The 20-year Sellout of the American Worker

Tom Gibson, FloydReports.com

Most nations try to avoid running trade deficits because those that do lose jobs.

Why, then, for the last 20 years has the United States run a persistent, growing deficit that has destroyed more than 9 million jobs?

The story begins when President Bill Clinton, promising expanding markets and more jobs, pushed our country into the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1992 and the World Trade Organization in 1995.

After that, the power to make decisions on trade and employment began to shift dramatically to the multinational companies and to our political leaders in Washington whose influence they were able to buy.

The primary interest of the multinationals is in the success of their own enterprises rather than that of a particular country, even their host country.

So because NAFTA and the WTO abolished U.S. trade laws and tariffs that had been put in place over the years to insure we didn’t import more than we exported, the multinationals were free to begin their long and steady effort to move their manufacturing to the countries with the lowest wages.

The great “sucking” sound, predicted by Ross Perot in his attack on NAFTA during the 1992 presidential campaign, began to be heard across our country as factories were abandoned and jobs sucked out….

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Video of the Day: Rush, Maybe Obama’s Birth Certificate is in Osaka

Cartoon of the Day: A Tsnunami of Lies

Cartoon of the Day: Putting Politics In Perspective

Do We Want Obama to “Reorganize the Federal Government”?

Ben Johnson, FloydReports.com

As Egyptians half a world away ponder what kind of government they want to live under, Americans must also ask themselves the same question in the wake of Barack Obama’s latest State of the Union Address. Although his salmon joke got a few (undeserved) laughs, few commented that it came just after President Obama “proposed a “major reorganization of the government.” Although he promised to make America “more competitive,” he provided astoundingly few details about what this would look like. So, Americans must ask ourselves: Do we really want to see a major restructuring of the government under Barack Obama?

We Do Big Things Government

As part of his theme that “We do big things,” Obama told the little people they “need to think bigger. In the coming months, my administration will develop a proposal to merge, consolidate, and reorganize the federal government in a way that best serves the goal of a more competitive America.”

He began by getting his history wrong. “We live and do business in the information age, but the last major reorganization of the government happened in the age of black and white TV,” he claimed. Actually, the last major reorganization of the government was in 2002, with the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security, which consolidated 22 separate agencies. Yet federal bureaus told to work together after 9/11 continue to wage turf battles nine years later.

Richard Nixon, too, reorganized government. Casper Weinberger, Nixon’s budget director, told The Washington Post, “Nixon sort of thought that by the stroke of a pen he could do it, but then Watergate came and destroyed his leverage.” Obama, too, is determined to make law with the stroke of a pen. He claimed in his address, “I will submit that proposal to Congress for a vote – and we will push to get it passed.” But if it does not, much of it may be eligible to be implemented by executive order. After all, it has been done before. Leaving aside the objectionable nature of his (likely) means, what ends will they secure?…

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Obama World Travels a Failure

Obama, trying to escape the turmoil he has created in the USA with an over aggressive legislative agenda is spending time overseas, but obviously, he is way over his head abroad, too. Obama sets the record for countries visited during a President’s first year. In ten months time, he has visited twenty countries. Even with all his globetrotting, Obama returns from his multitude of trips with no real accomplishments or agreements. His most recent expedition to Asia was an abject failure for America.

Proudly strutting into office promising a new foreign policy based on cooperation and international brotherhood, Obama pledged to do away with what he called Bush’s cowboy diplomacy.” Rather, he would sit down with world leaders playing nicey-nice, building a multilateral consensus. His magic words may have persuaded naïve American voters, but thus far he is having no such luck when it comes to foreign heads of state.

Obama is no stranger to failure in foreign relations, unless you believe apologizing for your country’s past, defines success. In previous attempts at diplomacy, Obama failed to negotiate commitments from Europe on troops in Afghanistan, bowed to the King of Saudi Arabia, and botched our once close relationship with the British.
Obama’s Asian trip soured rapidly after he bowed before the Emperor of Japan.

Obama has shown a penchant for prostrating himself before foreign leaders, giving visual representation to how he is seeking to submit America to the desires of foreign powers. Obama bent so low, it approached the level of groveling to the diminutive son of the man who ordered the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

Next, when attending the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Obama shook hand with Gen. Thein Sein, the Prime Minister appointed by a vicious and brutal military junta in Myanmar. By shaking hands and meeting with this unelected dictator, Obama sends a message to all those fighting for freedom across the world: America is no longer standing with you, but with your oppressors.

In China, Obama was pushed around by those from whom he is borrowing more and more money. Obama failed to gain any commitments from the Chinese regarding their oppression of human rights. His creditors also greatly restricted his ability to speak to the Chinese people. Obama was allowed one highly scripted town hall meeting that was not broadcast on state run television, as he had expected. While he was in China, the Chinese verbally attacked American economic policy. To top it off, the Chinese signaled they would block American led efforts to sanction Iran for its nuclear program.

Other world leaders know weakness when they see it.

To complete the disastrous list of disappointments, Obama failed to make any progress on North Korea. Upon meeting with Russian Prime Minister Medvedev, Obama announced the US would not complete a new nuclear disarmament agreement to replace the START treaty that expires on December 5. Evidently, receiving a Nobel Peace Prize is much easier to do than reaching agreements that merit one.

In the biggest blow to Obama’s agenda, leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum dropped efforts to reach a binding international climate-change agreement. Obama’s misguided efforts to lead a worldwide healing of the planet will, fortunately, have to wait for now.

In response to Obama’s repeated failures in China, Obama Press Secretary Robert Gibbs down-played the trip, saying they "did not think the waters would part and everything would change as a result of his 2 1/2 day trip to China." Now, compare team Obama’s current complaints about high expectations with promises from June 2008. It was Obama himself who loftily proclaimed after securing the Democratic nomination for President, “this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal; this was the moment when we ended a war and secured our nation and restored our image as the last, best hope on earth.

When you are down bowing to another leader, it is very hard position in which to lead the free world. Obama’s way over his head and it shows.

That is another reason why he deserves to be removed from office.