Will the Democrat Majority Restrict Free Trade?



Today my partner and I went on a shopping adventure for a new iron, because ours started smoking the other day. The closest sewing shop is about an hour away. I called them to see what kind of irons they carried. They only carried a special German iron that ran about $140. We didn't really want to spend that much or travel that far, so we decided to try to shop local. We checked two resale shops to no avail. We also tried a quilting/knitting shop, but they only carried small hobby irons. We finally had luck at the local hardware store-well sort of. They only had two irons, both made in China. The only choices left were Wal*Mart and Pamida, both of which would probably have the same products (plus I refuse to set foot in Wally World).

The thing is I probably could have drove to Duluth and had the same luck. Either one buys a specialty product from Europe or buys a cheap product from China. What happened to "durable" prducts that carry that "Made in America" logo. Oh yeah, the jobs aren't there anymore. We decided free trade was a wonderful idea.

Well, one of the most promising matters that the Democrat majority may tackle is the ambiguous Free Trade situation. Many of the newly-elected democrats, especially in the Midwest industrial areas, ran on an anti-globalisation platform. Areas such as Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Michigan have seen a great amount of their manufacturing jobs disappear overseas. While I disagree with many of the new "conservative" democrats social platforms, I agree with their populist beliefs. It is my hope, that unlike the 90's, the democrats will stand up against free trade and unchecked globalisation. They will strike down Bush's power of fast track authority and begin to bring jobs back to America. At the same time this will reduce our ridiculous trade imbalance with countries like China that have such poor labour standards.

While I am in no way promoting consumerism, I would like to see a return to more localised manufacturing when one is faced with the decision to buy something. It would be nice to buy an iron that is made in Minneapolis or Milwaukee. Perhaps I would run into a worker from the factory while he or she was vacationing up here. Instead our policies promote a businesses like this or this that thrives on shipping jobs overseas.

For more info on the prospects of free trade with the newly elected democrats check out this Washington Post article.

Or for a more humorous related article check out this Onion article.