Obama: restoring respect for america abroad

what do you think about free trade with columbia basso?

 

I'm not sure you understand what respect for America is and how it is restored. Disagreeing with a trade deal certainly doesn't engender disrespect for America, it might help restore respect a tiny bit if we are turning down trade with oppressive, governments.

But making the President of a nation upset because you don't want free trade with them is to be expected, and doesn't reflect poorly on respect for the nation.

 

I had dinner last night with a group of Mexican industrialists. They absolutely hate Obama. NAFTA is real, people. It affects people's lives. Trade lifts standards of living. When you start carelessly tossing around protectionist sentiments, like Obama the Naive has foolishly done, then you cause real concern abroad. Which is why they hate Obama. There is a reason Mexicans drive hours to go shopping at the Laredo or Brownsville border... it's called choice. Choice is made possible by trade. Low consumer prices are made possible by trade. Obama just doesn't 'get that'.

With all of Mexico's cheap labor, don't you think it's strange that much clothing, consumables, and goods are cheaper in the US? Cheap enough to make a Mexican family drive 3+ hours to access it? It's trade, people. Learn about it. Obama's spell has turned a lot of people ignorant. Time to piss out the kool-aid.

 

At least you admit America has a respect problem abroad. That's a start.

 

This thread is about trade with Columbia. If you want to start another thread about NAFTA, go ahead. I already have some points in mind.

 

This thread is about respect abroad, and how Obama is perceived as naive, inexperienced, and an economic mental midget abroad. Mexicans HATE him. Hate. Like a Jeremiah Wright-hates-whites-and-Jews-and-gays level of hatred.

bucket, you are out of your league here. I'm having dinner with Mexican industrialists talking about trade and foreign policy, and at the same time you are probably sitting at home eating Taco Cabana and watching Moesha re-runs.

 

Obama is whoring himself out to the uncompetitive union workers of the rust belt at the expense of our nation's economic viability. We must have free trade agreements in place with countries such as Colombia. This is one of my major beefs with Barack - he's not pro-free trade.

 

None of this even touches on what caused America to lose so much respect abroad.

If you think America's trade stands are at the heart of loss of respect, then it will be hilarious to watch you continue to boast about eating with industrialists, while everyone else goes to the heart of the issue.

 

What did you say when your candidate romney promised to bring auto jobs back to michigan?

 

Oh No!!! Mexican industrialists hate Obama. Of course the bang up job they've done shepherding Mexico's economy and development means we should pay really close attention to what they think. Next thing you know, tj is going to be telling us we should care that Syria really doesn't like Obama's stance on human rights.

 

You want to have a BBS pissing contest? I guess I'm out of my league in the "who's most pathetic" game.

Anyways, you talk big for someone who once posted that markets were ideal for solving problems like climate change. You might want to take some economics classes and come back when you understand basic concepts like externalities.

Away from ad hominems:

Obama isn't going to pull out of NAFTA when he's President. He's going to attempt to raise the bar on environmental and labor standards in Mexico, since Mexico's comparative advantage in some industries is based partly on looser regulation there. I suspect it's mostly talk, since Obama has enough good advisers around him to know that trade with Mexico is good for Americans as well as for Mexican laborers.

 

Can the three stooges help me figure something out here?

Do I care or not care what the non-USA world thinks of Obama? I keep getting conflicting signals from you guys. The only consistency seems to be bashing Obama, as opposed to a reasoned opinion. I'm sure that can't be correct.

 

I am upset about his lack of free trade position

 

Based on what I know, he ticked off the Pakistanis with his bomb terrorists without Pakistan approval and the Chinese with his ban toy import comment. You can check these news out in the web.

 

Okay, I can appreciate you don't like his stand or perceived lack thereof, on free trade. US trade policies are an important part of a platform, but it is a separate issue, for me, to care about endorsements from abroad. I will not factor Country X's preference into my voting decision.

 

Restoring respect for America and the topic you posted about are two completely separate issues.

We lost respect when our leader and his administration lied to the world, and started an unnecessary war. When we abandoned our moral high ground on torture, and inhumane treatment of prisoners and human rights, we lost respect from the world.

Disagreeing with a free trade agreement has nothing to do with restoring respect except possibly in the way I mentioned.

 

Except that regaining respect abroad does not simply mean doing whatever other countries want you to so they don't say anything negative about you. I know it's much easier in your world that way, but that's not how it works.

 

Thanks for laying down the law.

Can I complain when the foreign opinions are highlighted to bash a candidate in an inconsistent fashion?

Can I complain about a poster who creates hundreds of threads, where most of those could more efficiently bump previous threads (by the same author) via adding new material/articles on the same topic?

Can I complain when I am called a cultist for having a studied opinion of a candidate that happens to disagree with another poster?

I will be so sad if the answer is NO to all of those.