Fix Our Trade Deficit and Manufacturing Situation Now!!

The continuing trade deficit is disgraceful, and an insult to the American worker. Americans want to build and manufacture, not borrow to buy products made by others.

From the early 70’s until now our elected governments and their appointees have mismanaged the US from a global manufacturing powerhouse with a trade surplus to an annual negative balance of over 696 billion dollars in 2008. The American worker hasn’t changed. The American export environment negotiated by our government is different.

We must face the fact that over the last thirty years our elected governments and some large corporations have traded away thousands of opportunities for American to add value to the worlds manufactured items. They did this by following the advice of narrow “experts” who did not understand the pivotal roll manufacturing plays in a nation’s strength. They seemed completely oblivious to the long tern consequences of the trade and financial policies they were promoting. As a result some few individuals have been grossly enriched while the large majority of American citizens, and the nation, have been severely harmed.

Our great nation has been crippled by leadership that damaged our ability to provide the challenging jobs our skilled people deserve. They undermined our position as a prime example of the benefits of a free working democracy.

They did this by committing to conditions of the World Trade Organization, and individual countries which were very unfavorable to US built products. They gave no consideration to the consequences for the US citizen worker. They failed to adhere to the sensible thought that a country of the size of the US should always have the capability to be independent in critical areas. They allowed themselves to be heavily lobbied by foreign and US companies to pass US legislation that favored foreign manufacturing. This all has a disheartening resemblance to failures of the financial sector to show any interest in the good of the US in its disastrous practices.

We need real action with America’s interest placed first. Fixing this entangled mess requires that we renegotiate our trade agreements with several countries and the World Trade Organization to a level of reciprocity between what we give and what we receive. We also must immediately develop a national plan for a guaranteed balancing of our imports versus exports and stand the pain to implement it. It should be easy to resist the nonsense of some who will say a trade deficit is good.

This situation was brought on by both political parties. Many of those responsible are still in power. The same old lobbyist system that brought us here is still in play.

A sincere effort will only be undertaken through the anger of the citizens. Our Founding Fathers anticipated these situations and have given us in the Constitution the required tools—Let’s use them in 2010. A quick and decisive end to the trade deficit and a resurgence of our manufacturing reach must be a sincere component of the program of any candidate who gets your vote.
.
If you are interested in a further understanding of the entangled mess we are now in and would like a better understanding of what needs to be changed I recommend the book "Saving Capitalism" by Pat Choate