I have heard all I want to hear that NAFTA is bad. Do the research. NAFTA is good and it could be better.
http://brokengovernment.wordpress.com/2008/02/26/nafta-means-lost-jobs-%e2%80%93-probably-not/
Other free trade agreements would not be bad for us, if as a nation we had been prepared to compete by our government. The comparative trade advantage we had held to varying degrees from the time we were founded is gone. The world caught up to us and is kicking our collective butts. Oil importation has deeply hurt our balance of trade.
I am concerned about the different protectionist plans put forth by the candidates in the Democratic Party and the less than aggressive plans put forth by John McCain on trade issues. I consider these planks to be the building blocks to preserving this country’s greatness, our national security, and to rebuild our economic health. These planks are being spelled out in a series of blogs focusing on one plank at a time.
Trade Policy is the second plank up at bat. The primary goal of this policy is to rebuild America’s comparative trade advantage and grow good jobs for the middle class.
The Trade Plank:
· Reduce or eliminate the income tax on domestic business to a level that will help them become competitive in the world trade arena.
· Establish a national single payer health care system. This will relieve businesses due to domestic competitive pressures from having to heavily subsidize health care for employees. The savings in this expense built into the price of products will make business product prices more competitive in the world trade arena.
· Tax those employees continuing to receive subsidized health care to the full amount of the subsidy as income. The current method of not taxing health care subsidies is actually a regressive tax. Lower paid workers do not benefit nearly as much from the untaxed subsidy as do workers in a higher tax bracket.
· Require all trade partners to accept our goods as we accept theirs. No more one way trade – use tariffs to offset unfair trade practices.
· Only engage in a free trade agreement if we are on an equal footing for trade.
· Establish an Investment Tax Credit for equipment acquisitions designed to give U.S. businesses engaged in world trade a competitive edge.
· Establish a tax credit for training in production and manufacturing technology related skills for employees engaged in production for export.
The next Plank will be Tax Policy
