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Protectionism
Happens to Be Congress's Job Free trade is like world peace -- you can't get there by whining about it. You must be willing to fight for it. And the entity to fight for free trade is the U.S. Congress. Instead, Congress -- whose members are shouting "fair trade" and "level the playing field" -- is the very group tilting the playing field when it comes to trade. By piling items onto the cost of doing business here, Congress has helped end the positive trade balance that the United States ran right up until the early 1980s. Over the past 40 years, the minimum wage went up, the Environmental Protection Agency was established, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration was set up. Lawmakers added the Equal Pay Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and the Employment Retirement Income Security Act. Then came the sharp increase in payroll taxes for Social Security in 1983, measures requiring plant closing notice and parental leave, and the Americans With Disabilities Act. Health costs increased, too, making it $500 a car cheaper in health costs alone for General Motors to make Pontiacs in Canada. All this helped give us a trade deficit that hit a record $43.1 billion in January alone. |
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