Comments for 0 at http://www.tradereform.org , comment 1 to 5 out of 5 comments http://www.tradereform.org Fri, 09 Jan 2009 06:06:23 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://www.tradereform.org/content/view/935/52/#comment-140 Correction on my previous post - The last partshould read "their actions are NOT based in ignorance or mistaken policy, corrected with information and lobbying, but a concerted attack that we need to address head-on." - Margaret Bartley Thu, 21 Aug 2008 03:33:28 +0100 http://www.tradereform.org/content/view/935/52/#comment-137 I never know how to respond to writers who act like they don't see what's really going on. It's not as if the Presidents and Congress are autonomous people who can vote their consciences and interests, and they just need to be educated as to the consequences of their decisions. I've talked to all my elected representatives, and some of their staffers, mostly back in the late 90's and early 2000's, when this issue was first coming on stream. It was very clear to me that they knew exactly what they were doing, which was the job they were getting paid to do. The $100K a year they make from their Congressional salary is nothing compared to the millions they take in from outside interests, and it is those outside interests who are calling the tune. The destruction of the American middle class started long before the presidency of GHWB. The Lima Accords, which called for the transfer of the manufacturing sector from the US to Third World nations, going by the name of Economic Democracy, was signed in 1974. I remember reading articles in the academic journals and economic press about the high cost of American workers in the mid 70's. It took about a decade to hammer out the details, and another decade or so to build the legal and contractual framework. By the time the Uraguay round of the WTO finished, in the early 90's, all they did was ratify the previous decades' work by academics and influential decision-makers. By the time it gets to Congress, it's been finely honed by all the players, and all Congress does is ratify it. This is a long-term game plan, and I don't think there's much we can do to stop it. It wasn't our money that came into the US in the early 20th century and built up our industrial base, and we weren't able to stop that money from leaving. What we can do now is decide how to best use our existing resources. Certainly getting a handle on immigration is a big part of it. I suspect that the main purpose of opening the flood-gates of illiterate, low-wage workers is to destroy the aspirations of the working-class. We still have a large pool of healthy, educated, involved citizens, and a strong civic community, precious things, and we should take advantage of them. We should realize that we are not a rich country any more, and start looking at how we are spending our public monies. We need to elect people who will be honest with us, and at least acknowledge our dropping standard of living, instead of pretending that it is due to the "greening" of American consciousness, and the need to lower our carbon footprint. We need to deal with the real issue, which is that we are ruled by people who do not have our best interests at heart, and that their actions are based in ignorance or mistaken policy, corrected with information and lobbying, but a concerted attack that we need to address head-on. - Margaret Bartley Tue, 19 Aug 2008 14:06:06 +0100 http://www.tradereform.org/content/view/935/52/#comment-134 It didn't really penetrate into my everyday existance until, upon purchasing a new house, a former employee of a tech / manufacturing firm caught my attention. He delivered the new appliances for my home as a service employee for Lowes. His previous employer, Andrew Corporation, had moved the manufacturing facility to Mexico. He had worked for Andrew Corp for 23years. This book, puts none too fine a point on the fact that the people most obviously affected by these changes are the american middle class. The less obvious long-term effects will untimately change the American way of life. The ruling class will be largely unaffected, - JD Sun, 17 Aug 2008 20:42:30 +0100 http://www.tradereform.org/content/view/935/52/#comment-133 Havent read the book yet - however it will be on my list of things to do. I have been saying whats mentioned above for years and frankly am frustrated at the complete lack of understanding in Washington DC and even with my own politicians. I did write a song about this though which has been slowly catching on called "Mad in America" you can download it free at http://www.madnamerica.com - its also on I-Tunes if you want to go on record to purchase it and get it some credit on that site. - Steve Sun, 17 Aug 2008 08:29:41 +0100 http://www.tradereform.org/content/view/935/52/#comment-132 Since started becoming evident that America was falling apart I have been looking for an intelligent and comprehensive analysis of what actually has happened. This book is IT. What a mess America has become. It is a very scary thing. My hope is that this book will become well read and that we will have leaders who understand what has happened, leaders who will implement the steps required to save our country, our middle and lower classes, and the world's environment which, after all is said and done, sustains our lives...so far. Thank you Mr. Choate for writing this book. Warm Regards, Shannan Eid - Shannan Eid Sat, 16 Aug 2008 16:23:07 +0100