Synchronicity? Check the time stamps and account for the time zones.
Just who does this jerk think he serves? How about the American people, Mr. Bush? You know...the ones who elected you? The ones you swore to serve. The ones who don't give a flying #$@&! how Mexico feels about our immigration policies?
If you knew anything about a constitutional republic you would know that we aren't governed by mob rule. In fact, if you bothered listening to what the President had to say, instead of plugging your ears with your fingers and crying "na, na, na, na, na, na, I cant hear you" you might learn something.
Perhaps it does help our country to have low wage workers in our country? You know that raid on the sweat shop you liked to talk so much about? Those illegal immigrant workers were manufacturing soldiers uniforms. One of the owners of that company was a Fed who is now pretending that he cares about that there were illegals enabling that plant to stay in business, creating Made in America logos on that uniform. Now that company will probably have to go to Mexico..and all the income tax with it.
It's the hypocrisy of the Conservatives that really galls me here. On one hand, they love to reap the financial rewards of cheap labor, until the political ramifications of that force them to change. On the other they ignore the economic impacts of the alternative point of view. Either you are for cheap labor and recognize Americans wont do some of this work or you are against it and and watch companies fold and go out of business willingly, you cant be for both.
I'll tell you what, Senor Calderon: try making the Berlin Wall comparison when it's more apt. Say when YOU build a fence along your northern border to keep your people IN."
But that is what you want, right? I mean, if he isn't going to build one...you will. Would the Berlin wall be any less of an iconic symbol if West Berlin built the wall? It's the potential propaganda disaster that you are failing to account for.
And, while you're at it, how about doing something your own bad self about the Mexican economy, drug-trafficking and immigration. May I remind you that we account for about 90% of Mexico's export purchases, and the drug traffickers and illegal immigrants are coming FROM you side in our direction, not the other way around.
Every heard of supply and demand? It's not the Mexicans that are doing the drugs, its the Americans. It's a two way street, you can cut down on drug trafficking if you cut the demand in addition to trying to stop smugglers simultaneously. You remember the war on drugs, right? That started under Reagan. Where did it get us. It's our cultures failure that we have so much drug use in this country.
Hannitized? Said it before and I'll say it again as you seem a bit slow.
If we require "low wage serfs" to keep our economy humming? Then the whole notion of America is dead. We are no longer that nation and frankly we should stop pretending we are.
To follow your specious logic through to its bitter end? So your saying without illegal immigrants our soldiers go naked?
Without illegal immigrants our ONLY choice is to outsource the creation of military gear?
Really? You speak of free markets, I don't think that term means what you think it does.
To follow your specious logic through to its bitter end? So your saying without illegal immigrants our soldiers go naked?
...Without illegal immigrants our ONLY choice is to outsource the creation of military gear?
Jake,
I wasn't a supporter of NAFTA, were you? Have you read any trade effects that resulted from such?
"According to Hufbauer (2005), overall, NAFTA has not caused trade diversion, aside from a few select industries such as textiles and apparel, in which rules of origin negotiated in the agreement were specifically designed to make U.S. firms prefer Mexican manufacturers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Nor...Trade_Agreement
Trade diversion is an economic term related to international economics in which trade is diverted from a more efficient exporter towards a less efficient one by the formation of a free trade agreement.
So tell me Jake, how does the US become a more efficient exporter of textiles and apparel if we do not have the cheaper labor to compete? Mexico is having it's low wage income workers leave in order to work for slightly more money in the US? If we don't have manufacturers in the states, then we buy them from more efficient exporters.
The answer to your question is no, I never supported NAFTA, and frankly all the damage it has done bears out my position.
You tend to like to argue from the far end of the logic chain. Let's back it up a couple of steps. The entire purpose of NAFTA was to create the very situation we face now, hence, this is a problem of our own creation, no argument there. (and when I say "our" I don't mean me or you, I mean the ginormous multi nationals doing their level best to erase all countries and cultures to be replaced by "consumers" instead of citizens, and yes, GWB is among the very worst of this bunch)
However, it was wrong then and it's wrong now. If companies in Mexico or China were truly this efficient wouldn't they have created these industries themselves?
But they didn't and haven't. These industries were exported whole cloth (pun intended) from the United States and now we get to watch these companies chase all over the globe creating vestigal economies in countries then abandoning them as soon as labor costs begin to rise as is happening in both Mexico and China.
How is this a good thing? Answer, it isn't and never will be.
What NAFTA did so admirably was unmoor companies from countries and we and our children will pay a high price.
Currency has no conscience my friend and you are going to see just how ugly things can get when economics removed from any other consideration (ethical, moral, cultural) are allowed to drive the show.
I agree with you about the negative effects of NAFTA.
But you still didn't answer the question. Do you or do you not think the textile plant would stay in business in American if they didnt have cheap labor to sew the uniforms?
Is it worth it to have them stay if we keep that income in this country?
Commenting by HaloScan
