The usual suspects will make the same old tired charges. Doomsday scenarios will be screamed from the mountaintops that Americans will lose their jobs, particuarly there will be much wailing, weeping and gnashing of teeth over manufacturing jobs. As if manufacturing is something mystical and sacred and something that our country can't survive without.
All the protectionism, tariffs and quotas in the world won't save manufacturing. It's doomed to go the way of farming. Someone will still make a living from it, but it won't make up but a small percentage of our GDP. I live in an old manufacturing section in the country and the constant wailing from the people is "we used to have so much going on here. We need to get our factories back" Let me put it like this. If we sent our entire military into China, bombed their cities, took apart all of their factories and shipped them back to the U.S. we still wouldn't have a return to the old manufacturing economy. Yet protectionists, both on the left and on the right, believe they can create a freeze frame, an economy that doesn't change or evolve.
In 1994 NAFTA was passed, and I'm still listening for the great sucking sound that was supposed to wreck our economy. We have the largest economy on Earth, unemployment of 5%(that's full employment) the deficit is shrinking, and inflation is low. Yes sir, free trade really wrecked our economy. Yet the old protectionist mouthpieces will continue to squawk about how our economy is doomed. That if we manufacture less our national security is somehow in danger. Nonsense. The protectionsits are always changing their tune. Go back to the 1950's and they were yelling about cheap Japanese goods, then it was cheap Tawainese goods, then it was cheap South Korean goods. They were stealing our manufacturing jobs was the refrain. What happened? Oh not much. Just capitalism. They became first world nations, through trade and now no one seems to worry about jobs going to South Korea or Japan, in fact Japan invests billions in our economy and creates jobs for Americans. In about 10-20 years we will think it was silly that we got so worked up over India and China. And Central America is in no position to "steal" anything. How can a country steal jobs anyway?
The vote by the house was 217-215, showing that a huge portion of our politicians are gutless or they are idiots. CAFTA will increase our trade with these nations, where we have typically faced barriers. After all Central America was a bastion of protectionism and look how wonderful their economies turned out. Free trade will help us and it will help them. The more their economies improve the better chance of their democratic governments have a chance of holding on. Democracy has been in decline there, with the rise of Chavez, the return of Ortega, and of course the ever present Castro who does everthing in his power to bring down democratic nations in the region. The House did the right thing, even if just barely. It will help our economy by getting us into new markets and it will help them by letting them trade with the largest economy on Earth. Billions will be added to our economy and their's, sounds like a win win deal to me.
