Posted by
Andrews on Tuesday, May 05, 2009 5:16:30 PM
Little did I know when I wrote about protectionism in my post "
Fair Trade", that less than 24 hours later I
would read the following:
President Barack Obama promised sternly on Monday to crack down on
companies "that ship jobs overseas" and duck U.S. taxes with offshore
havens. It won't be easy. Democrats have been fighting--and
losing--this battle since John F. Kennedy made a similar proposal in
1961. Obama's proposal to close tax loopholes was a reliable applause
line during the presidential campaign, but it got a lukewarm response
Monday from Capitol Hill.
So, it seems that protectionism is, sadly, alive and well, and has the backing of the White House.
Fortunately, another of my predictions seems to be coming true as well. As I argued in "
I Told You So!" (and many other posts), Democrats from conservative districts are already splitting with the president on some issues:
Sen. Max Baucus of Montana, the Democratic chairman of the Senate
Finance Committee, said the plan needed further study, even though
similar ideas have been around for years.
At least this bodes well for the US, though perhaps not for Republicans. After all, if the Democrats keep Obama from enacting his most foolish ideas, it will likely take until 2012 before he does enough harm to usher in a Republican majority once more.
POSTSCRIPT
Thanks to
Best of the Web for bringing these quotes to my attention.