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Strategies & Market Trends : Galapagos Islands -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lazarus_Long who wrote (51297)	3/19/2004 9:00:54 AM
From: AugustWest	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 57110

yep, It's bullshit and it's one of a growing number of things that has jaded my person these past dozen or more years. I don't even blame the Chinese so much, heck, I can't really blame them for putting their own patriotism in front of ours, even though it is unethical and unprofessional- it's business! Instead, I blame my own government and politicians and hold them responsible. They are the ones who have allowed China(and other countries) to take advantage of the situation. God forbid someone stand up for us. As if we don't already do enough for the rest of the frigging world. And I'm sick to death of hearing about how privileged we are to live in the US. Instead of helping other countries rise to our level or standard of living we're knocking down our own people while allowing other countries to climb right over us! What really gets my goat too; it's not generally the corporations that are initially affected- that doesn't come until later. But rather the hourly workers and laborers. They are the ones to take the shot to the gut from the start. It starts innocently in the form of less perks and traditional gifts of appreciation. And I'm not talking the company car or gas card, nor the country club membership and dues, but rather those small things of sustenance like the Thanksgiving turkey, or the Easter ham, or the extra $350(instead of $75 or less) Christmas bonus- the things the small guy has come to literally depend on to make ends meet. Or worse yet, the heck with even having the chance to bitch to your cronies at the bar about how the whole plant has been red lined for the past year and a half. Nope, we're just gonna downsize the operation, and guess what, in an effort to become more competitive "in this global economy," they've decided to purchase, for a price equal to three years of your income, a machine that will do your job. In fact, it will actually do the work of you and two of your friends also! Oh, and the good part, there is only mechanical maintenance and upkeep of the machine instead of insurance and other administrative costs associated with having employees. And guess what? Even though there are now less jobs you're qualified for, we're not even going to extend your unemployment benefits. So you better get your technical schooling for your next job done real fast, or forget about it, pick up a broom and fall in line. Or better still, just fall off the face of the earth- better for the monthly unemployment numbers our economists use to prove that everything is really okay. See, it's only that is hasn't gotten far enough up the latter to effect or make a difference to our politicians to make them give a rat's ass about making sure we're all operating on a level playing field. I guess in retrospect, my above rant sort of did a sharp right off the cliff, instead of driving directly at the issue, but it is relevant none the less. Relevant in light of needing now, more than ever, someone to stand up to the Chinese and other countries that see an opportunity and exploit it. I say fark them. If I'm President<g> of the United States I will stand up to those countries. Elect me<ggg> and I will fight for the little guy, those who need it most. Time to draw a god damn line in the sand and tell them if they cross it its gonna cost them! And indeed my fellow citizens it will cost them dearly if they don't conform and start playing fair. If they don't respect us and give our goods a fair chance then all that junk that they send over here to our consumers will become more expensive, that simple. If they can do it, then by God, we'll do it too. And that record $124 BILLION trade surplus they had last year, well, I see that dwindling in short order and being returned in the form of lower income tax for the U.S. workers and corporations in a fair, orderly manner. If I am elected president, I promise you that money will be seen by Johnny Time Card and Jane Assembly Line- they will be the ones to feel it immediately. It will start at the bottom of the latter(instead of the top) and work its way up to the corporations and then, only then if there is any left(ha ha ha) will the government see any of it. That's right, I said it, it would go right back to who it belongs to and who deserves it most, you the people. Thank you for your time Come November, I hope you will consider me when it comes to electing someone to run this country. <end of rant!>

To: Lazarus_Long who wrote (51297)	3/19/2004 11:36:08 AM
From: Original Mad Dog	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 57110

The problem is that the U.S. itself maintained an unfair subsidy in the form of an export tax break which was recently challenged under international trade rules (the U.S. lost). While that case was pending it was hard for us to challenge things like the Chinese tax rebate, which accomplished the same thing by a different route. IMO this is just a warning shot across the bow. The real issues with China are (1) laughably weak IP protection -- China has become the world's technology copying machine; and (2) currency protections which serve effectively as a huge subsidy on Chinese exports and surtax on imports. The currency issue is harder to attack under the WTO framework, but other things such as the tax rebate being challenged in this case as well as disparities in labor and environmental regulations will probably be the next step. I also think that Bush may have been reluctant to push these issues because of a desire for Chinese cooperation on the War on Terror and the North Korea situation. With North Korea still up in the air, we are likely to see a very slow push to enforce WTO rules against China. I would still not invest heavily in any company that is counting heavily on profiting through exports to China.