Free Republic

In the 1895 “History of the Republican Party,” the authors declare, “the Republican Party … is the party of protection … that carries the banner of protection proudly.” Under protectionist policies from 1865 to 1900, U.S. debt was cut by two-thirds. Customs duties provided 58 percent of revenue. Save for President Cleveland’s 2 percent tax, which was declared unconstitutional, there was no income tax. Commodity prices fell 58 percent. Real wages, despite a doubling of the population, rose 53 percent. Growth in GDP averaged over 4 percent a year. Industrial production rose almost 5 percent a year.

International trade figures heavily in the presidential race. Presidential candidate Donald Trump said, "Hillary Clinton unleashed a trade war against the American worker when she supported one terrible trade deal after another - from NAFTA to China to South Korea." And adding, "A Trump Administration will end that war by getting a fair deal for the American people. The era of economic surrender will finally be over." He lamented, "Skilled craftsmen and tradespeople and factory workers have seen the jobs they love shipped thousands and thousands of miles away." Hillary Clinton has offered her own condemnations of trade and globalization....

Americans' view of the economy rebounded in early August from the worst level in several years to the best since June 2015, according to the IBD/TIPP Economic Optimism Index. The subgauge of the six-month economic outlook jumped to a still-dreary 44.7 from July's 36.7, which had matched the worst level since October 2013. The reading below the neutral 50 level still reflects a modestly pessimistic outlook. The improved sentiment comes amid news of higher wages... Separately, the National Federation of Independent Business reported on Tuesday that its Small Business Optimism Index rose slightly in July but remained on the soft...

Ronald Reagan was an advocate of free trade throughout his presidency. But just like today, many Americans in the 1980s opposed free trade and pushed for measures that would keep the nation out of the global economy.Fortunately, Reagan argued persuasively in support of trade, and his success led to rapid growth in the U.S. economy.He knew that protectionist policies might benefit some industries, but they hurt others.When the government gets involved in trade, special interests get a chance to game the system. These groups excel at making it hard to tell how their policies harm Americans.In his 1987 economic report,...

Donald Trump calls NAFTA the "worst trade deal in history." He said as president he'd negotiate for better terms with Mexico and Canada, and if they don't agree, he'd pull out altogether. Would he even have the power to scrap it on his own? Turns out presidents do have that power and don't need Congress. NAFTA's Article 2205, which Trump cited in his speech last week in Pittsburgh, is only 34 words and simply says that a party may withdraw from the agreement six months after it provides written notice. What would happen next is unclear since the U.S. has...

This year has seen an especially contentious – but also especially interesting – set of primary races for the Republican Party. The entry of Donald Trump into the race last year threw a huge monkey wrench into what was supposed to be Jeb Bush's yacht ride into the GOP nomination. Now Bush is out, and Trump finds himself fighting tooth and nail with Ted Cruz, the last two (and a half) men standing out of an original 17 contestants. But beyond simple issues of personality and politics, Trump's entry into the race (re)introduced an element of Americanism and populism into...

For years, supporters of free trade have been trying to reach a bipartisan consensus on the issue. They've finally succeeded. Free trade is now unpopular in both parties. Perhaps because I am a conservative, I can at least understand where most conservatives are coming from in their opposition to free trade. Overt displays of nationalism and patriotism (which are not the same thing, by the way) are not merely tolerated on the right, they're often celebrated. Conservative intellectuals openly extol American exceptionalism while liberal intellectuals tend to deride the notion. Virtually no Republican politician agonizes over wearing a U.S. flag...

The American people have concluded they’re getting “screwed” by trade deals, immigration policy, and other areas where their interests are not considered a priority by their own political and business leaders. He contended this backlash against the elites was the reason so many highly-touted candidates have flamed out of the GOP primary, which is on the verge of boiling down to a two-man race between the two leading anti-Establishment candidates, Donald Trump and Senator Sen. Ted Cruz Caddell said the critique of free trade from Trump – and to a lesser extent, his final remaining competitors – was the kind...

One of the cornerstones of Donald Trump's campaign has been the fact that millions of jobs have been lost to overseas industries because it is often too expensive to do business in America anymore. Many liberals have criticized Trump for these statements, but the Wall Street Journal recently reported that Ford's latest production move showed that Trump was exactly right. Ford planned to build a new assembly plant in Mexico in order to produce 500,000 more vehicles in Mexico than it currently does. Last year Ford's Mexican output was 433,000 vehicles, which translates to about 14 percent of its total...

I am about as huge a free trader as anyone you'll read or meet. Because it is in fact yet another less government issue. The less government gets in the way of peoples trading freely - the better it is for everyone. '"Trade Wars' actually aren't about trade — they are about government trade policy. "If peoples are trading freely, there isn't a 'War' there's commerce. The 'Wars' only happen when governments get involved, placing tariffs, regulations and subsidies in the way of the flow. "It becomes a regulatory arms race. A government imposes another subsidy or tax. So several...

When provisions were added to the Immigration and Nationality Act in 1986 that forbid the hiring (or referring for a fee) of an alien unauthorized to work in the United States, people thought it would be a game-changer. The prohibitions were accompanied by civil fines and even criminal penalties for repeat offenders.The "employer sanctions" laws, as they are usually described, also included prohibitions on "use of labor through contract", reflecting legislators' awareness that without them, employers would try to skirt the law forbidding hiring of illegal aliens by claiming they were contract employees, or by conveniently using subcontractors to do...

Tom Friedman, please take note. China’s lack of political wrangling is not an asset, it’s what will drag it down. Friedman’s and other liberals’ utopian dream of a benevolent dictator has never worked. It fails because unrestrained dictators, with the best of intentions, make mistakes – often grandiose mistakes. And when they are criticized and challenged, they fight to hold on to power. And then they become the Stalins, the Pol Pots and the Kim Jong Ils of the world. And China’s single party autocracy has made a grandiose mistake. It has embarked on a building spree that according to...

The globalists at the United Nations are busy preparing their agenda for the Rio + 20 Conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which will be held on June 4 – 6, 2012. They have prepared a draft entitled “Enabling a Flourishing Earth: Challenges for the Green Economy, Opportunities for Global Governance”. It is truly amazing that this is not being devised in Dr. Evil’s hidden lair in the depths of some inactive volcano or on a deserted island. This has been made available for everyone to read. It reveals the true intent; the hopes, dreams and aspirations for this new...

The State Department’s support of a controversial oil-pipeline project is putting pressure on the White House to move forward after three years, despite objections from environmentalists. A series of public hearings concludes Friday on the Keystone XL pipeline, which would run from Canada’s oil sands in Alberta down through America’s midsection to the Texas Gulf Coast. So far, the State Department has published reports in favor of the project, which is projected to create 20,000 jobs and reduce the nation’s dependence on overseas oil.

Is this something Tea Party should take as a cause? Usually Republican party is for Free Trade, but its time we keep our jobs right here in this great country of ours. Can Tea Party change the conversation on trade issues?

CNBC is currently running a pretty good expose on China, sweatshops and "freetrade".

The America Family Association has organized ten powerful economic graphs that put financial facts and figures into visual form. Sometimes you can quote economic statistics to people until you are blue in the face and it won’t do any good, but when those same people see charts and pictures suddenly it all sinks in. As you examine the economic charts below, pay special attention to what has been happening to the U.S. economy over the last 30 or 40 years.

To gaze upon the world of American corporations is to see a sunny place of terrific profits and princely bonuses. American businesses reported that third-quarter profits in 2010 rose at an annual rate of $1.659 trillion, the steepest annual surge since officials began tracking such matters 60 years ago. It was the seventh consecutive quarter in which corporate profits climbed. Staring at such balance sheets, you might almost forget that much of the nation lives under slate-gray fiscal skies, a place of 9.4 percent unemployment and record levels of foreclosures and indebtedness. And therein lies the enduring mystery of this...

'The mainstream base is not concerned with where Obama's birth certificate is'PALM BEACH, Fla. – Donald Trump and Rush Limbaugh are two of America's best-known characters, but when it comes to articulating a truly conservative political message, Rush says he needs to take the Donald to school to get it right. "If Trump is serious about [running for president], I'm going to request a meeting," Limbaugh said today from his South Florida radio studio. "I'm gonna take him aside. I'm gonna say, 'Whoever is telling you about conservatism is misleading you a little bit.'" Trump has been making the rounds...

I thought readers should see this account sent to me from Tyler S of Tucson (and Brooklyn) of the counter protest. I wasn't there but it rings having attended so many of these lefftists hatefests, they are all diabolically the same: "Firstly, I wanted to tell you that I attended the 9/11 rally today, and thought that it was a wonderful event - your organization did a marvelous job orchestrating everything, and I could not imagine it could have gone more smoothly. I will also apologize in advance, as this might be a rather wordy letter, but hopefully worthy of...