Redstate

the fact that you would wish Sen. Brown to go home will not make it happen. He just won a very convncing victory while hitting this issue hard--it's not like he kept his protectionist views under the radar screen. And the most fertile area in the nation for Dem gains was this IN-OH-PA rust belt.

This issue is effective in certain areas of the country right now because of the economic realities on the ground. We need to find proactive ways of confronting the horrendous economic conditions in the midwest, particularly MI & OH, and trade policy is one piece of that.

We must take a reasonable approach, emphasizing free trade as the goal, but stressing that foreign nations will not be allowed to practice protectionism against American interests without repercussions.

If we do not, the GOP will keep losing in some important states with large blue collar voting blocks, IMO. And those who favor punitive across-the-board tariffs may win out over those who would prefer to use them defensively and sparingly. Throwing up our hands and saying "any government action whatever infringes upon free trade" does not seem a viable position, if the results of this past November are taken seriously.

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"Tradition is the democracy of the dead. It refuses to submit to that arrogant oligarchy who merely happen to be walking around"
-G.K. Chesterton

"For a child has been born to us,
a son has been given us.
And authority has settled on his shoulders.
He has been named
'The Mighty God is planning grace;
The Eternal Father, a peaceable ruler"

Annotation on Isaiah 9:5, in margin of my edition:

"The Mighty God...ruler";
'This long sentence is the throne name of the royal child. Semitic names often consist of sentences that describe God; thus the name Isaiah in Hebrew means "The Lord saves"; Hezekiah "The Lord strengthens"; in Akkadian, the name of the Babylonian king Merodach-Baladan(Isa. 39:1) means "The god Marduk has provided an heir." These names do not describe that person who hold them but the god whom the parents worship. Similarly, the name given to the child in this v. does not describe that child or attribute divinity to him, contrary to classical Christian readings of this messianic verse.' "

My edition: The Jewish Study Bible, published by the Jewish Publication Society, and featuring the JPS Tanakh Translation -- Torah, Nevi'im, Kethuvim (Five Books of Moses, Prophets, Writings).

I heard from some folks who happened to be in China on November 7, and I was thinking about writing something here about that. Contrary to what our liberal friends think, our elections are watched very closely by our friends, enemies, and economic partner/competitors (China obviously is both). And in general, they are drawing the right conclusions.

The Chinese are privately expressing considerable apprehension about congressional Democrats upping the trade barriers. While Dorgan and Brown are making the latest noise, don't forget that Schumer has also been really bad on this issue. And he's now a much more important guy than he was on November 6.

The Democrats came to power as the direct political descendants of the Roman Emperor Nero, expressly intending to fiddle while Rome burned. Look forward to lots of pandering and lots of bread and circuses. Damn the torpedoes, full tax and spend ahead!
You have a nation that has not experienced any real anguish, any real calamity in sixty one years, and the things they want to do without, at any price, are hardship, privation, and sacrifice. The Democrats intend to deliver, even if history ends up remembering them as the reincarnated Pied Piper of Hamelin or Neville Chamberlin.
Merry Christmas, because the Right will have lots to write about in the coming months, because Democracy, Christianity, and Western Civilization will be in dire risk in the Democrats hands.

of which free trade is a part. Crawl into my womb American voter and let us protect you, for a small moral and financial price !

Well this is one issue where the dems are more than willing to let the cat out of the bag and should go over well in zoos across the country.

Does anybody ever ask just how long the trade deficit horror talk has been going on, year after endless year. Are any conclusions drawn from the ageless scare talk and the lack of a connection to an economy that continues to grow?

Was it at IBM the signs on the wall said "Thimk".

"a man's admiration for absolute government is proportinate to the contempt he feels for those around him". Tocqueville

Most, if not all, libertarians consider free trade to be one of the holiest policies of economics. In the recent elections, an alarming amount of libertarians, especially in the West, rejected Big Government Republicanism in favor of candidates like Gabrielle Giffords and Jon Tester. A loud drumbeat like this protectionist [edited for language -blackhedd] from so-called economic "populists" (50 million smokers can't be wrong!) should quickly convince libertarians who the true protectors of sound economic policies are, as long as Republicans have the courage to stand up and fight for what some may consider an unpopular position.

In short, if Brown and Dorgan put their money where their mouth is and introduce protectionist legislation into Congress, and the Democratic majority votes for it, I can't imagine libertarians supporting them in 2008, on any level.