The Mobs

The Mobs against the President

At the present time, President Bush has the lowest popularity rankings of its presidency, at the same time the last two events: the port deal and the immigration debate are taking another toll in the negative side.
I wonder if they will be only two events of this kind, public outrage with the UAE Port deal and the immigration reform (claims for action) are just examples of mob-brat behavior, in today’s globalized markets and WTO courts, there is a price for promoting special protectionism.
The UAE will not bring this to the WTO but the shareholders of BO that approved the deal might pull a recourse for compensation.
The president is getting criticized from all flanks. The fact of the matter is, in both cases the position of the President is correct, even if the brat-mobs decided the opposite.
In the port case: if it is not good for UAE to run ports in the same should reciprocal for US companies running foreign ports. For that matter, any other national foreign strategic interest businesses run by american corporations will be question in the near futere. Check Point software had to pull out of buying a software company this week, it seems that we are in a roll.
Many American corporations are engaged in running vital foreign government infrastructures, and it should not be surprising to see the same policy used by congress to those american corporations. The idea that it will not be used by other countries against American corporations running critical operations in those nations is just pollianish.
The port case will thread water because in the most likely scenario, the UAE will be offered to calm the waters with some other alternative to the direct investment in BO, including tax payers funded loans for infrastructure in Dubai City or other similar preferential action.
The mob posturing can be justified by sheer blindness in the face of free markets and global trade. This posturing falls in all merits of decent behavior.
Teh question is: are we for fair trade or we are protectionist at convenience.
USA claiming flag around the planet will have one more caveat: you can instill fear in others but eventually protectionism will be use in kind and fair trade dialogues.
The immigration situation falls within the same merit the fair trade doctrine. In this case, the solution is far simple and there is only one beneficiary that is the present tax payers.
Clearly there is racism involved in the debate, but if NAFTA has done something is to impoverish its members in all Latin American countries. The rpesent has a culprit and that is NAFTA and its proponents, that happen to be the same Congress we have today lynching inmigration.
The failure of leadership from the US and Mexico in lifting people's standards to deter mass iunmigration has failed. Poor standards of living has created a larger problem that was promised to be resolved with NAFTA. It turns out that the deal of NAFTA benefited again the same crowd of the super connected plutocrats.
By now, borders with Mexico and Canada need to be eliminated. Free flow of merchandise and people will deliver some of the promises of NAFTA and instead of racism and xenophobia and market protectionism.
Instead of introversion and bully attitudes, evolution is in the direction of integration and assimilation. Mob idiocy is not a recipe for success.