Status Quo with Failed Bilateral Trade Pacts.
All of our 3Coms become Chicoms.
In spite of the recession and slight increases in exports, the size of the trade deficit persists. We heard this in 2001 and 1990: exports will grow us out of the trade deficit. It has not and will not happen.

Get Sensible like the EU and get Tariffs.
The very first act of the U.S. Congress in 1789 was a tariff on 60 manufactured goods made in the USA. Trade protection lasted until the 1970s and contributed to economic preeminence. Just look at the growth of the external debt starting with the earliest WTO days in the mid 70s. The pattern is clear. Put tariffs on the ChiComs.

Some help for the what is left of the Industrial Base.
Asset loans for plant and equipment and a return of the Investment Tax Credit on domestically located plants. Banks and Wall Street can't help themselves now, never mind manufacturing. Private equity is the only game and way too scarce.

The Nuclear Option.
Like actual nukes, there are the Dr. Strangeloves out there.
One of them one day, one is going to advocate or conspire to
to shutdown the air supply of Asia trade: U.S. Securities held by the Bank of China. This is not very far-fetched.

All U.S. Securites are held in book form now. Much of that
debt can be canceled by keystrokes. No less than Ole Hickory reneged on U.S. debt with Britain in the 1830s. Don't say impossible.

Tariffs and subsidies look more sensible every day.

I think we need to push hard for reality based facts and one thing that really isn't discussed much is policy recommendations.

For example, I just ripped in a pretty vague way, the Democratic Platform draft, but what specifics do we want to see in their place?

I have an obvious principle, which is US Citizens, US workers first in all policy. That isn't an only, that's simply citizens of a nation-state and their jobs, this labor market should make their citizens the top priority in terms of income, jobs, careers and so on.

I also say that because this is the policy of pretty much other nation-states.

The concept translates into a host of details. For example, make layoffs very very hard for companies to do, priority US citizens. The practice of turning the workers into disposable commodities, where corporations can just do layoffs to help their bottom line, as if this is an elastic cost, should be highly discouraged through economic incentives.

Cintra promplty doubled the tolls on the tollway, and has cut maintenance, and so far none of the promised improvements have occured. Truckers and drivers are increasing using the state hiways and rural rotues to avoid the tolls.

Meanwhile, Indiana's Governer, Bush crony Mitch daniels is claming to have balanced the state budget - he did so with the toll road money - while our schools remain underfunded, roads and bridges in sorry shape and mfg jobs leaving in droves

CBS Market Watch has some comments from Morici, who won predicting economic indicators (again) contest:

Things will happen in the next two years that will shock people," Morici said It's not just the broken banking system; it's also that the U.S. economy is being held hostage by oil and by China's undervalued currency

and

He has little faith in either Barack Obama or John McCain to grasp the extent of the rot. Obama, he said, is singing from the "liberal songbook from the 1970s." McCain, who could have run against Wall Street as a reformer, has simply tied himself closer to the policies of George Bush

When I wrote up this blog piece I thought I would get flamed for going against party lines. While I thought I would be a dissenting voice, appears I'm in the majority.

plus on a legitimate labor blog I wouldn't have linked it.

Even us can see it's executive class that's the issue here, we can come up with more efficient business models on a blog. I think they really need to throw the bums out and the reason I saw "UAW" is I am thinking of the workers, the engineers who already know the plants and so on.

What's wrong with that guy? Obama needs all the help he can get! You don't short change the AFL-CIO! If he is the nominee, he better have a Veep that doesn't take such support for granted. Really disappointed, really disappointed!

But I'm not entirely sure putting the company in the hands of the UAW is the answer. Both have different priorities at the end of the day. The United Auto Workers' main goal is job security and increase in benefits. GM's main goal is to turn a profit and survive to the next quarter, and hopefully grow. Eventually, you're going to run into a conflict of interest here, what if survival meant shutting down a plant or two? What if it's the reduction or termination of benefits? Sad I know, and perhaps reductions of benefits and job terminations are not in order, but it is within the realm of possibility.

RO, the big thing is the management, if the government bails them out (which I think they should), then they have to throw the bums running the company out. At the very least, the elite tier of managers, because it's obvious they still think they can play their old games. They haven't realized that we are in a new era of automobiles, if they did they wouldn't be replaying their old post-war handbook of gas guzzling polluters in China. They ought to focus one a small set of models, maybe 4 or 5 (truck, sedan, etc) and have that be their global template. No need to have an AERO in China and something else in the EU or US. Streamline it, reduce the carbon footprint and make the damn thing cost effective with fuel (either electric or some sort of hybrid). There is a window of opportunity for them right now, with that Volt, if they only took it. Selling it for $45k is crazy. But who knows, maybe the costs of producing such a vehicle are that high. And if so, then let those MBAs and the government figure out how to sell it for $20k.

Wow. It gives me no great joy to link to this, but over on a labor blog, Labor Pains, they posted a phone call where Obama literally hung up on the AFL-CIO. Wow. They have the phone tape online.