May 11, 2011.
Over the years Congress has been mesmerized by baloney that lobbyists have been dangling and swinging before them that they don't realize how they've devastated America. Or do they realize and they just don't care? Let's dig past the surface and delve further to see what we uncover. Lobbyists in Washington represent American Big Business interests and, among others, the US National Chamber of Commerce which was bought out by Big Business interests in China. It is the job of these lobbyists to cajole, convince and persuade, by any means necessary, members of congress to create and cultivate business and economic environments advantageous to the profitable bottom-line of their respective vested corporate interests. If we lived in the land of faeries and "make believe" we would know these alliances are good and beneficial for all Americans, however, we live in the real world.
Lobbyists over time, on behalf of their business interests, manipulated (and continue to manipulate) government officials to create and expand trade arrangements advantageous to increase revenue and profits of their business interests in America. When Clinton signed NAFTA into law on December 8, 1993 many Americans saw this as the beginning of the death of the American dream and the American way of life. In retrospect we see they were absolutely right, proving that hindsight is 20/20. Since that time lobbyists have manipulated congress into creating more trade agreements around the world. While it is true revenues and profits increased for these Big Businesses that lobbyists work for, the average way of life for Americans has diminished significantly.
These trade agreements made it far easier to ship raw materials and finished goods into America from foreign trade markets while maintaining difficulty for America to ship many items into their emerging markets. Lobbyists sold this idea to congress by stating how much the costs of materials would lower the cost of producing these items and, in turn, the cost to purchase finished goods would drop substantially, thus improving the American way of life. As per record, all major purchases have increased drastically in cost, with the exception of computers and related items. However, the cost to purchase and operate computers and small electronic devices are frivolously maintained unnecessarily high when considering how much it costs the makers of these products to produce and bring their items to market, or for these products to be operated. By gouging Americans they insure they're on the money train breaking the backs and banks of the average American too.
How was all this made possible? Well, first of all tariffs were lowered on materials and products moving into the US while Mexico, India and China built up their finished-goods manufacturing infrastructures. For a short period of time America was able to cheaply create finished goods because of the lowered tariffs that allowed Big Business to import raw materials. However, there was never a trickle down effect to the average American consumer. Prices were maintained on an inflating scale so that elitists could rake in phenomenal amounts of untold wealth in salaries, bonuses and stock dividends. During this same time the upperclass began to reap these untold benefits, the average American began increasingly living more precariously paycheck-to-paycheck, and on credit in order to maintain sustainability to stay afloat in these prosperous times brought about by the globalization of trade. Please remember during this timeframe the US has been held at a continual disadvantage because of unreasonably high tariffs shipping US products into these foreign markets.
As Mexico, India and China completed their finished-goods manufacturing infrastructures, jobs began leaving the US market bound for these newly sourced "cheaper" labor markets beyond America's borders. At first this was a trickle starting back in 1994, and initially wasn't noticed because of the boom and boost to the information technology job markets which were up and growing in the US. As the years rolled by into the present, the flow of manufacturing and information technology jobs leaving America has gone from a trickle to a stream to an all out raging torrent that has encompassed millions and millions of American jobs and counting. Lobbyists did as they were hired to do, they enchanted, entranced and manipulated government officials to create trade agreements advantageous to the revenues and profits of the business interests they served. It is true that these revenues and profits increased, but only for the uppermost crust of society. The arbitrary and fictitiously high cost of living imposed on US citizens continues to rise at the greed and discretion of the upperclass while salaries and standards of living have been in significant decline over the last decade for the average American. The lobbyists arrangement in Washington has alienated the average US middle-class citizen to lower depths of poverty while only elevating the socio-economic living conditions of the uppermost people in the wealth echelon of the US, China, India and Mexico. I wonder what would happen if the citizens of America unite and demand tariffs be
Now, it could be argued that lobbyists are before congress with their case that America needs to openly embrace illegal aliens so that the US can employ cheap labor to compete in the world economic arena. We keep lowering the costs of labor to make finished goods, but the prices of these goods keep rising to further increase the wealth of the upperclass who own and control Big Business interests in these United States of America. Ask yourself, have you positively benefited from the globalization of free trade? Has the price of housing, utilities, transportation, insurance, healthcare, etc., declined since 1994? Have your wages steadily increased since 1994, or, are you a victim of the recession and now barely making what you made in 1994? How are these lobbyists and their concerns working out for you and your standard of living? Only you know the answers to these questions.
I wonder what would happen if the citizens of America unite and demand that tariffs be raised 1500%, or more? I'm sure that would have an immediate impact onAmerican Big Business, they'd surely have to rethink made in China, India, Mexico. They'd have to finally address providing decent wages and hours to Americans. They've already proven there are funds to make this happen because they've just been greedily hoarding it all to themselves at the expense of the American dream and the American way of life. Have you voiced your knowledge and concerns to your congressional representatives lately?