Obama's "Buy American" Gaffe: Doing Exactly What He Said He Would

Hmm, Obama took longer than I thought he would to screw things up. I had originally figured he would do it on the first day. Still, less than two weeks later we've already had his first major gaffe. While busying himself with the all important mission to delay the DTV switchover, B. Hussain Obama came up with the brilliant economic plan now known as "Buy American". The plan basically says that resources used for projects as part of his $819 billion stimulus package will have to come from American contractors and producers only. World finance chiefs have called the plan a bad idea and Canada, a major supplier of lumber and steel to the US, is vowing to fight the plan tooth and nail. So less than two weeks into his term, Obama has already threatened to spark a trade war with America's top trading partners: Canada, Mexico, and China; plus numerous other nations. The opposition parties in Ottawa have stated they plan to put pressure on the Harper government to try and work out a deal with Washington to get the plan nixed. In this era of minority governments and coalition threats, it's hard to get all of parliament to agree on anything. This tells you just how dumb an idea "Buy American" is.

Is Obama's protectionist stance really a surprise to anybody? Though I didn't mention it in my blog, I had noted to several friends many months ago that McCain would be the better president for Canada. I believed Obama would try to invoke protectionism due to the impending financial collapse and his alliances with the big American unions. Seems I was correct. Simply put, the while Canadians may not like their social policies, the Republicans' push for free trade and free enterprise is ultimately the best for us. We rely on trade with the US to keep our economy going. If it stops, we could fall into a deep recession, or at worst the dreaded "D-word". The plan is ultimately bad for the United States as well since many corporations rely on international trade with Canada and America's other major trade partners.

The federal Conservatives were heavily criticized for "interfering" with the US election when NAFTA-gate "scandal" came to light. The leaked documents said that once in office, Obama wanted to renegotiate NAFTA. The plan was to add more protection for American producers against cheaper Mexican and Canadian goods. Remember that this was primarily what the Softwood Lumber Dispute was about. So I guess if you loose the game, change the rules for the next round to suit you. Telling Canada to buy their goods but them turning around and saying they won't buy ours is like Obama giving us a giant middle finger. Barack's supporters originally dismissed the fact that he would attempt to do this, but were intregued by the idea. The socialist left, of which Obama is a member, has always had a huge anti-NAFTA hardon. This is despite the fact that most academics I have encountered seem to agree that NAFTA has brought major benefits to all three of its members. The National Post called the "Buy American" plan "exporting unemployment", since it fails to help or even acknolwedge the global economy crisis. It only protects the big unions, which is where good deal of Democratic campaign funding comes from. While jobs might be created in the US, corresponding jobs will be lost in other countries. "Buy American" is a zero-sum game. Only two weeks into power and the world that loved him so much is now forming a united front against his stimulus package. I guess the honeymoon is over for the Hawaiian Messiah.

Updated Feb 3rd, 2009