Trade Representative Ron Kirk's Unhealthy Agenda

 Ron Kirk’s staunch support of the very “free trade” deals that have killed this country over the last 15 years are by far his worst blemish.

Kirk, the newly appointed United States Trade Representative, has shown himself to be an avid supporter of outsourcing, NAFTA and other “free trade” deals, the North American Union.  His outlook on “free trade” is completely misguided by his atypical experiences as the mayor of Dallas, Texas, during the first years of NAFTA and other trade liberalizing agreements. 

As the mayor of Dallas, Kirk was able to reap the benefits of “free trade” and see his city’s economy boom.  He was responsible to and for only one city, and his policies helped bring in substantial growth, to the detriment of the rest of the country.  Kirk backed the proposed “NAFTA superhighway” because the infrastructure project would run directly through Dallas and supply that city with major government and private funding.  It would represent a boom for Dallas which would become the “capitol city of NAFTA” and one of its primary trading posts.  However, that growth would come at the loss for the rest of the nation.  The NAFTA superhighway would divert maritime trade away from west coast ports like San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and others and redirect routes to coastal cities in Mexico.  The only beneficiaries of the superhighway would be those living along its route, everyone else would be left out.  Kirk however never seems to have taken this fact into account when formulating his position on the issue.  

The policies that Ron Kirk has championed and enacted have been detrimental to the vast majority of Americans.  Our country has become dependent on foreign imports for its very survival after witnessing so many important factors of production move to low-cost alternatives overseas.  By importing all of what we consume, we have also exported trillions of dollars overseas via our balance of trade deficit (which has jumped to more than $700 billion annually).  This money only returns to the U.S. in the form of foreign buyouts and takeovers, as our own money is being used against us.

As a career politician, not an economic expert or even and industrial leader, Ron Kirk will be out of his league in trade discussions with other countries.  He lacks the experience necessary to adequately represent the United States at the bargaining table.  To make matters worse, Kirk’s background as an avid proponent of “free trade” and other disastrous policies call his judgment into question.  The man in charge of our international trade policies was in favor of NAFTA from the start, is a proponent of the NAFTA “super highway” and the North American Union (they would be good for Dallas, and detrimental for the rest of the United States) and has shown no desire to renegotiate the United States’ place in unfair trade agreements.

Source Washington Times:

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