The world has done surprisingly well since the Great Recession began at not making things worse with trade protectionism. But that may soon change thanks to the U.S. Senate, which is expected to vote as early as this week on the most dangerous trade legislation in many years, the Currency Exchange Rate Oversight Reform Act. This is when an American President would normally step in and defend the U.S. and world economies, but Barack Obama is bobbing and weaving for his own narrow political ends. This is risky business.

Senators Chuck Schumer and Lindsey Graham have pushed since 2005 to impose punitive tariffs on China if the value of the yuan doesn’t rise faster. The legislation is now coming to the floor because Senate Democrats want protectionist political cover against unions in return for voting on the free-trade pacts with Colombia, Panama and Korea that President Obama finally sent to Congress yesterday. But what is cynical posturing in Washington may look more threatening to the rest of the world, and once trade wars start they can be hard to stop.

The senators speak during a news conference on Sept. 22, to discuss unfair currency manipulation.

Unlike America’s last great trade blunder, the Tariff Act of 1930 (aka Smoot-Hawley), the China bill wouldn’t raise tariffs across the board, but would instead allow companies to seek countervailing duties by treating a “misaligned” currency as a subsidy. This would nonetheless open the floodgates to applications from American companies, and the resulting tariffs would violate World Trade Organization rules. China would undoubtedly retaliate, meaning companies and consumers in both countries would lose.

If other countries follow suit, there would be knock-on effects throughout the global economy. As the erstwhile leader of the world’s trading system as well as one of its main beneficiaries, the U.S. bears a special responsibility to avoid this outcome.

It’s fun and easy for politicians like Sen. Schumer and Sen. Graham to blame China’s monetary policy or “free trade” for the loss of American manufacturing jobs… It’s a much more difficult thing for politicians to admit that the tax and regulatory policies they and their colleagues have saddled American industry with are at least partly to blame for the job losses.

In short Senators Schumer and Graham and their ilk should spend less time worrying about the international economy and more time worrying about our national economy. They should be focusing on comprehensive, common sense tax and regulatory reforms that make it more lucrative for American manufacturers to produce quality, affordable goods here rather than overseas. Instead they’re focused on pushing foolish protectionist trade policies that could set off a global trade war.

One has to wonder what would happen if Washington’s policy makers reduced corporate tax rates, ended the punitive double taxation of repatriated profits from foreign subsidiaries, and reduced regulatory burdens? Call me crazy, but I suspect we’d see a boom in American industry.

Idiot.

Umm, Senator Schumer the three branches of Government specified by the Constitution are the Executive, the Legislative and the Judicial not the Senate, House and President, you might want to review Articles 1, 2 and 3 of the Constitution.

It’s no wonder we’re in the mess we’re in when so many of our elected representatives don’t seem to have vaguest idea  what the Constitution actually says — or, for that matter, have any respect for the limits it places on the Government.

A key US committee on Tuesday rejected a push by liberal Democrats to have a government-run healthcare option included in the $856bn centrist bill taking shape in the Senate.

The 15-8 vote by the Senate finance committee, which could indicate the fate of the proposal in the upper chamber as a whole, was followed by a 13-10 vote against a second, similar amendment, with three Democrats voting against both versions.

The outcome was expected, but was still a defeat for liberals who view government-sponsored insurance for the middle class as a key component of President Barack Obama’s healthcare overhaul.

The debate pitted Jay Rockefeller and Charles Schumer, senators for West Virginia and New York, against conservative Democratic colleagues, including Max Baucus, chairman of the Senate finance committee, where the bill is being hammered out.

The latter were joined by Republicans in opposing a public option as the “thin end of the wedge” that would lead to a single-payer healthcare system. Supporters of the public option fear that the White House is preparing to junk the provision in favour of getting a deal.

Mr Rockefeller said the public option was designed to ensure there was competition for private insurers. In roughly half the US states, two insurers dominated the market.

Heh, if Senator Rockefeller where really interested increased competition he’d be pushing for a bill that would allow health insurance companies to compete equally in all 50 states. Currently each state regulates it’s own insurance markets and mandates different coverages.

The current system restricts competition, drives up costs and allows just one or two insurance plans to dominate the market in most states. Allowing our nations health insurers to compete on level playing field nationwide will do far more to increase competition and reduce costs than the public option would.

The simple truth is the public option is not about increasing competition, it’s the gateway to creating a single payer system which is Democrats ultimate goal.

Related

• Health Co-Ops Aren’t the Answer – Wall Street Journal
• Why Medical Malpractice Is Off Limits – Wall Street Journal
• Liberals seek health-care access for illegals – Washington Times
• Medicare ‘Gag Order’ A Sign That Obama, Democrats Are Desperate on Health Care, Republican Leader Says – CNSNews.com

Via Michelle Malkin:

The Senate is about to pass the Turbaconducken stimulus package. Sen. Schumer took to the floor about 20 minutes ago to fear-monger. He referred shamelessly to the “economic 9/11″ and wagged his bony finger at Republican dissenters.

“You lost,” Sen. Schumer sneered. Besides, he taunted, the “American people really don’t care” about all those “little tiny, yes, porky amendments” that the “chattering classes” have exposed:

Um, Chuck what the hell are you smoking? We most certainly do care about the pork barrel projects you idiots have larded up the so called stimulus package with… The simple truth is you guys don’t care what we, the great unwashed masses, think. This so called stimulus package is nothing more than 40 year wish list of democrat spending and policy priorities that you couldn’t get passed any other way. It’s 10 percent stimulus and 90 percent crap!

Sen. Schumer’s idiocy pales in comparison to Arlen Specter’s however… Specter voted for the pork laden so called stimulus package even though he clearly has no idea what’s in it:

Senator if the stimulus package really needed “more time for hearings” why on earth did you vote for it???

God save us from these idiots!