest.
Protectionism is Patriotism in both war and trade.
One of those limits won't be it's military. Communism is a revenuer's dream. China will have plenty of money for what it wants most. In time I think we will find that we have financed our replacement. You simply cannot compete with a nation with four times your population, if it starts hitting on all four.
While that is the longterm liklihood, it is also very likely that China will not just quietly subside. The end will probably be explosive. 10-1
Congratulations to Virginia Republican Rep. Frank Wolf. May he continue in his efforts to benefit America.
America did not grow by competing against communist laborers making a dollar an hour.
America grew under de-facto protectionism. In the fifties most foreign goods were high end, low volume: Leica cameras, Omega watches, Mercedes cars. Now, obviously, they're not.
Remember: America First.
Our primary import is oil. That's what's driving our trade deficit. If you want to stop the bleeding, it's very simple. Just ban oil imports.
Slavery cant compete against freedom and keep up.
Freedom is a more effective economic system than slavery.
Didn't you learn anything from history?
"In the same time period, the British Empire adopted free trade"
... and was the dominant world superpower for 100 years!
your description of history is way off.
"it declined until World War I when it became an almost bankrupt shadow of its former self."
WRONG. Britain's decline started *after* WWI as it adopted socialism. it accelerated, relative to the rest of the world after WWII as it adopted nationalization, union power took over, etc. But Britain today is still a rich nation, relatively speaking.
You are worried about China, yet with 1 billion people, China's GDP is less than Britain's today, with only 60 million people!
That's right - Britain has the larger economy.
Rep. Frank Wolf has never struck me as a reactionary or
Alarmist type of guy. If he's making some noise about China, then something might be brewing.
To quote you "WRONG". The magnificent British Empire was heavily in debt to American Bankers and others just to finance World War I. They could not afford to pay for it themselves. They were broke at the end. The twenties helped but that was short lived.
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