Tariffs: Why Rand Paul is a Complete Hypocrite

Rand Paul is a staunch libertarian like his father. As such he believes in extremely limited  government control or interference in the economy. Which also makes him anti-tariff at his core with the belief that our government should not limit the free market. However his current stance does not align with his stated libertarian beliefs because global trade is not free or fair when the US is subject to tariffs and exclusion from markets. Rand Paul’s anti-tariff tirade is joined by other Republican RINOs whose viewpoints and recent speeches are not worth mentioning as these asshats are ardent never-Trumpers; McConnell, Collins and Murkowski. These people are worthless and couldn’t punch themselves out of a paper bag.  

Rand Paul though is a huge disappointment. He is a complete hypocrite and in his views are inconsistent with the libertarian philosophy of “free” trade which he so ardently espouses. As we have seen the US for decades has been on a one-sided ledger when it comes to free trade. Free trade is a reciprocal agreement between trading partners. This has not been the case for the United States. 

As President Trump stated and provided compelling evidence of, countries across the globe both friend and foe have been subjecting the United States to unfair trade practices for decades. As such our trade deficits have been in the billions yearly. Previous global trade policies and treaties have decimated the manufacturing base within the US so that we are dependent on cheap goods produced by slave and low cost labor from Pan-Pacific countries like Vietnam, Cambodia, China and others.  Our products have either faced huge tariffs or faced exclusionary elimination from markets in Japan, South Korea, Canada, Australia and the European Union, our allies! Again this has been well documented by the administration and other credible sources. Rand Paul fails to recognize this glaring fact - Free and/or Fair Trade for the United States doesn’t exist for our exported products and services but we are an open market for all imports. How does the US benefit from the arrangement Rand? We have decimated our manufacture capability and worse rely on our adversaries for steel, aluminum and most importantly our prescription drugs - this is unacceptable and a national security risk. 

So My question to the Junior Senator from Kentucky is how long shall the US run trade imbalances? How long should we be tariffed and excluded from markets from our allies and adversaries? How long should our once thriving middle class be excluded from prospering? How does a dependance on China help the security of the US? 

When I was a an American Government/Economics teacher (2007-2012) I would have my economics class conduct a simple experiment on specialization. We simply checked the tags in our shirts and shoes. In each class less than 10% of the products were US based. The clothing was from Central-America (mainly Honduras and Guatemala), South-EastAsia (Vietnam, Cambodia), Sri Lanka, India and China. This idea of specialization was that the US would outsource cheaper products, like the production of apparel. Then we would produce high ticket items like computers, TVs, automobiles. Yet this didn't occur either as these products were produced primarily by Japan and South Korea which continued to erode the US manufacturing base.

I remember textile mills in the northeast and southern states, excellent high quality furniture produced in North Carolina, steel milled in Pittsburgh. Arizona used to boast of the 4 Cs; cattle, copper, cotton and citrus. Now not so much. It is critical for our national security, economic development that the US develop a diverse production of good in manufacturing resulting in high paying jobs that will revitalize the US economy and personal wealth within the US. 

This actions taken recently by the Trump administration is a short-term struggle to reach stability of the future. It means putting off instant gratification to have a bountiful harvest, of wealth and prosperity.  This is the financial and trade war that MUST be won by the US. The talk that we have lost trillions of dollars in the past few days are ridiculous. This is paper money which can and will be realized when the stock market rebounds as it always does. Any loss to retirement accounts and investments are only numbers on a ledger and not real money. Get your head out of the sand. Your true wealth is really no different than it was two weeks ago, unless you panicked and sold off your portfolio and investments.  

Rand Paul - you need to re-examine your beliefs and take a look at the big picture. Free trade is reciprocal and one-sided tariffs and exclusion from markets i.e countries, are not free trade. Hey Rand - those  tariffs will go away once we have a level playing field.