Bashing the Americans

[charliep]

For anyone who wants the read the actual text of the meeting, it is at:

http://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/minist_e/min05_e/min05_e.htm

[Horse]

Farmranger why is it bashing to point out that they are colecting tarrif on softwood that is against the nafra or that BSE is realy just BS or that they are in Iraq for thier own intrests and no one elses
.
If we complain about the libs in ottawa are we bashing or trying to make a point. As for the yanks and trade do you think they come here and take 350 bill more than we take from them just to be nice or mabey with over 300 mill people that like to live high mabey they need all that trade?
And yes I dont agree with most of thier forien policy butr I dont think I am bashing them moreso I am just stating my humble opinion.

[FarmRanger]

Well Horse, I am not sure where to start. Explaining macroeconomics obviously won't mean much to you if you think that having a trade surplus with the U.S. is a bad thing for us.

Think of it this way, if I sell you $256 dollars worth of stuff that I produce, then I have your money to buy what I want with it, and you have the goods I produced. Suppose I start calling you nasty names and you decide you don’t want my $256 dollars worth of stuff. I get to either find somewhere else to sell it for a lower price, or stop producing altogether. My wife gets mad because we can’t afford the $190 I used to spend for a night out every month at your bowling alley anymore. My kid who used to make the stuff I sold to you is now sitting on the couch watching T.V., and not eating the bread I used to buy from my brother down the road for $66, but can’t afford now, (which means my brother can’t afford to buy my stuff I used to sell to you either). We are all poorer for our actions, but I’ll be worse off than you if we stop buying each others goods and services. In addition, you’d feel it a lot less than me because you’ve got a lot more money than me to start with. (Ranger economics 101) Now, multiply the numbers I used by 1 billion and you have something resembling the trade we had with the U.S. in 2004. We sold $256 billion to, and purchased 190 billion worth of goods and services from the U.S. in 2004.

I’m not going to defend U.S. tariffs on lumber, or BSE, other than to point out that, we don’t really have much to say about BSE that wouldn’t be hypocritical in light of the Liberal government’s ban of Brazilian beef a few years ago. It’s pretty obvious that the Liberals have damaged relations with the U.S. as well as Brazil, which has very real consequences for Canadians.
Disagree with another country’s foreign policy all you want, just make sure you understand the reasons for doing so, and be prepared to defend those reasons if you’re going to post them here. I also have the right to be upset by the cheap shots for political gain that can have the very real potential to be harmful to my country.
Please don’t take offense to my post Horse, none is intended. Even if I disagree with them, your opinions are as important as anyone else’s. I guess I’m just tired of the destructive political rhetoric that’s been going on, and I suppose I’m getting a little testy! ....Maybe a nice night out at the bowling ally with my wife ;-)

[FarmRanger]

Just came across this:

http://www.stephentaylor.ca/archives/000495.html

Stephen Taylor makes a pretty good case for claiming that the spat with the Bush administration was orchestrated and that the Liberals were planning to use America bashing in their re-election strategy all along.

They were planning all along to try to tick our largest trading partner off?!?!

[cowman]

Ivebinconned: I think you hit the nail on the head! Harper had a pretty interesting day, yesterday in Quebec?
He basically help out the olive branch to Quebec and said our concerns are your concerns?
I believe the Conservatives and the BLOC could get one hell of a lot done in a minority situation? Divest the federal government of a whole whack of programs that in reality belong to the provinces?
Move this country away from this strong "federal" system that obviously isn't working? Into a state where it truly is a federation of ten provinces instead of one big corrupt federal system catering to Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa!
I believe this is the only way this country can survive...otherwise we will dissolve into several states....most absorbed by the USA?