I notice that, while the Democrats are busy repairing America's "damaged reputation" around the world because of George W. Bush's mean-spirited "our way or the highway" approach, they can't help but do a little furriner-bashing themselves when it comes to trade. President Obama (correctly) wanted the "Buy American" provision out of the stimulus but is leaving an allegedly watered-down version in. And members of Congress were no doubt cheering as union members held rallies across Indiana to Rebuild America and Buy American.
"Every time you turn around you see 'made in China' and stuff getting imported here. We're losing jobs," said Gregory Jones of Lafayette.
But what about when you see a Japanese car or truck that's made in Tennessee or Indiana? World trade is complicated and interrelated in ways we might even know until we take actions that make it start unraveling. Sending a protectionist signal during a worldwide downturn doesn't seem too bright, as our experience in the 1930s demonstrated.
Maybe this is the time to bring up the presidential line-item veto again, which our editorial page has supported through administrations Republican adn Democratic as a way of keeping making members of Congress more accountable and keeping bad things out of good bills. In this case, it could also keep a worse thing out of a bad bill.
