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The Race To The Middle For 2008
Eagle Forum ^ | November 29, 2006 | Phyllis Schlafly

Posted on 12/03/2006 7:47:19 AM PST by A. Pole

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To: MNJohnnie
Average wages in this country are UP $3.00 but of course that doesn't validate their emotion based opinions of the Economic Nationalists so they simply tune out all factual reality to cling to their failed dogmas of economic isolationism.

The significant word in your post is "average".

41 posted on 12/03/2006 10:14:08 AM PST by lucysmom
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To: JimFreedom
Ya' think?

In addition, I think the Dems will be carefully biding their time until 2008, get their candidate in, and then all bets are off. I can't imagine them showing their true colors and ruining their roll into the 2008 elections.

Freepers may not want to hear this, but a friend of mine who deals in political campaign stuff as a profession said that if a candidate is truly pro-life, that person will be reliably decent on all other issues - War on Terror, economy, taxes, entitlements, and on and on. The Repubs, controlled by the mushy middle/gang of 14/what-ever you want to call them, who follow the sad "road to the middle" which really means socially liberal, fiscally conservative (or are they, really), will have lost it for us, finally, I think.

What is true compassion? It's allowing families like mine to keep more of their income, so that we can engage in personal acts of compassion, instead of looking to the goverment to take as much money and control as possible and redistribute it in entitlements, via thousands of bureaucrats to do so much less with so much more.

One example, I think the HUGE problem with the Evangelicals right now, is their failure to act locally, and behave in accordance with their God-given principles (think Haggard and his personal problems), instead, they now give platform and credibility to the socially liberal (think Warren + Obama), and call upon the goverment to do things the church is supposed to (e.g., help the poor, the imprisioned, etc). Pride goes before a fall -- unforunately, when the salt loses its flavor, we're all in trouble.

Can anyone articulate the truth and the principles? What about a Gingrich/Steele ticket?

42 posted on 12/03/2006 10:16:12 AM PST by elk
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To: Torie
"free trade" agreements are not treaties and are not ratified by Congress. There are a jolly lot of "working groups" doing an end run around Constitutional government these days doing the job of Congress minus the "elected representation of citizens" bit. I am tired of seeing the ludicrous assertion made by "free traders" that Congress's authority has not been usurped.
43 posted on 12/03/2006 10:26:06 AM PST by hedgetrimmer (I'm a millionaire thanks to the WTO and "free trade" system--Hu Jintao top 10 worst dictators)
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To: Alberta's Child
International organizations like the WTO really have no influence at all in the U.S

This is an outright lie.
44 posted on 12/03/2006 10:27:53 AM PST by hedgetrimmer (I'm a millionaire thanks to the WTO and "free trade" system--Hu Jintao top 10 worst dictators)
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To: roses of sharon

You mean, like go to the Supreme Court, with justices who say we need to look to international law to make decisions about US citizens? Like the ones who made the Kelo vs New London decision?


45 posted on 12/03/2006 10:30:52 AM PST by hedgetrimmer (I'm a millionaire thanks to the WTO and "free trade" system--Hu Jintao top 10 worst dictators)
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To: roses of sharon
Treasonous Congressmen showing their preference for international institutions over our own, to push "free trade".

The United States should sue China at the WTO over rampant copyright abuses, and ban US Internet companies from revealing their users' identities to Beijing, the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission said. The commission's report showed "that once again China's record of adhering to its WTO obligations has been inconsistent, spotty and halting," Democratic Senator Charles Schumer of New York, seen here on 09 November 2006, said.
46 posted on 12/03/2006 10:38:21 AM PST by hedgetrimmer (I'm a millionaire thanks to the WTO and "free trade" system--Hu Jintao top 10 worst dictators)
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To: MNJohnnie
Average wages in this country are UP $3.00

It is not a lie. Mine is down 25% from what it was only five years ago. It just depends whether you are the jerk who decides to outsource the jobs, or if you're one whose job they outsource. You need to be more flexible in your reading habits.

47 posted on 12/03/2006 10:51:15 AM PST by GingisK
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To: GingisK; MNJohnnie
Average wages in this country are UP $3.00 It is not a lie. Mine is down 25% from what it was only five years ago. It just depends whether you are the jerk who decides to outsource the jobs, or if you're one whose job they outsource. You need to be more flexible in your reading habits.

He's not going to answer it appears. Cat got your tongue, Johnny?

48 posted on 12/03/2006 11:17:09 AM PST by WatchingInAmazement ("Nothing is more expensive than cheap labor," prof. Vernon Briggs, labor economist Cornell Un.)
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To: WatchingInAmazement; GingisK; MNJohnnie
Cat got your tongue, Johnny?


49 posted on 12/03/2006 11:25:01 AM PST by A. Pole (spanalot: "the Kremlin has killed more Jews than Hitler")
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To: hedgetrimmer
You can read about the process of Congress ratifying treaties, and executive agreements here. The bottom line is that all trade agreements, however labeled, require Congressional approval, either of the agreement itself, or via prior legislation granting the president the power to enter into an executive agreement.

Below is a cut and paste of the relevant paragraph to make it easier for you. I hope this helps:

"In the United States, the term "treaty" is used in a more restricted legal sense than in international law. U.S. law distinguishes what it calls treaties from treaty executive agreements, congressional-executive agreements, and sole executive agreements. All four classes are equally treaties under international law; they are distinct only from the perspective of internal American law. The distinctions are primarily concerning their method of ratification. Where treaties require advice and consent by 2/3rds of the Senate, sole executive agreements may be executed by the President acting alone. Some treaties grant the President the authority to fill in the gaps with executive agreements, rather than additional treaties or protocols. And finally, Congressional executive agreements require majority approval by both the House and the Senate, either before or after the treaty is signed by the President. Currently, international agreements are executed by executive agreement rather than treaties at a rate of 10:1. Despite the relative ease of executive agreements, the President still often chooses to pursue the formal treaty process over an executive agreement in order to gain Congressional support on matters that require the Congress to pass implementing legislation or appropriate funds, and those agreements that impose long-term, complex legal obligations on the U.S."

...

"An executive agreement can only be negotiated and entered into through the president's authority (1) in foreign policy, (2) as commander-in-chief of the armed forces, or (3) from a prior act of Congress. For instance, it is as commander-in-chief that the President negotiates and enters into status of forces agreements (SOFAs), which govern the treatment and disposition of U.S. forces stationed in other nations.

"Agreements beyond these competencies must have the approval of Congress (for congressional-executive agreements) or the Senate (for treaties)."

50 posted on 12/03/2006 11:47:32 AM PST by Torie
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To: Torie
A trade agreement is neither a treaty or an executive agreement.
51 posted on 12/03/2006 12:19:15 PM PST by hedgetrimmer (I'm a millionaire thanks to the WTO and "free trade" system--Hu Jintao top 10 worst dictators)
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To: hedgetrimmer
From the link:

"For example, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and most other U.S. trade agreements are executive agreements."

You didn't do your homework assignment. Naughty.

The truth of the matter is that I typically find protectionist types to be more emotional than analytical. Perhaps that is a prerequisite to being a protectionist come to think of it.

52 posted on 12/03/2006 12:43:46 PM PST by Torie
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To: Islamisalie
The inverted economic model we are building will eventually collapse. One can not have a minority of workers supporting a majority of retirees. The politicians of today and unfortunately of my day, had multiple workers to tax to offer everyone more and more benefits. When they begin to increase the redistribution of wealth from many of the ultra wealthy, those same people will move their investments beyond the reach of the politicians. I fear a severe collapse is coming within he next 20 years. Sad.

It will end in government mandated euthanasia. Funded by the socialized medicine program Congress will vote in shortly.

53 posted on 12/03/2006 1:15:09 PM PST by redgolum ("God is dead" -- Nietzsche. "Nietzsche is dead" -- God.)
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To: roses of sharon

"These politicians don't work in a vacuum, their constituents vote the into office."

True, then they stray.

"Politicians are just men, normal human beings, who act legislatively according to the wishes of their voters."

Yea, like border security, the war in iraq, and bloated government with out of control spending?.

You're funny.


not.


54 posted on 12/03/2006 7:47:58 PM PST by taxed2death (A few billion here, a few trillion there...we're all friends right?)
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To: roses of sharon

"Specifically, how do Republicans dump free trade, what do they put in its place"

Fair trade. Trade that benefits Americans.


55 posted on 12/03/2006 7:49:29 PM PST by taxed2death (A few billion here, a few trillion there...we're all friends right?)
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To: Torie

"I won't vote for a protectionist Republican."

See Ronald Reagan: Harley Davidson.


56 posted on 12/03/2006 7:51:21 PM PST by taxed2death (A few billion here, a few trillion there...we're all friends right?)
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To: raybbr; MNJohnnie; WatchingInAmazement
Up $3? From when? 1971? Prove your ass-ertions.

The average wage in the U.S. has certainly gone up $3.00 an hour and you don't have to go back very far at all to prove it. If you look here you'll find that since 2000, the average hourly wage for all workers in the private sector has increased from $14.00 per hour to $16.99 per hour. That's an increase of $2.99 per hour. That's pretty darn close to $3.00.

For workers in manufacturing, the news is almost the same. In 2000, the average hourly wages was $15.27. Today it's $18.25. Again, A $2.98 per hour increase is pretty close to $3.00 (not bad for a country that doesn't make anything any more, eh?). If you include the rapidly increasing cost of benefits in this calculation, the average worker earns about $26.00 per hour. According to economist Stephen Moore, when all forms of benefits workers receive today are taken into consideration, compensation to workers is about 27% higher today in real terms than 25 years ago.

No doubt you're as concerned about the middle class as Phyllis Schlafly. The chart below clearly shows that in real terms, the American middle class has been getting wealthier, not poorer. It's no wonder the real median net worth in this country is at an all time high.

Conservative economist Alan Reynolds, makes a solid case that the methodology the BLS uses to measure average wages is seriously flawed:

Reynolds believes, as I do, that a better measure of our increasing incomes is to look at real consumption per capita. In those terms, real per-capita consumption has doubled since 1973. It's hard to consume that much more without real earnings increasing along with the consumption.

As a matter of fact, Reynolds says that:

Reynolds concludes by saying:

Whatever the gloomy worrywarts choose to write about next, Reynolds can be assured that it will appear on FR first.

57 posted on 12/03/2006 8:21:12 PM PST by Mase (Save me from the people who would save me from myself!)
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To: Clintonfatigued
Many people have had to move back in with their parents and take low-paying jobs so they can pay off student loans....

Meanwhile, starting salaries for college graduates with meaningful degrees continues to increase. Maybe that degree in Art History wasn't the best way to spend four years and $50,000. Or, maybe it's really all the governments fault. Good grief, whatever happened to personal responsibility?

....for jobs that have been outsourced of just eliminated, while being unable to provide for their immediate families.

Yes, that outsourcing has proven to be a real serious problem since it's been impeding our job growth so much -- all the way to 4.4%. LOL


58 posted on 12/03/2006 8:36:52 PM PST by Mase (Save me from the people who would save me from myself!)
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To: NaughtiusMaximus

" This will set the pattern for the next twenty years. "

This country doesn't have 20 years!


59 posted on 12/04/2006 12:05:18 AM PST by lawdude (The dems see Wal-Mart as a bigger threat to the US than muslim terrorists)
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To: hedgetrimmer; Torie; A. Pole
What is protectionism?

America FIRST! Americans FIRST! We can't have that though, cause WE ARE THE WORLD! Blackbird.

60 posted on 12/04/2006 3:02:07 AM PST by BlackbirdSST (Stay out of the Bushes, unless you're RINO hunting!)
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