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Is NAFTA Unraveling?

Despite the perceived strong relationship between the United States and Mexico, NAFTA is increasingly becoming threatened.  The latest round of trouble began with certain unions in the US lobbying to block the free truck transportation instituted by the terms of NAFTA.  President Bush instituted a truck pilot program but was delayed/stopped by Congress in 2007.

Now, on March 18th, Mexico instituted a 45% tariff on 90 agricultural products from the United States.  Let us hope that President Obama does not pander to his labor/union constituencies by condoning protectionism and allowing this dispute to continue.  Now, more than ever since the recession began, the United States needs free trade.

Full article here

George W. Bush in Calgary

The former President shows the same class as he has done before.

Alberta – Former President George W. Bush, making his first public speech since leaving office in January, says he wants Barack Obama to succeed and that it’s “essential” to support the new leader.

Bush declined to critique the Obama administration in Tuesday’s speech, saying the new president has enough critics and that he “deserves my silence.”

Former Vice President Dick Cheney has said that Obama’s decisions threatened America’s safety. Conservative talk-show host Rush Limbaugh has said he hoped Obama would fail.

“I love my country a lot more than I love politics,” Bush said. “I think it is essential that he be helped in office.”
(Source)

During his time in the White House he didn’t lash out at his opponents, no talks about lists of political enemies, no attacking liberal/democratic profiles like the Obama administration have done with the conservative profile Rush Limbaugh. And now after his presidency he takes the same classy stance towards the democrats. I would lie if I said that I didn’t miss him in the White House, and the young Obama administration have a lot to learn.

And as if the horrible treatment Bush received while in office wasn’t enough the left continues to show it’s lack of class even after his presidency:

Four people were arrested in downtown Calgary on Tuesday during a protest outside the building where former U.S. president George W. Bush was making his first official speech since leaving office.

Two men were charged with obstructing a peace officer and resisting arrest. Another man was charged with breaching the peace, while the fourth was issued a ticket for violating a public behaviour bylaw, said Duty Insp. Rob Williams of Calgary police.
(Source)

Like wood

Gordon Brown can’t have an easy time right now. Dreaming about nuclear disarmament and having to take tough questions from David Cameron once a week. And like that’s not enough even Nick Clegg, the Lib.Dem leader, also mocked the PM.

Mr Cameron proceeded to call Mr Brown “a complete phoney”, a remark the Speaker, Michael Martin, forced him to withdraw, and which in any case was not quite right. For Mr Brown looked genuinely and authentically wooden.

Nick Clegg, for the Liberal Democrats, proceeded to embarrass Mr Brown by blaming “the culture of frenzied target setting” for “the horrific events that occurred at Stafford general hospital”.

It is a bad day for Mr Brown when he is beaten not just by Mr Cameron but by Mr Clegg and we suspect that last night in the bunker some even more frenzied target setting was taking place.
(Source)

 Update:

The Fed Still Has Ideas

After exhausting its conventional methods of combatting recession, the Federal Reserve is still doing all that it can.  Bernanke has really come into his own as Chairman, and it seems that stock markets, especially in the United States, are responding quite favorably to him.  He is providing the economic leadership that the Obama administration obviously is not.

Full article here.

Bonuses, Bonuses, Bonuses

Jonah Goldberg says this so much better than I do. I agree with most of his column and might add my own thoughts tomorrow when I’m not as tired.

Hats off to Larry Summers. The president’s chief economic advisor told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos on Sunday that there’s nothing to be done about the fact that American International Group is contractually obliged to pay millions of dollars in bonuses to thousands of employees, some of whom helped ruin their company — and, to some extent, the national economy. “We are a country of law; there are contracts. The government cannot just abrogate contracts.”

From what I can tell, the bonuses do stink — although some are as small as $1,000 and presumably go to people who had no significant part in the credit-default-swap-derivative mania of recent years. But let’s assume that they’re all gratuitous. Summers was still right.

New Impromptus..

..by Jay Nordlinger. One of my favourites and always worth a read.