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Are we be better off with the thousands of factories shut down and millions of jobs lost?
Ted Cruz was on with Jeff Kuhner re: free trade ^

Posted on 03/12/2016 6:33:12 PM PST by Jim Robinson

Are we be better off today with the thousands of U.S. factories that have shut down and millions of American jobs lost and the trillions in accumulated debt that we've run up in the last couple decades of free trade?

And, of course, this is due to many factors including such things as:

Big government

Regulations

High taxes

Unions driving up costs

Cheap labor overseas

Fewer regulations overseas

Lower taxes overseas

Trade deficits

etc.,

And doubly exasperated by poor trade deals?

Or is this all a myth?

Are we better off with cheaper foreign (cheap) goods, fewer U.S. factories, fewer U.S. jobs, higher unemployment and welfare, higher taxes and higher national debt?

Will this spiral out of control until we lose our country?

Is ushering in free trade before (or without) reducing our own costs the equivalent of national suicide?


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Foreign Affairs; Politics/Elections; Your Opinion/Questions
KEYWORDS: 2016issues; badtradedeals; cheaplabor; cruz; economics; fasttrack; freetrade; gop; gope; jeffsessions; jobs; layoffs; manufacturing; ryan; sessions; tpa; tpp; trade; treaty; trends; votetrump
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To: Jim Robinson

BTTT!!

Vote Trump.


41 posted on 03/12/2016 6:58:14 PM PST by Jane Long (Go Trump, go! Make America Safe Again :)
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42 posted on 03/12/2016 6:58:26 PM PST by DoughtyOne (Facing Trump nomination inevitability, folks are now openly trying to help Hillary destroy him.)
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To: Alberta's Child

Ok, this is really simple. There are 100 manufacturing jobs. 20 jobs are lost to automation and 20 jobs are lost to offshoring. That leaves 60 jobs. Let’s say the 20 jobs lost to offshoring never left, or came back. That would then leave 80 jobs. What’s better 80 or 60?


43 posted on 03/12/2016 6:59:11 PM PST by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn.)
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To: central_va

Eh, who needs it? We can get anything we want from Chi...

Oh wait.


44 posted on 03/12/2016 6:59:53 PM PST by DoughtyOne (Facing Trump nomination inevitability, folks are now openly trying to help Hillary destroy him.)
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To: Harmless Teddy Bear

Wow. What ignorant, elitist tripe.


45 posted on 03/12/2016 6:59:58 PM PST by BlatherNaut
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46 posted on 03/12/2016 7:00:09 PM PST by DoughtyOne (Facing Trump nomination inevitability, folks are now openly trying to help Hillary destroy him.)
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To: Jim Robinson

The key was NAFTA. That started the wholesale loss.


47 posted on 03/12/2016 7:00:17 PM PST by Lagmeister ( false prophets shall rise, and shall show signs and wonders Mark 13:22)
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To: Jim Robinson

The loss of our manufacturing base is also a huge national security problem. In both world wars, many manufacturing plants that turned out civilian products were converted to the manufacturing of military products. When you need weapons and ammunition quickly, there’s no time to build a manufacturing plant from the ground up.

Additionally, there is evidence that the Chinese have installed backdoors on military microchips they sell to us.


48 posted on 03/12/2016 7:00:24 PM PST by Kipp
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To: Alberta's Child
P.S. — How can an automated manufacturing process in China possibly compete with an automated manufacturing process in the U.S., if the more expensive U.S. labor is no longer part of the cost differential?

First the factory is shipped out. It operates for a few years and then it is automated there not here.

49 posted on 03/12/2016 7:00:27 PM PST by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn.)
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To: Jim Robinson

The question isn’t the number of jobs, but how well-paying are jobs. As you know the official unemployment rate is low, and there are real shortages in the labor force. Also, we as a county are addicted to debt and this has implications for our trade deficit.

The twin deficit connection: By not saving and relying on borrowing from foreigners to finance our spending, we necessarily run a balance of trade deficit. Therefore, balancing the federal budget and otherwise strengthening the national saving rate are the only ways, in the long-run, to fix the problem of our trade deficit.

Regarding increasing the number of high-paying jobs, on the supply side, we need to restore the incentive to work to people in the low to middle class through tax and welfare reform, re-orient education away from college degrees that aren’t marketable toward vocation skills, and end social promotion and insist on self-discipline as well as high academic standards in school.

On the demand side, we need to replace Obamacare with health insurance that is actually affordable, ease up on the regulatory burden on business, promote development of our natural resources, and rationalize business taxation (tax reform appears on both the supply and demand side).

If we do these things, the economy will grow by about $2 trillion (equal to the gap between the current GDP and what GDP would be if projected by its trend prior to 2008). This is a huge amount of money, equal not just to more jobs, but to more full-time jobs with benefits and pay increases. Even more, it means that a worker’s job security is independent of the fortunes of the particular company at which he works. This kind of increase in GDP would enable us to balance the federal budget and secure S.S. and Medicare into the indefinite future. Instead of people being so worried about the future, they could look forward to a future with confidence.

This country is in danger of losing its faith in itself. Fear and not merely anger is out there. We must be brave as well as free.


50 posted on 03/12/2016 7:01:02 PM PST by Redmen4ever
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To: Jim Robinson
Looks to me like we should solve the high cost problems before giving all our jobs and business away.

Can't do that to the degree it would take for American business to stay here...We'd all have to buy a Moped and eat a lot of Ramon Noodles...

51 posted on 03/12/2016 7:01:56 PM PST by Iscool (Trump will Triumph)
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To: central_va
Here's the flaw in your analysis:

What makes you think those 20 jobs are fungible enough that they'd still be here? If there was no such things as "offshoring," the company in question could just as easily automate 40 of these jobs instead of 20. In either case, you're left with only 60 jobs.

52 posted on 03/12/2016 7:02:30 PM PST by Alberta's Child (Bye bye, William Frawley!)
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To: FreeReign

No, but why give up our manufacturing base first? Cut the costs first!


53 posted on 03/12/2016 7:03:12 PM PST by Jim Robinson (Resistance to tyrants is obedience to to God!)
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To: Alberta's Child

Your brain is defective.


54 posted on 03/12/2016 7:03:34 PM PST by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn.)
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To: central_va; All
Oh, I remember you and your crazy talk. You were the one who a month ago was mad that an older, productive gentleman was taking a job a younger person should be given.

Remember Guy Who Walked 21-Miles To Work EVERYDAY? He Just Made A SHOCKING Announcement! (2/10/2016)

central_va said this:

“Actually he is taking a productive job from a younger person who may need that a job. Sorry that is the way I see it.”

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3395832/posts?page=8#8

55 posted on 03/12/2016 7:03:54 PM PST by ConservativeMind ("Humane" = "Don't pen up pets or eat meat, but allow infanticide, abortion, and euthanasia.")
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To: Jim Robinson

so when will trump have all his products made in America?? when he does then he’ll be taken seriously on trade.

countries where trump products are outsourced to-

china
japan
hondoras
brazil
italy
norway
germany

In fact trump supported outsourcing

“We hear terrible things about outsourcing jobs — how sending work outside of our companies is contributing to the demise of American businesses,” wrote Trump. “But in this instance I have to take the unpopular stance that it is not always a terrible thing.”

“I understand that outsourcing means that employees lose jobs,” continued Trump. “Because work is often outsourced to other countries, it means Americans lose jobs. In other cases, nonunion employees get the work. Losing jobs is never a good thing, but we have to look at the bigger picture.”


56 posted on 03/12/2016 7:04:08 PM PST by RginTN
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To: Jim Robinson
Is ushering in free trade before (or without) reducing our own costs the equivalent of national suicide?

What free trade?

57 posted on 03/12/2016 7:04:37 PM PST by SeeSharp
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To: tallyhoe

BS He is against TPP..
.............................................
BS He enabled it! He is definitely FOR it because his “funders” and “handlers” demand it.


58 posted on 03/12/2016 7:05:29 PM PST by Mollypitcher1 (I have not yet begun to fight....John Paul Jones)
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To: central_va
A factory in China that produces things for export to the U.S. has a built-in competitive disadvantage compared to a U.S. factory: transportation costs.

And yet even with this cost disadvantage, the factory in China often comes out as the cheaper alternative than a U.S. factory.

Why is this the case?

59 posted on 03/12/2016 7:05:33 PM PST by Alberta's Child (Bye bye, William Frawley!)
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To: Jim Robinson

Yes, definately cut the costs and regulations first.


60 posted on 03/12/2016 7:06:09 PM PST by FreeReign
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