The Hole is So Deep

Lamenting the US trade deficit, the Baltimore Sun Editorial, "Trade Trouble" December 28, 2008, presents two paths for the US to get out of the deep hole we're in:

The U.S. must either get its economic house in order, by reducing debt-financed consumption and rebuilding savings, or learn to live with a decline in American buying power and its influence.

It is certain that we are heading for Option 2. Obama has promised a stimulus package as big, or bigger than, the $700 billion financial industry bailout that's been added to the US debt. Option 1 would spell a depression, so as cathartic and healthy as that might be in the long run, "There are no atheists in fox holes, and no Libertarians in charge of managing an economic crises."

You might look to the Plaza Accord of 1985 as a possible "third way." The Accord, signed by five major nations, agreed to depreciate the US dollar in relation to the Japanese yen and German Deutsche Mark by intervening in currency markets. The intent was to balance US trade deficits with Germany and Japan, but it didn't work. Prepare for less buying power and less influence.

Psssst... Do Something

• Contact the Broadcast Media
  
• Contact the Newspapers
  
• Contact the US Senate
  
• Contact the House of Representatives

Sources:

Obama: Good News, Bad News

The following is a blatant rip-off from David Sirota... the progressive echo chamber.

Good news and bad news in the last day [December 2]. The good news: Barack Obama has appointed a NAFTA critic, Rep. Xavier Becerra, as the next U.S. Trade Representative (more on that here).

The bad news is this just off the Reuters wire:

CHICAGO/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President-elect Barack Obama is not planning to implement a windfall profit tax on oil companies because prices have dropped below $80 a barrel, an aide said on Tuesday...

» article continues...

Psssst... Do Something

• Contact the Broadcast Media
  
• Contact the Newspapers
  
• Contact the US Senate
  
• Contact the House of Representatives

Four Questions for the Candidates on Global Trade

Lori Wallach, a leading voice on matters regarding corporate globalization, has a timely essay entitled, Questions the Democratic Presidential Candidates Need to Answer on Trade & Globalization, which appears on Huffington Post. In it, she poses four tangible questions for the candidates, modified as questions to an individual candidate (for you to cut 'n paste):

1. How will you change existing trade agreements such as NAFTA, CAFTA and the WTO to counter job offshoring and labor arbitrage that have reduced U.S. wages?

2. How will you, as future president, remedy the China trade imbalance?

3. How will you deliver on your promises to ensure imported food and product safety?

4. How will your proposals to create jobs by rebuilding America's infrastructure work in the face of trade agreement bans on "Buy America" and other domestic preference policies?

Maybe journalists should read her article, and begin asking some of these questions. Maybe all of us should pose the questions. Wanna do it? Here are the Clinton and Obama campaign contacts:

Obama Campaign Contact

Clinton Campaign Contact

I've sent these four questions to the candidates. We'll see if I get a response.

Sources:

Obama and Edwards on Trade

We know where the corporatist Hilary Clinton stands on "free" trade; if it promotes more freedom of transnational corporations, and their human quislings, to exploit humans, then that's OK with her. She still buys into "a rising plutocratic tide raises all boats."

But, what about Edwards and Obama, people for whom you might actually consider voting? David Mizner, of MyDD (Direct Democracy) lays it out for us in "Edwards Seizes His Winning Issues." In short, Edwards is true to the "Fair Trade" values and Obama is not.

This should come as no surprise. Clinton and Obama are of the corporate wing of the Democratic Party. That's all you should need to know about those two candidates to make your decision in 2008.

Mizner poses a practical and tangible test on whether Obama is true to his rhetoric about "fair trade." He establishes Edwards' opposition to Peru Trade Pact. Then Mizner suggests we watch Obama's vote on the Pact.

Why not go one step further. Contact Obama and urge him to vote against the Peru Trade deal?

Contact Obama. You can repeat what I told him (cut 'n paste):

Please vote AGAINST the Peru Trade Pact. Why? It's written by and for corporations, not humans. The labor and environmental protections are window dressing.