Here's something that free trade and h1b advocates do not ever want to discuss.

[Zalatix]

The whole point of globalism is to eliminate American workers from the global market.

It exists for no other reason but to make workers poorer and to lower wages as far as they can go.

There is no other reason for global trade to exist.

[Nye Bevan]

1. "The Number of Export-Supported Jobs Increased By 1.2 Million between 2009 and 2011"

On the two-year anniversary of the signing of the Executive Order creating the National Export Initiative (NEI), the U.S. Department of Commerce today released data showing that jobs supported by U.S. exports increased by 1.2 million between 2009 and 2011. Building on strong growth in 2010, exports supported approximately 9.7 million jobs in 2011 and the value of U.S. exports of goods and services exceeded $2.1 trillion for the first time in U.S. history.

“Two years ago this week, President Obama set an ambitious goal of doubling U.S. exports over five years. The numbers released today show that our exports support an increasing number of American jobs and we simply cannot afford to let up on our efforts to help U.S. businesses build it here and sell it everywhere,” said Commerce Secretary John Bryson. “We must maintain the track record of the past two years and continue to support U.S. companies in selling their goods to the 95 percent of the world’s consumers who live beyond our borders by helping to create opportunities and a level playing field. We know that when American businesses and workers get a fair shot, they can compete and they can win.”

In 2010, President Obama announced his NEI goal of doubling U.S. exports by the end of 2014 to create more good-paying jobs. Through the NEI, the administration is increasing trade advocacy and export promotion efforts, removing barriers and expanding access to markets, and enforcing trade rules. These efforts strengthen our economy and boost job creation. President Obama recently announced a series of efforts to open up markets for American goods and services and level the playing field for American companies.

Efforts to expand markets for American businesses include the U.S.-Korea Trade Agreement that will enter into force this Thursday, March 15, and is expected to increase U.S. exports by approximately $11 billion. The agreement will support tens of thousands of American jobs, while opening up Korea’s $1 trillion economy for America’s workers and businesses.

http://www.commerce.gov/news/press-releases/2012/03/12/us-commerce-department-releases-data-showing-number-export-supported-

[Zalatix]

2. What's your point? Imports grew even faster than exports.

http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/statistics/highlights/annual.html

Balance of Trade:
-$558.0 (2011)
Which is -$58.0 worse than 2010

Your argument shows green shoots in the middle of a growing jobs desert.

[MattBaggins]

4. Whoopdie doo

We eliminate 5 million good paying jobs for 1.2 million minimum wage jobs? Where the hell do I sign up?

[jwirr]

5. Removing barriers - getting rid of the power of world governments to control things like pollution,

slavery, child labor etc.

[bhikkhu]

6. "1493" is an excellent book, about the origins of globalism

http://www.amazon.com/1493-Uncovering-World-Columbus-Created/dp/0307278247

A must-read, I would say, if a good working knowledge of how we got where we are is desired. Very readable and well-written and researched, I think its almost as good as Mann's previous book "1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus.

[Zalatix]

9. On first glance...

I don't want America to be the center of the world. I want America to take care of its workers first.

[AndyTiedye]

7. Trade is Good. We're Doing it Wrong

There is no other reason for global trade to exist.

Without global trade, a lot of American workers would have a hard time getting to work. What are they gonna put in their gas tank? That assumes they can even wake up in the morning without their coffee.
(The USA produces some oil and some coffee, but not nearly enough).

No nation is completely self-sufficient, so every nation needs trade.

What we don't need are the kind of trade agreements we have now, which are written by businessmen with very little input from anyone else. Trade and trade agreements can and should be a means of propagating better working conditions and more rights for workers, not the opposite. It is all in who you send to the table.

What is even worse that the trade agreements is our tax policy, which actually favors offshoring. This is protectionism-in-reverse. It is an indefensible policy, yet the Republicans have blocked every effort to change it for years, and the media refuses to allow any discussion of it.

[Zalatix]

8. Oil? You're using OIL as an example?

We need to send our dependency on oil. Have you looked outside lately? Notice the DROUGHT that nearly killed our harvests this year? That's the legacy of our gasoline-dependent economy.

You're barking up the wrong tree about gasoline. I'd rather see that go away than the consequences we are facing RIGHT NOW from its availability.