Topic: NAFTA etc
The American workingman does not get any benefit from NAFTA, CAFTA or any other Free Trade Agreement. The US Government does not get any benefit from NAFTA, CAFTA or any other Free Trade Agreement. State and Local Governments do not get any benefits from NAFTA, CAFTA or any other Free Trade Agreements. Small Manufacturing Businesses do not get any benefits from NAFTA CAFTA or any other Free Trade Agreement. Small Mom & Pop Retail Businesses do not get any benefits from NAFTA, CAFTA or any other Free Trade Agreements. The workers in the foreign countries do not get any benefits from the Free Trade Agreements, other than have a new Sweatshop open up in their village.
The only people who benefit from these programs are the owners and CEOs of the companies that participate, and possibly some politicians.
The proponents of these so called Free Trade Agreements claim that these programs help everybody in that it gives jobs to people in countries where there is no manufacturing base. They also claim that it allows the buying public to buy quality products at a lower price and save money. And these things will help the Global Economy.
But what the proponents fail to tell you is that many hundreds of thousands of American workers will lose their jobs in manufacturing plants. Now that these people who used to work for the factories that have closed are not working, they are no longer paying State and Federal Income Taxes. The Factories they used to work in are closed and all the machinery has been shipped to the foreign countries so the local Governments are no longer collecting taxes on the property that is no longer there. There are many small ancillary businesses such as Diners, Gas Stations and Repair Garages, Clothing Stores, and many other businesses, which served the people who used to work at the factories. The unoccupied buildings are going to rot and ruin and are now available for criminal elements to move in and lessen the value of the surrounding neighborhood. The self respecting people who used to work in the factory have moved out to other parts of the country and many of the homes have been repossessed, are vacant and have become occupied by street people and the town can no longer collect property tax on them. Many of the people who used to work for the factory and other affected businesses are unemployed and do not have the finances to enable them to move to a better part of the country are now getting, or have applied for State Welfare
But what about the countries where the manufacturing jobs went to? The people who got those jobs that American workers were being paid $12.00 to $15.00 per hour are being paid 40 cents per hour and must work 12 to 15 hours every day, and if they do not do enough for the boss they will be fired and the boss will hire someone to work harder.
The quality of the product does not matter because the company is making the product so cheap they can offer a replacement if it does not work. So for a company that had been making a high quality product in the USA for $60.00 and selling it for $98.95 and making a decent profit, is now making a less than perfect product for $6.00 and selling it for $ 95.99 and saving the American public almost $3.00, but has raised his profit margin by about 800%.
And when the product is shipped back to the US the US Government will not collect any tariff on the incoming merchandise because it is coming from a Free Trade Country so the government loses money, and must raise the rate of Income Tax to make up for the shortfall or cut back on the Social Services that have made the USA the great country it is.
By the way, many of the jobs that went to Mexico when NAFTA was started are now leaving Mexico and going to China and India, and putting the Mexicans out of work because the Chinese will work for 4 cents per hour.
So again I will say the only people who gain from these so called Free Trade Agreements are the company owners and the Politicians they paid so well to buy their votes, and the Lobbyists who sold their souls for a buck.
The dollar amounts I used in these examples may not be exact, but you get my drift.
