Why I Like John McCain: The Free Trade Edition

I was not in favor of NAFTA when it first came around. I thought that it would result in lost jobs for Americans and everyone could see the writing on the wall as far as jobs being lost to cheaper, overseas production. But, NAFTA is here, as are other global trade agreements; we are a global economy and it's here to stay - unless Mr. Obama is elected.

It is true that American jobs have, for the most part, gone overseas. Face it, if you check every item of clothing you are wearing right now, I doubt one item was made in America. A recent check of my own person shows pants made in Honduras and other items made in China, Mexico and Vietnam. For the most part, America is a service economy now - food service, hotels, casinos, retail, etc. The upside is that you can buy a DVD player for a cheap price. You can buy clothes at a fairly reasonable cost (depending on where you go!) Another upside is that we now have friends and allies where we did not before.

Why I like John McCain today is because he has always fought for free trade. I didn't ALWAYS like this, but now I see the wisdom of his foresight and experience. McCain saw early on that China was a growing power and fought to open trade with them. In 1994 he fought to open trade with Vietnam - the very country that held him prisoner and tortured him. Country first.

John McCain has fought for and voted for trade with Columbia Mexico, Canada, Central America, the Dominican Republic, Chile, Peru, Singapore, Oman, Morocco, Jordan, and Israel. Overall, this has been GOOD for our economy, which we all know, needs a bright spot right now. NAFTA, for example has opened trade between U.S., Mexico and Canada by eliminating almost all tariffs. This makes the product available at a lower price.

Since 1994, trade between these three countries has increased more than 200% and in fact, U.S. manufacturing was up 44% and employment grew.

In contrast, Mr. Obama has voted against virtually every single free trade agreement that has come across his desk, with the possible exception of Cuba (no wonder Castro endorsed him.) If Mr. Obama has his way, we will lose most of our free trade agreements in renegotiation which will result in higher costs for Americans. American unions drive up American costs which is part of the problem. If Mr. Obama restricts us to only American made products, you will be paying a lot more for that DVD player. Not to mention the $9.70 minimum wage he wants to impose. You think costs won't rise with that one? And jobs won't decline? Think again. NOT good for the economy.

Mr. Obama wants to GIVE billions of dollars to poverty stricken countries via his Global Poverty Act, yet he wants to shut down the jobs that have been made there through free trade agreements. The jobs that our trade agreements have created in Vietnam and other countries, for example, have led to a growing middle class in those countries. What will happen to that progress when Obama closes those trade agreements? Do you think WalMart will still be in business?

So why I like John McCain today is his wisdom of foresight; for his support of free trade and his concern for the American worker and the American economy; his concern for the American citizen.