Senate Bill Does Not Go Far Enough  

by
October 5, 2011

There is a bill making its way through the US Senate that would punish China and other countries which keep their currencies artificially low.  By keeping their currencies low, the exports of these countries are cheaper for other countries to buy.  The bill would allow the US to enact tariffs and other penalties against the countries with the artificially-low currencies.

Even if the bill makes it out of the Senate, it is unlikely that it will pass the House.  But, the problem with the Senate bill is that it doesn’t go nearly far enough.  We need to stop importing all manufactured goods.  We are engaged in a trade war with the low-wage countries of the world.  And we are losing.

We have been de-industrializing our country for the past 40 years.  We lost our steel industry, electronics industry, textile industry, ship-building industry, etc.  And, our pharmaceutical industrial industry, along with many other industries, are well on the way to being lost to imports.

Industrialization made our country strong and prosperous.  But, thousands of our factories and millions of our jobs have been shipped to China.  And, now, China has a booming economy.  Our wealth has been shipped to China.  And we face a declining economy for the foreseeable future.

Our politicians, at the bidding of their corporate masters, have facilitated this destruction of our economy by deregulating our trade laws that once protected American workers.

Strong government action is the only thing that can stop the powerful corporate interests from totally gutting our economy and turning America into a third world nation.

 

2 Responses to Senate Bill Does Not Go Far Enough

  1. Rich on October 27, 2011 at 12:46 pm

    Is there a presidential candidate that you feel would push for the “strong government action” you describe? I’m asking honestly, as I’d respect your opinion.

    • Frank Mitchell on October 31, 2011 at 6:41 pm

      Presently, I’m unaware of any presidential candidate who would push for the strong action needed to stop the flood of imports that are destroying the US economy.

      It is far too late for any of the weak actions proposed by the politicians, such as stopping Chinese currency manipulation, enforcing labor standards in third-world countries, etc. to have any real effect on our declining economy.

      Even a 25% tariff on imported Chinese goods, as proposed one potential candidate, would be “too little, too late.” We need to stop the pillaging
      of our economy, not just lessen it.

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