I recently returned from a week in Shanghai, China, where I had been invited to speak at a conference and serve as a consultant to a group of Chinese music educators who are developing a music assessment system for use in their schools. While I was there I kept a running log of reflections on what I noticed, and the […]

Leveling the playing field for American workers

In 2009, the Obama administration imposed harsh tariffs on tires imported from China. This move, called a “safeguard provision”, is allowed under a 2000 law. China agreed to the provision when it negotiated its membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO). The provision allows such tariffs to be imposed when a surge in imports into the U.S. damages our industries.

China retaliated by placing antidumping and countervailing duties on imports of American-produced automobiles in 2011. This week, the U.S. government filed a challenge with WTO, saying these duties are based on phony allegations.

[More after the jump.]

It IS a matter of national security, actually The Obama administration announced this morning that it is requesting a “consultation” with China with the World Trade Organization over unfair export restraints on rare earth metals, as well tungsten and molybdenum, materials used in a wide array of electronics including the burgeoning industry of electric vehicle batteries. U.S. Trade Representative Ron […]

Lies, damn lies. Take your pick. The racist ad by Senatorial candidate Pete Hoekstra was not just racist. It is based on a complete lie. Here’s what is said in his ad by a woman who is clearly faking her Asian accent in what Hoekstra is calling “satire”: “Thank you, Michigan Senator Debbie Spenditnow. Debbie spend so much American money. […]

Hoo boy. THIS is absolutely hilarious. Most people are aware of the Michigan Militia, a very disorganized group of separatists who believe the government is the enemy and that there’s a conspiracy behind every tree. Timothy McVeigh spent time with them before he blew up the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City and they have been in and […]

You might think the GOP hates the poor and the elderly and, really, all of those that rely on entitlement payments of one sort or another. But I’ll bet you didn’t know how much they hate them. They hate them enough to introduce a bill that prioritizes paying off our debt to China over their monthly checks. That’s right. Congressman […]