Putin calls USA a parasite on the world economy!

[Faux Pas]

China and Russia are making small protests as they prepare for a joined currency. Talks have been going on for a couple of years, but a solid ground is needed to present it to the world without getting shot down. With a large North American currency (Dollar), West- European currency (Euro) it is actually logical to create a mostly Asian currency in preparation for a world-balanced system.
The Yooble might be introduced however it needs to have a good base in order to be accepted by the West.

That will never happen. Putin and China are afraid. They are too heavily invested in the USD. Recent remarks are nothing more than posturing. Russia isn't near the player in the world economy as they are given credit for. India and Brazil have a bigger bang than either China or Russia. Nobody trusts the governments of Russia or China to follow their lead and they cannot do it alone.


Such an attempt would put more focus on the dollar and likely help to push and strengthen it. Russia and China alone would lose that battle IMHO

[Gator]

Nice to wake up and see such interest in the most important issue facing this country in a long, long ime.  I am disappointed to see that my European cousins continue to slight America (or at least parts of America).  The answer is that all of us must work together to pull ourselves out of the hole.  When I say all of us, I mean Europeans and Americans, and Republicans and Democrats.
 
The debt problem can be fixed.   Cuts in spending will help, yet such austerity will curtail the economy in the short term.     The primary answer to the debt is indeed to increase revenues, not by raising taxes but by getting people back to work at higher paying jobs and back to paying their taxes.  It is jobs, stupid.    Given that the economy is global, the Europeans will need to do their part too.
 
Business is sitting on huge amounts of cash and not reinvesting it for two reasons:  the weak economy and the regulatory climate.  Both need to be fixed. The Obama administration has made the regulatory climate even more anti-business than it was under Bush and the administrations who preceded him.  Even though our country was reeling from the housing bust, Obama forced a pile of crap on us in the form of new healthcare program.  That needs to change and Obama will not do it. 
 
Will this improve?  Not in the next year.  There is no working together and not even compromise with two such diametrically opposed camps: 1) Republicans overzealously attempting to destroy Obama, and 2)  Obama standing his ground to keep his base of voters as all he wants is to be reelected rather than going down in a tie with GW as the worst President in history.   
 
 

[Gator]

In the massive campaign to destroy Obama, I am besieged by political emails.  This one statement caught my eye, and it should explain to Europeans how America got into debt so much:
 

The root of the debt problem is that the voters typically do not  send people to Congress to save money. They are sent there to 
bring home the bacon to their own home state.

Nevertheless, I do not believe that the answer is to replace "pork barrel" politicians with thrifty minded budget cutters.  The answer is to elect leaders with the wisdom to see a noble future and to chart a path for getting there.  Neither Bush nor Obama were leaders.  Nor are many of our Congress. 

[Voyager36]

I see in your post above  ["  "] that you are asking for enlightened quantitative explanation.   
 
To your credit Canada manages to do this even though your government is perhaps larger than America's, relatively speaking.   
 

And what is your unemployment rate?  If our economy were humming on all 8 cylinders, we too would have a balanced budget.  The problem is that for decades government grew faster than the economy, and when the economy entered into a recession, government did not recede.
 
And possibly the main reason explaining your good economy is your oil and other natural resources.  America too has natural resources.  Why are the oil reserves not being produced?  Environmental concerns (e. g., fracking, etc.).  Such is not stopping production of Canada's tar sands. 
 
We particularly have a surplus of natural gas, and we even export it.  Why is it not being used in automobiles?  I suppose the oil lobby.  Many Ukrainian cars use natural gas for fuel, and we can not.  Where is the leadership?  I blame this on our politicians from both parties.  And Obama's administration is impeding this even more than the previous administration. 
 
Meanwhile during this one week+ fiasco about debt, the stock market is breaking down, suggesting the probability of a double dip recession has increased significantly.   Depressing.

Gator, Canada's GDP per capita is near or slightly less than the US's (well, legal residents anyways)
The difference is that our government got serious not just about reducing the defecit but the actual debt!
Our national debt is about 34% of GDP, meaning my share is about $16,000.
With the US near 100%, that's $40,000 per man, woman & child.
 

All that debt, violent crime and a healthcare system in a mess and I still wouldn't trade my quality of life for yours.

FP, that's exactly the point, your "quality of life" is great because it's far above your means to repay.
If I was making $6,000 a month (after tax) and spending $10,000 a month with no need to ever repay it, I would feel great about my "quality of life" too!
 
Can you see any realistic plan on the horizon to eliminate the defecit?
(Not reduce it eliminate it)
With the coming crisis in medicare/ade and Social Security, is there any way to pay down the debt?

[Shadow]

Nice to wake up and see such interest in the most important issue facing this country in a long, long ime.  I am disappointed to see that my European cousins continue to slight America (or at least parts of America).  The answer is that all of us must work together to pull ourselves out of the hole.  When I say all of us, I mean Europeans and Americans, and Republicans and Democrats.
 
The debt problem can be fixed.   Cuts in spending will help, yet such austerity will curtail the economy in the short term.     The primary answer to the debt is indeed to increase revenues, not by raising taxes but by getting people back to work at higher paying jobs and back to paying their taxes.  It is jobs, stupid.    Given that the economy is global, the Europeans will need to do their part too.
 
Business is sitting on huge amounts of cash and not reinvesting it for two reasons:  the weak economy and the regulatory climate.  Both need to be fixed. The Obama administration has made the regulatory climate even more anti-business than it was under Bush and the administrations who preceded him.  Even though our country was reeling from the housing bust, Obama forced a pile of crap on us in the form of new healthcare program.  That needs to change and Obama will not do it. 
 
Will this improve?  Not in the next year.  There is no working together and not even compromise with two such diametrically opposed camps: 1) Republicans overzealously attempting to destroy Obama, and 2)  Obama standing his ground to keep his base of voters as all he wants is to be reelected rather than going down in a tie with GW as the worst President in history.

Its all show... but also the measures which are taken are not contributing to fixing anything. That certainly goes for Europe.
Strange enough Russia hit the jackpot in fighting the crisis, and if they did it knowingly or not is a matter that I leave to your own opinion.
What Russia did which is opposite to the EU is raising the pensions.
Now it may sound illogical to spend more money in times of crisis, but think of the effect it has. When raising the pensions those elderly people who are working will consider to fully retire, leading to more available jobs.
This leads to better control over unemployment, and a quicker recovery.

Contrary to Russia, the EU is raising the pension age due to being unwilling to invest government funds in to pensions. As a result jobs will not become available for a few years at least that coulde be needed to solve the crisis.
Instead of spending on pensions and let people who have worked all their life get something back for the taxes they paid, they choose to keep others in unemployment payments, thus spending the same or more under a different nomination.

The US national debt is not a real problem, as most investors holding bonds have nothing to gain from a default. Its the old adagio : If you have $1000 debt without assets to repay then you have a problem, but if you have $1000000 debt without assets the bank has a problem...

My views on politics and economy are cynical at best, but at the same time my education and experience has given me some feeling for the developments.

[Gator]

 
 

Can you see any realistic plan on the horizon to eliminate the defecit?
(Not reduce it eliminate it)
With the coming crisis in medicare/ade and Social Security, is there any way to pay down the debt?

Not without pain.  When our leaders decide to dish out the pain, I agree that all should get their turn.  The Simpson Bowles report is a preview of what is needed.
 
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/11/deficit-commission-co-chairs-simpson-and-bowles-release-eye-popping-recommendations.php
 
Obama ignored it even though it was his commission.

[BC]

Compared to the ba*tard child, heck yeah...Texas governor...what'about O?

GW?  Working for Dad in his election campaign.. riding presidential skirt to governor of Texas.. what an achievement.  It was a gift of political tide.

 
You believe all that hype about this guy, BC? You think he can play basketball? LOL. Look at the videos of him playing....the guy plays basketball as bad as he governs. Don't believe they hype you read. He can't even dribble the ball without having to look at the floor. He definitely can't golf either.

Waay to serious GQ.. the attempt at humor zinged right over your head.

Reminiscing of the golden Reagan years! Indeed... 

Yeah golden all right.. purely based on fear, but basically an economic war.  Reagan won that one but Bush did not have a clue about this economic war.

You ought to know the financial collapse had nothing whatsoever to do with the Bush administration. Zip. Nada. You can easily trace the crazy default swap silliness back unto Mr. Clinton. Housing bubble? Ask the democratic-led congress who fed the Mac and Mae limitless federal clout.

Follow the money...

Remember PG&E / Enron? That stew had been brewing before Bush ever even came to light.

And in two terms Bush was not able to do anything about it?

The wars kept coming back to some people’s mindset. Yeppers, wars are pretty bad. But American conveniently forget, 90+ percent of the population wanted needed to go to Afghanistan post-911. They couldn’t get there fast enough.

Yes, there was very good support of the Afghanistan war, but the target was Bin Laden.. Say what you will, Obama got him, Bush didn't.  That's fact.

Iraq? LOL….had our European ‘friends’ insisted in holding Iraq’s Saddam strictly within the UN mandated conditions of cease fire, there would NOT have been an Iraq war II. Just because Kofi Annan, Jacque, and Vladmir were cutting a fat hog between themselves doesn’t mean all the silly international law coming out of the UN re: Iraq is automatically null and void, eh?
 
For a few million $$, our European brethren sold us out. Simple as that.

Yeah.. WMD argument.. plenty of threads in the archive.. no need to chase ghosts again.  Wasn't it Bush that said the Iraq war would  cost 50 Billion and then pay for itself?  He was not very good in math.

Bush SR gets a load of complaints for not having to chase Saddam in the early 90s despite it not being part of the UN mandate. Bush Jr, while I do not agree with the timing, and deny this all you folks want, did nothing more than to uphold what already WAS a UN mandate for Saddam’s compliance. Again, money change people.

It sure does.. made the richest VP in history I think.. (just unconfirmed speculation on my part).

Military budgeting? Strange to me that the very methodology that kept the western hemisphere its security and sovereignty post-WWII is constantly questioned of its viability and necessity. Dated arms and equipment are sold at its current value when newer technology comes around. Had it not for the silly US spending on its military, I doubt very much any of you would be trekking to FSU looking for sexy Olga these days, no?

No, and that might have been quite good so..  just another dirty business.

These soldiers get paid whether or not we are at war. We spend billions for soldiers in the 38^th parallel, Okinawa, heck for a good while we were spending wads of monies for security alone in Greece’s (K17) embassy.

Don't think the US does such things for free.... S Korea for example has as many active duty soldiers as the US .. half million so quite capable.  The 28,000 US forces there are paid.. over half billion dollars per year to be there.  It that ain't enough, renegotiate or get out.  IIRC most nations hosting US forces pay for the service and the US seems to like 'being there'.. It's not a necessity, but a choice. 

As for Democrats/Republicans debt ratio/spending…a total misnomer most folks do. Just like the proposal the current dems tried to lobby. In it, their proposed spending cut was $ 2.77 trillion, while the reps were less than a trillion IIRC. On its face value, it would appear the dems were pushing a better policy, eh? LOL. What they have on that tab was ‘all the cost’ of war’s end in both Iraq and Afghanistan, which were inevitable.

Whatever... dem or republican... it obviously was not enough for the rating agencies.

Remember the “surge”? Obama thought it’ll be a failure. Gitmo, anyone? What happened to that kool-aid’s main ingredient?

Did the surge catch Bin Laden?
 

They want to shove the Unions down our throats, raise taxes on small businesses, etc...yet folks complain that most manufacturing jobs are getting outsourced to China et al...WTF?

Yeah, funny argument.. can't figure out what you're getting at..

Winded a bit?

[Gator]

My views on politics and economy are cynical at best, but at the same time my education and experience has given me some feeling for the developments.

It is apparent to me.   Would you please help BC.   

[BC]

  Would you please help BC.   

Gator,

Do help your wayward son understand.

I am willing to learn..

[Gator]

BC, we could use a good laugh.
 
Conan O'Brien:
 

 Did you hear about the man who jumped the White House fence yesterday? The Secret Service chased down President Obama and managed to talk him into returning to his job.

 

 
Obama is feeling the pressure.
 

[BC]

Now that is funny Gator!

Thanks!

[TheTraveler]

...First of all, it is not a complaint against the wealthy, it is the idea of what is fair or equitable for the wealthy to pay to support a system that provides them with the lifestyle that they enjoy, the remark was more in the line of why would someone with so much, view paying so little as a burden....
 
...not all women are turned on by wealth so to speak, and there are many who might make the same comment I made.  And truly, I would be turned off by any women who made wealth a top priority in choosing a mate no matter how much money I have or how pretty they are...
 
...I am sorry that a progressive tax would be such a punishment on the rich, perhaps they will have to sell one of their multiple homes, perhaps take one fewer vacation per year, who knows how they will suffer...

These are all great examples of lines that would be massive turn-offs to the typical Russian woman (or any woman, really).
 
Would being repulsed by such an attitude make her a gold digger?  No, not hardly.
 
In reality, people who contribute next to nothing to the funding of our government and whine about the wealthy not paying their fair share are the real gold diggers.  Over half of this country pays no federal income taxes.  Before anyone else should be required to pay more, these people should be required to contribute something meaningful.  Right now, they are just people who want something for nothing.
 
And women generally can recognize the quality difference between a guy who approaches life with an abundance of vision, ingenuity, hard work, & productivity.... versus the guy who eternally complains that his or society's problems are somebody else's fault and/or responsibility.
 

[TheTraveler]

If you have $1000 debt without assets to repay then you have a problem, but if you have $1000000 debt without assets the bank has a problem...

I've never heard that line before, but it's a great one. Thanks!

[Darth_Budda]

I agree it's time to tax the rich more, to redistribute the wealth.
Especially the ones who sent our jobs overseas so they could approach life with an abundance of vision, ingenuity, hard work, & productivity,,

A strong middle class is what makes democracy prosper, With such a division between the few Ultra rich and and the majority of poor Americans,
will only lead to end of the dream that was America And cause anarchy. I believe 10% of Americans control 90% of our countries wealth. The other 90% of the people are left with what?

If what I just said is a turn off to a any particular woman, That is fine. I would most likely find her lack of compassion towards her fellow christian unattractive, no matter how fake her smile.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_socialism

It's a interesting read, for those who want more than just the top 10% to survive the future and for our children to dream of a better tomorrow.   
 

[Gator]

Its all show... but also the measures which are taken are not contributing to fixing anything. That certainly goes for Europe.
Strange enough Russia hit the jackpot in fighting the crisis, and if they did it knowingly or not is a matter that I leave to your own opinion.
What Russia did which is opposite to the EU is raising the pensions.
Now it may sound illogical to spend more money in times of crisis, but think of the effect it has. When raising the pensions those elderly people who are working will consider to fully retire, leading to more available jobs.
This leads to better control over unemployment, and a quicker recovery.

 I recall that in 2001-2002 monthly pensions would not pay for a week's supply of beets and turnips.  Things must have changed dramatically.  So we have not only a smarter Russia, but a kinder and gentler one too.  It was not many decades ago that the Soviet leaders would simply starve the "unnecessary" to death. 

[Faux Pas]

 
FP, that's exactly the point, your "quality of life" is great because it's far above your means to repay.
If I was making $6,000 a month (after tax) and spending $10,000 a month with no need to ever repay it, I would feel great about my "quality of life" too!

I think I get what you are trying to call a point but, apparently you missed the target. The debt of the USA has little to do with past or present quality of life and more to do with bad decisions of law makers and partisan politics FWIW voyager I have always financed my own QoL and never received a cash stipend or entitlement from anyone 
 

Can you see any realistic plan on the horizon to eliminate the defecit?
(Not reduce it eliminate it)
With the coming crisis in medicare/ade and Social Security, is there any way to pay down the debt?

No, they aren't any and again that is why I keep referring to this as a political problem. What here have here is what some refer to a "mexican standoff". Neither political side willing to bend or give  enough to allow recovery to begin. We have bad leadership.




It can certainly happen but, I am afraid with the current leadership in place, it won't happen. Make no mistake, recovering and paying the debt will be painful, many lawmakers won't make those decisions fearing losing an election. Doing so will affect everyone and most ubber negatively. It is literally bloodletting time and it seems to be the lawmakers afraid to make the first cut.

[Gator]

The Euro countries meanwhile are also putting up a great show. The open force towards the current weaker members is not for nothing. The EU realizes that it has taken up some countries who expected to profit from the Eurozone and get thrown money to support their failing and corrupted governments. Current display towards long-time member states is a warning to the new members not to start asking for handouts.

I have a Swedish freind who retired to Portugal, so he is a good observer.  He wrote me the following:
 

 
During the last few weeks, Angela Merkel has been pointing at the PIGS-countries, in a rather unpleasant way. We are lazy, take too much vacation, do not like to work, etc.
 
In other words, slightly racist, to my mind. And also to the mind of the probably best columnist in this country of  lazy  “tauge-nichts”, in her vocabulary. 
 
This columnist had the following thoughts: “Before Ms. Merkel tries to pin personal attributes of various depreciatory kinds on us in the south, she should be reminded, that we in the south have never put 6 million  people in gas chambers.”
 
I like his comment!
 

[Darth_Budda]

If I am correct the USA has been in debt since Andrew Jackson was president.

That was some time in the mid 1800.

[ML]

  The American middle class pays a disproportionate share of the US tax burden. 

A very common misconception.

- - - - - - - - -

"New data released by the IRS today offers interesting insights into the distributional spread of the federal income tax burden, new analysis by the Tax Foundation shows."

Top 1% Pay Greater Dollar Amount in Income Taxes to Federal Government than Bottom 90%
Top 5% pay 60% of Federal Income taxes in USA.

Bottom 50% pay only 3% of Federal Income taxes in USA.

Even the bottom 75% pay only 14% of Federal Income taxes in USA.

In America the vast majority, including the middle class, live off the backs of the very few with respect to financing the Federal government and its many programs.

You can find such info for many years in many reputable publications including:

http://www.taxfoundation.org/news/show/22652.html

[GQBlues]

GW?  Working for Dad in his election campaign.. riding presidential skirt to governor of Texas.. what an achievement.  It was a gift of political tide.

Ahh, so it was a gift and not an election....btw, re: Obama - Wiki have anything in its archive about his governing experience prior to the one he's bumbling right now?

Waay to serious GQ.. the attempt at humor zinged right over your head.

Sorry, LOL, I thought I was being humorous with that bit...

Yeah golden all right.. purely based on fear, but basically an economic war.  Reagan won that one but Bush did not have a clue about this economic war.

But Reagan did win that one we can agree, yes?

And in two terms Bush was not able to do anything about it?

Do what? LOL. Enron went out along with Andersen Accounting.

Yes, there was very good support of the Afghanistan war, but the target was Bin Laden.. Say what you will, Obama got him, Bush didn't.  That's fact.

Really?!? Darn, I thought nothing good comes out of waterboarding...

Yeah.. WMD argument.. plenty of threads in the archive.. no need to chase ghosts again.  Wasn't it Bush that said the Iraq war would  cost 50 Billion and then pay for itself?  He was not very good in math.

Yeah funny. At least unlike Obama, he knows Austrian doesn't speak Austrian.

It sure does.. made the richest VP in history I think.. (just unconfirmed speculation on my part).

Imagine that. Even that could have been avoided then, eh? He very likely could have made real money had he palled around Jacque & Kofi instead...
 

Don't think the US does such things for free.... S Korea for example has as many active duty soldiers as the US .. half million so quite capable.  The 28,000 US forces there are paid.. over half billion dollars per year to be there.  It that ain't enough, renegotiate or get out.  IIRC most nations hosting US forces pay for the service and the US seems to like 'being there'.. It's not a necessity, but a choice.

Almost like a profitable industry in of itself, doesn't it? Hhhmmm...

Did the surge catch Bin Laden?

Wrong war.

Winded a bit?

No, not today actually. I rocked a 3-wood 278 yds off the deck today. First time I got past the 250 mark with a 3-wood. Great day at the course.
 
------------
 
Silly email script I:
 
Due to the recent downgrading of the US ratings, the government today announced that it's changing it's emblem from a Bald Eagle to a CONDOM, because it more accurately reflects this government's political stance. A condom allows for inflation, halts production, destroys the next generation, protects a bunch of dicks, and gives you a sense of security while you're being screwed.
 
That's just a joke folks. No semblance of realities in America today.

[Vincenzo]

Thank you, Mr Obama!
You've made American men poorer and less attractive to Russian, Thai or Columbian women.

Why do you blame Mr Bush or somebody else? You were elected to fix the bankrupt country. If you understood nothing in economical sciences, why didn't you step aside?

[vwrw]

This is Turboguy's post.  I forgot my wife was logged in.
 
 

A strong middle class is what makes democracy prosper,

I think you have it backwards.  A strong democracy makes the middle class prosper.  Our problem is we no longer have a strong democracy.
 
 

I agree it's time to tax the rich more, to redistribute the wealth.
Especially the ones who sent our jobs overseas so they could approach life with an abundance of vision, ingenuity, hard work, & productivity,,

Was it the rich who sent the jobs overseas or was it the American worker, high taxes,  the unions and government regulations? 
 
I do think our inept government is one of the major problems but I also think the American people have a significant part of the blame.  The work ethic and pride that made America great has been replaced by a sense of entitlement and greed.  Perhaps the way to help fix unemployment is to reduce unemployment compensation.  Perhaps the way to fix the greed is to cut the welfare programs. 

[Darth_Budda]

I do think our inept government is one of the major problems but I also think the American people have a significant part of the blame.  The work ethic and pride that made America great has been replaced by a sense of entitlement and greed.  Perhaps the way to help fix unemployment is to reduce unemployment compensation.  Perhaps the way to fix the greed is to cut the welfare programs.

I would like to see gov't Create jobs if the private sector can not, or is not willing to.

The problem is Publicly traded Companies,, Who's goal is to make more money every year. Even if it meany it's bad for Americans.

I say through Welfare right out the window. Do we really want to pay for people to stay home and not work?

Give a man a job and pride in his work. Not every American is Smart, I think we all know that. We all can't be computer programers and astronauts.

Factory work was the best job some people could ever hope to get, and now we shipped them all off shore.

Why did we do that? I think it has less to do with the ethic of the american worker and more to do with Globalization. Of course American and Russian labor can't compete with cheap 3rd world Labor.

Yes I do believe, it was the Rich that sold our country to line their pockets.

The people in power had a choice plain and simple.

Do whats good for the stock holder?

or

Do whats good for Americans.

Time to put the "ultra rich" in their place, Nothing wrong with being rich. As long as it's not done at the expense of society as a whole.

[BC]

This is Turboguy's post.  I forgot my wife was logged in.
 
 
I think you have it backwards.  A strong democracy makes the middle class prosper.  Our problem is we no longer have a strong democracy.

Can only agree here.. but why no strong democracy? - see below..

 Was it the rich who sent the jobs overseas or was it the American worker, high taxes,  the unions and government regulations? 
 

Quite simple, from a US company point of view, lets take computer companies for example.. HP, Apple, Dell, IBM, etc the overseas workforce is not only cheaper, but educated, more flexible, and most of all disposable.  Any US company wanting to bring a product to market does the design work in the US and China can take it from there.  Further implications are that at the same time, knowledge is transferred and utilized by the Chinese to provide even more services.. even designing the product itself.  If I want a million GizmoDudadz and need it in two months in front of my door, they will find a way to do just that from only a pencil drawing.  In a week or two I'll have the prototype in hand, ready for approval.  Their supply chains and assembly factories are vast and one can pick and choose.  They also have the most technologically advanced machines available (usually built there also) to get the job done quickly and with high quality.. Read the following article and see what other implications are..  http://www.tuaw.com/2011/08/04/apples-hold-on-metal-chassis-supply-chain-hinders-competition/

Yes, their labor costs are less but that's probably the least of the problem.  Bottom line, they can do it better and quicker than the US and have the latest and greatest machines to do it with.

A money transfer is sent for those million GizmoDudadz and that's it.. no further obligations.  No investment in factories, no investment in training, no investment in personnel or fixed assets... zilch, nada..  All that is left for the US is marketing,  and the difference between the cost of the product and selling price.  The profits are rolled over into new products.. another two million GizmoDudadzII and the cycle repeats.. Guess what.. with three million Gizmo's sold the company balance sheet still shows 0 profit for tax purposes.  It's also quite easy to get your overseas business partner to send a percentage of production to another country with lower tax rates and so the profits totally bypassed IRS and landed overseas in tax havens through 'licensing fees' and other types of 'investments' ending up in some Swiss bank account with the name of a postbox company in Geneva who paid some low tax rate.

Do some research and find out where the products of the top 500 US manufacturers are made..  IW U.S. 500 http://www.industryweek.com/research/us500/2011/iwus500rank.asp

I really don't think most could be called 'manufacturers'. Maybe some 'assemblers' or such.

Made in USA simply disappeared except for things like houses that are not yet feasible to produce elsewhere.. or foods or other domestic staples, or airplanes, or weapons, defense materials, biotech.

Thats why the trade balance was always a problem.. The us specialized in high end high tech like airplanes and biotech but the base of a manufacturing economy was lost.

I do think our inept government is one of the major problems but I also think the American people have a significant part of the blame.  The work ethic and pride that made America great has been replaced by a sense of entitlement and greed.  Perhaps the way to help fix unemployment is to reduce unemployment compensation.  Perhaps the way to fix the greed is to cut the welfare programs.

I dunno if one can really blame all that on unions and government or the common man.  It's mostly business doing business without checks and balances.  Nothing wrong with free trade and free business, but someone has to be observant of the implications and react in ways that compensate or create unique products and alternative services.  Should there not be benefits of products 'made in the USA'?  Why can't an iphone, or solar cell, or wind turbine be made at home?

The 'power' of government was lost when manufacturing was lost, shifting unemployment to public coffers.

I foresee taxes, levies, duties and subsidies slowly creeping their way back into the system to compensate instead.

Wherever you see a finger pointed it will be partially correct, so dig in a bit with the greatest solution of all.. educating folks for new types of employment.  In a few years wages will be closer to those overseas anyway, but what to do in the meantime?  Find ways to make US manufacturing jobs for products that are desirable overseas and can be exported!.. that's about all that can be done.

[Turboguy]

Good post BC.
 
I do think that people tend to think the corp exec's are evil for outsourcing their manufacturing.  The cold hard reality is that they have little choice.   
 
Set two products side by side that are virtually identical but one is made in the USA but priced 25 or 50% higher how many American consumers are going to pay the extra.  Darn few.
 
You have two manufacturers of widgets both with a 50% market share.  One builds in the USA one in China.  The USA guy charges a lot more.  What happens.  The USA guy goes out of business.   It's not a question of greed.  It's a question of survival in this fast changing world. 
 
Still we do little to encourage American manufacturing.  We have one of the highest corp. tax rates in the world.   I question if you can really tax a business.  It's really just an expense item that they must pass on to the consumer and in the end the consumer pays not the manufacturer.  Lower taxes would make us more competitive in the world market.  Being more competitive would improve our balance of payments and let some of the overseas consumers pay some of the costs.   Lower corporate taxes like Reagan instituted would be a big plus.