Where have all the good jobs gone?

You can't blame the unions, they just want higher wages with less competition. You can't blame the corporations, they had to move out of the country to be competitive and stay in business. You can't blame the CEOs for giving themselves incorrigible compensation, they just like to be millionaires and billionaires. You can't blame our legislators for helping them out, they like to be millionaires too. You can't blame Obama, the job losses started years ago before anyone ever heard of him. In 1947 congress, under the Harry Truman presidency, passed GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade). Jobs were plentiful and our economy was booming. Then under Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Regan and George Herbert Bush trade restrictions were gradually dropped and eventually eliminated. By 1980 foreign products started pouring in to the U.S. and globalization began. By 1990 under George H. Bush and Bill Clinton, we started going all out for Free Trade, legalizing it by designating China as our "favorite trade nation" and passing NAFTA, CAFTA and GATS. Then to put the finishing touch on jobs in the U.S., we joined the World Trade Organization in 1990, an organization that dictates trade policies.

Recently, during the visit of Chinese President Hu Jintao, President Obama convinced him to open trade on $45 billion more U.S. exports. Sounds good but does not quite balance our $250 billion annual import from China. It is obvious that China is aggressively pursuing their goal of overtaking the United States as the world's preeminent economic and military power. The only way to get China's attention and respect is an American rebounding economy. The only way to accomplish that is to make a critical evaluation of our complex trade agreements with China and others and restore some of our GATT agreements. Ironically, the only politician I have known who made a campaign promise to reform trade policies with China and others was Republican Senator Duncan Hunter or Hunter Duncan. I'll vote for him.

Jack H. Knowlan Sr.