Norman Podhoretz's WSJ article of 14 November '05

[Urbane Guerrilla]

Norman Podhoretz sums up how we went to war -- I don't think anyone interested could afford to miss this.

Only the most fanatical and doltish of Blame-America-Firsters are going to reject what's here. Then too, it's not like we genuine pro-Americans need any more proof of the BAF'ers' perfidy. We keep watching because we enjoy their mental gymnastics -- "How do guys that hemipygian do all that flipping around with half their butt muscles missing?"

[9th Engineer]

I love watching them try to rationalize how we destroyed everyone else's lives with our evil commercial empire. Last semester a girl in one of my classes was trying to convince me that the US is at fault for Mexico's inability to support itself. She talked alot about 'unfair' exports and how farmers can't support themselves because everyone buys US food. Hmmmm... lets think about this, we export food, Mexicans buy said food in preference over Mexican grown food, Mexicans blame us for selling them food. The fact that they can't seem to get out of the feudal era is another problem.

[tw]

Originally Posted by 9th Engineer

Hmmmm... lets think about this, we export food, Mexicans buy said food in preference over Mexican grown food, Mexicans blame us for selling them food. The fact that they can't seem to get out of the feudal era is another problem.

If Mexico or any other country did same with steel, lumber, or methanol - to dump highly subsidized products into the US market, then Rush Limbaugh would lead us all up in arms. The US can massively undermine agricultural industries by dumping - massive government subsidized and tariffs? And that is fair - so long as it is America and not some other nation?

As yourself why, after July 1 (in Switzerland), everyone has conceding the demise of the Doha Round of GATT. The first world trade failure because US and France want to undermine other national agricultural industries by dumping - protecting America, et al farmers using massive government protection. 9th Engineer - you approve? You say the US does not intentionally violate free trade in agriculture? Did you pay any attention to the Doha round of GATT - its first meeting was maybe five years ago in Seattle? Do you have a clue why literally the entire world walked out three days early in Cancun? US and France refuse to permit free trade in agricultural products.

George Jr tells you he is for free trade - just like those aluminum tubes were for WMDs. So many Americans blindly believe his lies. In agriculture, the US is dumping to protect American farmers at the expense of fair trade competition. No way around that fact. We have literally perverted - made impossible - for other nations to compete in surgar, cotton, soybeans, citrus, etc. - all to protect some farmers using government (socialism) programs that George Jr approves.

[9th Engineer]

Seems awfuly similar to what China is doing to our steel market right now. I don't think that we have to give ourselves handicaps to bring our production down to the level of other countries. If the industries in those countries cannot compete with ours then they either ban our products, improve their industry, or shut them down. I think the idea of us 'not being fair' to other countries by out producing them is laughable at best and dangerous at worst.

The country with the strongest industry rules that market. Period. No handicaps. What are your thoughts on Japan flooding our market with cars and electronics while keeping their country virtually closed to our own exports?

[tw]

Originally Posted by 9th Engineer

Seems awfuly similar to what China is doing to our steel market right now. I don't think that we have to give ourselves handicaps to bring our production down to the level of other countries. If the industries in those countries cannot compete with ours then they either ban our products, improve their industry, or shut them down.

The only problem with the American steel industry (not to be confused with steel reprocessors) is management in American steel. Biggest American steel companies are some of the worst run and most anti-innovative companies in the world. Steel manufacturers can export their products to America at high profit and earn highest profits. Meanwhile local American steel makers selling at the same price would suffer losses. There management is that bad.

1964 innovation in steel was the electric arc furnace. And yet in 2000, major American steel manufacturers still had no electric arc furnaces. Instead their solution was a myth from economists and MBAs - 'economies of scale'. Instead they constructed bigger blast furnaces. This pathetic steel industry management is why the WTC was built with imported steel.

Reasons for diminishing America steel manufacturers - business school training. Then the steel industry runs to a classic mental midget MBA for tariff protection. Everyone with basic economic knowledge knows why Bethlehem Steel, USX, Inland Steel, etc are enemies of America. Their management stifled innovation. Their management was so corrupt as to even think the purpose of a company is its profits.

There is no steel dumping in America. There are American steel makers whose employees would have job security if we instead forced bankruptcy upon them - to eliminate the only problem - top management.

Chinese steel companies are examples of patriotic American companies. They innovate. China even has electric arc furnaces. Only handicap in America is steel industry executives who do not even know how steel is made - graduates of law and business schools. People who then run to and contribute money to a mental midget president to protect their executive jobs at the expense of American workers.

[tw]

Officially reported is what Cellar dweller could have predicted years ago. From the Washington Post of 24 July 2006:

WTO Talks Collapse
An effort to revive global trade negotiations fell apart Monday, dealing a potentially fatal blow to prospects for a deal aimed at boosting economic growth worldwide and in poor countries in particular.

Meeting at the World Trade Organization's headquarters in Geneva, trade ministers from the United States, European Union, Brazil, India, Japan and Australia said they were hopelessly stalemated on crucial issues of trade in farm products, and the talks were suspended with no clear timetable for when they would resume.

America and France are the enemies of free trade in agriculture.

President Bush and his fellow world leaders pledged their joint determination to bring the talks to a successful conclusion this year. ... Instead, today's meeting ended in a barrage of finger-pointing over the same issues that caused a larger meeting of trade ministers to collapse on July 1. The United States was blamed for refusing to offer to cut its farm subsidies more deeply, while U.S. negotiators put the onus on the E.U. and other nations for balking at opening their markets for agricultural products.

American government subsidies subvert agriculture in other nations. Better to grow cotton, corn, sugar, etc in those other nations where little people can then construct farms and start productive businesses. Instead, those nations must then lose their people to illegal immigration into the US.

54% tariff on methanol from Brazil? Where is that an example of free trade? George Jr doing opposite of what he says - subvert free trade. When does a president choosen by god tell the truth? Or does the bible oppose free trade?

[Griff]

Originally Posted by 9th Engineer

The country with the strongest industry rules that market. Period. No handicaps. What are your thoughts on Japan flooding our market with cars and electronics while keeping their country virtually closed to our own exports?

Two general groups are preventing your scenario from coming about. Basically farmers north of the equator and bankers/manufacturers south of the equator oppose the idea of free market competition. In the US it is government subsidies for sugar wheat etc.. while in Europe it is subsidies for ag plus import tariffs. In the third world corrupt local banks know they are not able to compete and fledgling industries prefer protection to competition. Third world farmers can't compete with subsidized grains and are expected to do it with inferior equipment. It is harder to sell the idea of our banks getting screwed but the effect of their being blocked from the third world is that banking remains corrupt and capital accumulation is only possible for the oligarches.