Mexican/Canadian wisdom

With the three-ring circus of anti-trade, protectionism, and pandering to the Rust Belt, it comes as no surprise that our neighbors to the north and south see through the facade of the Democratic primary talking points in trying to accrue votes in Pennsylvania and Ohio.

The leaders of Canada and Mexico on Tuesday brushed aside threats by the U.S. Democratic presidential candidates to try to renegotiate NAFTA and adopt a more protectionist approach to trade.

Democratic contenders Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama -- blaming the 14-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement for U.S. manufacturing job losses -- say the United States could quit the pact unless Canada and Mexico agree to major changes.

No idiots, it's the political pressure the unions place on the Democratic legislatures of blue-collar states that drive up the price of labor to an unsustainable level, making it more advantageous for corporations to outsource labor to countries without such a union stronghold, despite any stigma they may get. By outsourcing labor, companies are able to sell goods at prices consumers deem reasonable for manufactured goods.

What the libs can't seem to understand is that labor is just as much of a commodity as food or gas, and is rightly dictated by supply and demand economics. The reason someone with a college degree stands a much better chance at finding employment is that they are of more value as a worker, and as the demand for their labor increases, so does the price.

Technological innovations are also partly responsible for the decline in jobs in these places, but you'd be hard pressed to find Democrats decrying automated machinery as taking away hard-working Americans' jobs.

After two days of wide-ranging talks among Mexico, Canada and the United States, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said reopening the trade deal would cost the United States.

"I'm confident that when the facts are looked at, any president ... will quickly conclude how critically important NAFTA and Canadian-American trade relations are to jobs and prosperity on both sides of our border and, in particular, the importance of energy security," he said.

Canada is the single largest supplier of energy to the United States, Harper noted.

"With gas prices ever on the rise, and more and more American jobs being exported across our borders, which candidate do you trust to answer the phone at 2 a.m. to ensure that our goods sent to Canada and Mexico face steep tariffs? Which candidate would enact Smoot-Hawley-esque policies to make sure the oncoming threat of a recession becomes more than a liberal exaggeration to a full-fledged reality? Which candidate will make sure only the richest Americans can afford to fly on commercial airplanes and fill their gas tanks?"

Bush, Calderon and Harper argued that the agreement has created new jobs, lowered prices on goods for consumers, and made the region more competitive at a time when the Chinese and Indian economies are starting to accelerate.

Interestingly enough, the three leaders also have statistics to back their assertions. Now onto COLOMBIA!

Colombia already has duty-free access to the U.S. market for most goods under a U.S. trade preference program that dates back to 1991. The pact would scrap many tariffs on U.S. businesses that export to Colombia and phase out the rest.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat who put off the vote on the Colombia pact, said Democrats want to consider domestic economic issues first.

"Democrats have repeatedly told the president we are willing to work with him in good faith to create jobs and restore our economic strength," she said in a statement.

The first and easiest step in restoring our economic strength might possibly be to not stand in the way of a free-trade agreement with Colombia. Companies such as Caterpillar and other construction suppliers would greatly benefit from their exports not being taxed to infinity by Colombia.