[Hoot Gibson]

Interested in everyone's thoughts what the solution is here.

Obviously lower taxes help.

How about doing away with trade agreements that allowed companies to ship jobs off, for what basically amounts to slave labor?

Increase tariffs on Chinese goods?

I think tariffs should be so high that, unless we can barter an agreement with imports/exports that remains fairly equal... imported goods should be quite a bit more expensive than goods made in America.

I think from there you can then offer exemptions on certain goods that may be necessary to our country... e.g. oil, certain electronics, etc..

However, I'll use the auto industry as an example, it should not be possible to close down plants in the US, move those plants to Mexico where workers make 2 bucks an hour, and import the vehicles here at a cheaper cost than it would be to build them.

Of course, we have to get a handle on our union problem. I support unions, and they rose up out of a necessity that corporations and businesses created. However, they have obviously grown way to big and corrupt, and are not free from blame for being part of the reason businesses chose to ship factories overseas. However, I don't want to cripple the ability of workers to form unions in this country either.

This is where we strongly disagree, Beetle. This country did not reach the level of prosperity that we enjoyed in the 80s through higher taxes, and high tariffs are taxes that American citizens would pay through higher retail costs. Free trade is not our problem. Our problem is our government's imposition of the highest tax rates in the world coupled with some of the most burdensome regulations on the planet. The answer to a problem created by the federal government is not going to be found through higher taxes and more regulation of the private economy.