[tomder55]

Title should read :The specter of protectionism is awakened. [Please excuse my occasional bouts of dyslexia]

President Obama's first foreign junket is to Ottawa, Canada.He may be greeted by "Buy Canada" grumbling in the Parliament , the streets and from PM Stephen Harper. Can't say I'd blame them.
Ever since House Speaker Madame Mimi Nancy Pelosi permitted her House member Jim Oberstar and others to write in a "Buy America" mandate to the bucket list stimulus law, that directs a favoritism for American steel and iron products, the Canadians have been rallying against American protectionism.

The "Buy America" clause was a major issue at the G-7 ministers meeting in Rome. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner took some heat last weekend. However the protectionist rhetoric is not just about the US. France, Russia, Egypt are openly favoring their products.

It appears that the world ,including the US ,is hell-bent on repeating the mistakes of the 1930s ,including the now infamous Smoot-Hawley Act ;generally recognized as the prime culprit in turning and economic downturn into a world wide depression.

[George_1950]

26 February 2008
"Senator Barack Obama’s campaign has been long on slogans and mood music but short on concrete proposals and policies. However, on 2 Aug 2007, along with Senators Durbin and Sherrod Brown and Representative Jan Schakowsky, Obama introduced the yet unpassed Patriot Employer Act. On 13 February 2008, he stopped in Janesville, Wisconsin to give a speech extolling this accomplishment. Janesville was an ideal place to peddle his protectionist legislative initiative: the Janesville Assembly Plant of General Motors is the largest employer in town. This bit of political pandering no doubt contributed to his endorsement on 20 February by the Teamsters Union."
The dangerous protectionism of Barack Obama | vox - Research-based policy analysis and commentary from leading economists
I heard the president on C-SPAN tap dancing around the issue of protectionism. Canadian officials were saying they thought Obama understands the necessity and benefits of free trade; however, they pointed out notable deficiencies in Congress and Lou Dobbs. Obama must decide whether to fish or cut bait.

[tomder55]

heard the president on C-SPAN tap dancing around the issue of protectionism. Canadian officials were saying they thought Obama understands the necessity and benefits of free trade; however, they pointed out notable deficiencies in Congress and Lou Dobbs. Obama must decide whether to fish or cut bait.

There will be more sparks on this issue when Obama uses the pretext of environmentalism to put barriers on the import of oil from Alberta oil-sands. Before the trip Obama complained about the carbon footprint needed to extract the oil .
He will disguise protectionism in environmentalism language . He will destroy that industry much like he'd like to destroy the domestic coal industry( I guess they won't be included in the "jobs saved " list )