Topics in the News: Globalization
Joe Biden on Globalization:
(Government Reform Apr 22, 2021)
Biden administration officially backs statehood for DC
PROMISE MADE: (National News, 4/21/21) Democratic Presidential nominee Joe Biden has gone on record saying he supports the movement. "Absolutely, I have for the last 28 years," Mr Biden said when asked by a supporter of the DC statehood
movement whether he would endorse the move. Twitter posting @JoeBiden (Jun 25, 2020): "DC should be a state. Pass it on."
PROMISE KEPT: (WTOP News, 4/20/21): "The Administration strongly supports H.R. 51, the Washington D.C. Admission
Act. For far too long, the more than 700,000 people of Washington, D.C. have been deprived of full representation in the U.S. Congress. This taxation without representation and denial of self-governance is an affront to the democratic values on which
our Nation was founded," the White House said in a statement.
ANALYSIS: The bill would have to pass the House AND the Senate, but President Biden has kept his promise insofar as publicly supporting the effort as president.
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Source: NPR on Biden Administration promises
Janet Yellen on Globalization:
(Health Care Feb 25, 2021)
IMF & World Bank must help poor countries recover from COVID
Low-income countries have been particularly hard hit. Without further international action to support low-income countries, we risk a dangerous and permanent divergence in the global economy. International financial institutions, like the
IMF and World Bank Group, have provided much-needed emergency support. They must continue to play a role in financing the global health response, supporting a green recovery, and addressing the debt vulnerabilities exposed by the crisis.
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Source: Treasury letter to G20: 2021 Biden Administration
Ted Cruz on Globalization:
(Foreign Policy Sep 20, 2020)
Transnational institutions chip away at US sovereignty
But over the past century, America's sovereignty has been chipped away at by the rise of transnational institutions that run roughshod over our own internal decision making. From the United Nations to the
International Crime Court to the World Trade Organization, there has been a dangerous growth of institutions that make purportedly binding decisions over otherwise sovereign nation-states.
To be sure, some of these institutions are better than ours. Some of them, perhaps, are better than others. But by design, all these transnational institutions are not democratically accountable--and
certainly not to the American electorate--thus undermining our most basic conceptions of sovereignty in the Westphalian nation-state system.
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Source: One Vote Away, by Ted Cruz, p.65
Joe Biden on Globalization:
(Free Trade Sep 17, 2020)
China is a competitor, not an opponent
Q: Do you believe Russia is an enemy?BIDEN: I believe Russia is an opponent.
Q: Do you view China as an opponent? The President says you've been too cozy with China, too accepting of them in the international community.
BIDEN: I'm not that guy.
We now have a larger trade deficit than we've ever had with China. [Trump in a negative way] keeps going on about the World Trade Organization; they just ruled that his trade policy violated [WTO rules with its tariffs on China]. In our Administration,
when the WTO [was dealing with China], we sued. We went to the World Trade Organization 16 times, 16 times.
Q: Do you view China as an opponent?
BIDEN: I view China as a competitor.
Q: Competitor?
BIDEN: A serious competitor. That's why,
I think, we have to strengthen our relationships and our alliances in Asia. As you may recall, when I was in China, I said to Xi, "We're going to abide by international norms. That's what we're going to do and insist that they do."
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Source: CNN Town Hall 2020 drive-in with Anderson Cooper
Steve Bullock on Globalization:
(Free Trade May 19, 2019)
Work with other nations to deal with China's practices
We need to be tough on China. Let's not kid ourselves on that. But 25% tariffs on all Chinese products, every American family will be hit by $2,000 in one year in increased prices. America first has become America alone. We can't do it that way.
We need to bring our allies together and some of our adversaries. We need to actually enforce through the World Trade Organization, when appropriate, as well.
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Source: CNN SOTU 2019 interview of presidential hopefuls
Pete Buttigieg on Globalization:
(Principles & Values May 2, 2019)
We cannot find greatness in the past
There is no 'again' in the real world. WE CANNOT FIND GREATNESS IN THE PAST.There is no honest politics that revolves around the word 'again.' In the era of automation and globalization, major changes are going to happen whether we're ready or not.
The question isn't: "Can we stop these changes and go back to the past?" The question needs to be: "How can we make sure these changes work for us?" America is at its best when we master change for the benefit of every American.
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Source: 2020 Presidential Campaign website PeteForAmerica.com
Barack Obama on Globalization:
(Technology Apr 2, 2019)
2016: automation attenuates link between work and earnings
Today, people tend to associate universal basic income with technology utopians. But a form of UBI almost became law in the United States in 1970 and 1971. Versions of the idea have been championed by robust thinkers of every political persuasion
for decades: - Barack Obama, June 2016: "The way I describe it is that, because of automation, because of globalization, we're going to have to examine the social compact, the same way we did early in the 19th century and then again during and
after the Great Depression. The notion of a 40- hour work week, a minimum wage, child labor laws, etc.--those will have to be updated for these new realities."
- Barack Obama, Oct. 2016: "What is indisputable is that as AI gets further incorporated,
and the society potentially gets wealthier, the link between production and distribution, how much you work and how much you make, gets further and further attenuated, we'll be debating unconditional free money over the next 10 or 20 years."
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Source: The War on Normal People, by Andrew Yang, p. p.166-8
Barack Obama on Globalization:
(Welfare & Poverty Apr 2, 2019)
We'll debate unconditional free money over next 10 years
People tend to associate universal basic income with technology utopians. But versions of the idea have been championed by robust thinkers of every political persuasion for decades, including [Barack Obama]. Here's a sampling:- Barack Obama, June
2016: "The way I describe it is that, because of automation, because of globalization, we're going to have to examine the social compact, the same way we did early in the 19th century and then again during and after the Great Depression. The notion of
a 40- hour work week, a minimum wage, child labor laws, etc.--those will have to be updated for these new realities."
- Barack Obama, October 2016: "What is indisputable is that as AI gets further incorporated, and the society potentially gets
wealthier, the link between production and distribution, how much you work and how much you make, gets further and further attenuated we'll be debating unconditional free money over the next 10 or 20 years."
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Source: The War on Normal People, by Andrew Yang, p.166-8
Donald Trump on Globalization:
(Free Trade Feb 14, 2019)
Nominates opponent of World Bank to lead World Bank
President Donald Trump's pick to lead the World Bank described himself in 2011 remarks as a 25-year opponent to the institution & others like it, saying that they needed to be "thrown away" and started over from scratch. David Malpass made the comments
while speaking to a local Republican gathering in Albertson, New York, in May 2011. CNN's KFile reviewed a recording of his remarks which were posted on YouTube at the time.Trump's decision to nominate Malpass was met with some pushback, with critics
contending Malpass held views that are hostile to the bank's mission, which is to reduce poverty in developing nations through financial assistance.
The US president has chosen the leader of the World Bank since its founding in 1945, but the pick has
to be confirmed by the organization's board of directors. If confirmed, Malpass would succeed Jim Yong Kim, who was chosen by President Barack Obama in 2012 to lead the organization and re-nominated in 2016.
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Source: Andrew Kaczynski, CNN KFile, on 2020 Presidential hopefuls
John Delaney on Globalization:
(Free Trade Dec 10, 2018)
Supports trade but government must help those it has hurt
Solidly built and impeccably tailored, Delaney, 55, is a Democrat who believes in what he has lived: upward mobility, with assistance. He recognizes the obvious, that globalization has been "extraordinarily positive" for billions
more people than it has injured, but its American casualties are real and deserve government help.
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Source: Elaine Godfrey in The Atlantic: 2020 presidential hopefuls
Donald Trump on Globalization:
(Technology Sep 17, 2018)
Let US companies work in China with proprietary technology
Trump's second round of tariffs on imports worth $200 billion--and a threat that the US would "immediately pursue phase three" if China retaliates--shows his administration's determination to force Beijing to allow US companies to operate in China as
Chinese companies can in America. China restricts foreign participation in key sectors including media and car manufacturing, under Beijing's agreement to join the WTO in 2001. In many cases, these restrictions force foreign companies to form joint
ventures and turn over proprietary technologies to their local partners to tap the Chinese market."For months, we have urged China to change these unfair practices, and give fair and reciprocal treatment to American companies," Trump said in a
statement. "We have been very clear about the type of changes that need to be made, and we have given China every opportunity to treat us more fairly. But, so far, China has been unwilling to change its practices."
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Source: South China Morning Post on 2018 Trump Administration
Donald Trump on Globalization:
(Budget & Economy Feb 28, 2017)
Restart engine after worst financial recovery in 65 years
We must honestly acknowledge the circumstances we inherited: 94 million Americans are out of the labor force. Over 43 million people are now living in poverty. More than 1 in 5 people in their prime working years are not working. We have the worst
financial recovery in 65 years.We've lost more than 1/4 of our manufacturing jobs since NAFTA was approved, and we've lost 60,000 factories since China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001. Our trade deficit in goods with the world last year
was nearly $800 billion dollars.
To accomplish our goals at home and abroad, we must restart the engine of the American economy--making it easier for companies to do business in the United States, and much harder for companies to leave.
Right now, American companies are taxed at one of the highest rates anywhere in the world. My economic team is developing historic tax reform that will reduce the tax rate on our companies so they can compete and thrive anywhere and with anyone.
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Source: 2017 State of the Union address to Congress
Susan Rice on Globalization:
(Free Trade Jan 18, 2017)
US beneficiary of free trade; don't cede leadership to China
The United States has been the biggest beneficiary of globalization, and free trade, and open markets. It has reinforced democratic rule in many places.
It's raised living standards, and the exports are a huge basis of our economy. We would be very remiss if we ceded the mantle of leadership on free trade and economic openness to China.
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Source: CBS News on 2020 Maine Senate race
Joe Biden on Globalization:
(Free Trade Sep 21, 2016)
US must take lead on free trade, but deal with uneven impact
Globalization, man, it's been wonderful. It's not been wonderful for an awful lot of people. It is applied very, very unevenly. We fail to recognize that there are genuine dislocations when we talk about TPP and trade. The truth of the matter is,
if we're not pushing on the establishment of an international order and fully engaged internationally, there is little likelihood that there will be 21st century rules of the road that can accommodate the change that's taking place.
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Source: Council on Foreign Relations on 2020 candidates
Jay Inslee on Globalization:
(Energy & Oil Sep 19, 2016)
I see climate change already affecting Washingtonians
Q: According to Kofi Annan, former Secretary-General of the United Nations: "Climate change is the most emblematic challenge in this age of globalization. For the sake of our grandchildren, we cannot refuse that challenge." (The Case For True
Leadership on Climate Change--Kofi Annan Foundation, 30 Nov 2015) What is your opinion of this quotation?Jay Inslee: Support.
Q: Please explain your response.
Jay Inslee: I wholeheartedly agree.
I see the impacts of climate change already affecting Washingtonians everywhere I go. None are more jeopardized by the climate related disasters like fire, flooding, and sea level rise than
our most vulnerable communities. We need a comprehensive strategy that reduces carbon pollution from Washington while harnessing the jobs and economic opportunities that are coming to those who take action on climate change.
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Source: LWV's Vote411.org on 2016 Washington Gubernatorial Race
Mike Pence on Globalization:
(Free Trade Jul 14, 2016)
Supports TPP and trade agreements with Pacific Rim and China
Before he became Trump's vice-presidential nominee, Mike Pence supported every free-trade agreement that came before him. That record puts him squarely at odds with Trump on one of the signature issues of the businessman's presidential campaign.-
Pence backed trade agreements with Colombia, South Korea, Panama, Peru, Oman, Chile and Singapore during his House tenure from 2001 through 2012.
- He voted to keep the US in the World Trade Organization and to maintain permanent normal trade relations
with China, the country Trump repeatedly criticizes for unfair trade practices.
- Pence also has publicly supported the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement of Pacific Rim nations, which Trump opposes and has likened to rape.
Pence wrote, "Reducing tariffs and other trade barriers is something that Congress must do. I encourage your support for any trade-related measures when they are brought before the Congress."
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Source: Washington Post, "Huge supporter," on 2016 Veepstakes
Bill Weld on Globalization:
(Homeland Security Jun 22, 2016)
Nuclear proliferation is #1 threat to world security
[Trump's hard line on immigration] is not the limit of the really unreasonable foreign policy proposals by the presumptive Republican nominee. The notion of having Japan and South Korea have access to nuclear weapons is crazy in a world where nuclear
proliferation is the number-one threat to the security of the world. The notion that he is going to impose huge penalties on Mexico and China at will violates our obligations under treaties and international agreements like the World Trade Organization.
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Source: CNN Libertarian Town Hall: joint interview of Johnson & Weld
Ted Cruz on Globalization:
(Gun Control Jun 30, 2015)
Enforce gun laws on dangerously mentally ill
On December 14, 2012, a lone gunman walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, and opened fire on classrooms of little children.
He murdered twenty children and six adults. It was the deadliest shooting at school in American history.
The president could have come out and pressed for stronger law enforcement efforts targeting violent criminals and dangerous individuals with significant mental illnesses. Had he done so, the effort would have been met with
bipartisan agreement and swift action in Congress. Instead, the president decided to use this tragedy as an excuse to further his long-standing goals of restricting the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens.
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Source: A Time for Truth, by Ted Cruz, p.245
Seth Moulton on Globalization:
(Gun Control Sep 1, 2014)
It's time for universal background checks
American gun policy is firmly on the wrong track. Of the 109 firearm laws passed in state legislatures in the year following the Newtown shooting, 70 of the new laws eased restrictions on gun usage and availability.The American gun violence epidemic
requires congressional action. I will fight for stronger restrictions on gun ownership and licensing, closing the gun show loophole, bans on high capacity magazines, increasing the gun purchase waiting period, and restrictions on semi-automatic rifles.
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Source: 2014 House campaign website, SethMoulton.com
Hillary Clinton on Globalization:
(Free Trade Jun 10, 2014)
China benefits from WTO and should play by WTO rules
We should focus on ending currency manipulation, environmental destruction and miserable working conditions [in China]. I acknowledge the challenge of lifting millions of people out of poverty. China argued this outweighed any obligation to play by
established rules. I countered that China and other emerging economies had benefited greatly from the system the US had helped create, including their membership in the World Trade Organization, and now they needed to take their share of responsibility.
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Source: Hard Choices, by Hillary Clinton, p.513
Joe Biden on Globalization:
(Gun Control May 9, 2013)
Public supports gun control; Congress has not caught up
What matters the most to Biden these days is whether he can persuade Congress to enact meaningful gun-control laws. After the Sandy Hook shooting, in Newtown CT, Obama asked Biden to head up the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force. Though his efforts so
far have failed to overcome congressional resistance, he says that he is not giving up.Q: The background-check measure failed in the Senate, even though it was supported by 90% of the American people. What does it mean that we can't pass even the
weakest measures to curb gun violence?
A: It means two things. One, that we have had an impact on the public's thinking. If we did that poll a week before Sandy Hook, my guess is you wouldn't have 90% of the American people. We've won the battle
with the American public on this, not just on background checks but on magazines, on assault weapons, etc. This is a case where the public is way ahead of Congress. There has been a seminal shift in the attitude of the American public toward gun safety.
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Source: Douglas Brinkley in Rolling Stone Magazine
Mike Bloomberg on Globalization:
(Gun Control Mar 24, 2013)
80% of NRA members support background checks
Q: 100 days after the Newtown massacre, the assault weapons ban has been taken out of the Senate bill. Here's what you said right after Newtown:[Video] BLOOMBERG: The NRA's power is so vastly overrated. The public want to stop this carnage. And if
20 kids isn't enough to convince them, I don't know what would.[End]
Q: Do you fear that the moment that was created by Newtown has been lost?
BLOOMBERG: It would be a great tragedy if it is lost. I am cautiously optimistic.
You have an issue where 90% of the public, 80% of NRA members even, say that they think we should have reasonable checks before people are allowed to buy guns--they all support the 2nd Amendment, as do I. But we have to stop the carnage.
Do you think
the assault weapons ban is going to pass?
BLOOMBERG: We've been fighting since 2007 to get a vote. And if we were to [pass] background checks only, it wouldn't be as good as if we got both, but we're going to get the vote for sure on assault weapons.
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Source: Meet the Press 2013 interviews: 2016 presidential hopefuls
Barack Obama on Globalization:
(Gun Control Feb 12, 2013)
Gun violence victims deserve a vote
It has been two months since Newtown. This is not the first time this country has debated how to reduce gun violence. But this time is different. Overwhelming majorities of Americans--Americans who believe in the 2nd Amendment--have come together around
commonsense reform--like background checks that will make it harder for criminals to get their hands on a gun. Senators of both parties are working together on tough new laws to prevent anyone from buying guns for resale to criminals. Police chiefs are
asking our help to get weapons of war and massive ammunition magazines off our streets.Each of these proposals deserves a vote in Congress. If you want to vote no, that's your choice. But these proposals deserve a vote. Because in the two months
since Newtown, more than a thousand birthdays, graduations, and anniversaries have been stolen from our lives by a bullet from a gun.
Gabby Giffords deserves a vote. The families of Newtown deserve a vote. The families of Aurora deserve a vote.
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Source: 2013 State of the Union Address
Joe Biden on Globalization:
(Free Trade Feb 2, 2013)
Permanent normal trade relations to Russia
[Recent internationally] important step enabled us to do some good things: to negotiate, ratify and implement the New START Treaty; to expand economic and trade relationships--including both Russian accession to the WTO and extension of the permanent
normal trade relations to Russia; to build a bilateral presidential commission that networks Russian and American officials and publics on the broadest cooperative agenda the US and Russia have ever tried to share.But we are not naive--neither Russia
or the US. We will not agree with Russia on everything. For example, the US will not recognize Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states. These differences are real. But we continue to see opportunities for the US & Russia to partner in ways that
advance our mutual security interest & the interest of the international community--whether by safeguarding and reducing nuclear arsenals, or boosting our trade & investment to help each other unlock the enormous innovative potential of our societies.
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Source: Speech at the Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany
Deval Patrick on Globalization:
(Gun Control Jan 16, 2013)
More gun safety measures to help stop tragedies
Only this morning we re-filed several gun safety measures to help stop tragedies like Newtown. Yes, there is more to do. The truth is that, in any successful organization, the work of self-improvement is never finished. I am proud of the fact that,
working with the House and Senate, no administration has ever delivered more sweeping reform of state government than ours has. We have our proposals. There are many others before you now as well. Let's continue this work together.
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Source: 2013 State of the State address to Commonwealth Legislature
Barack Obama on Globalization:
(Free Trade Jun 14, 2012)
Skeptical on whether China feels bound by global trade rules
Obama was skeptical about the degree to which China felt bound by the rules of the global trading system in general and the rules of the World Trade Organization in particular.
Obama made it plain to veterans of the Clinton administration that he felt they had allowed China to enter into the World Trade Organization under terms that weren't tight enough--
thus allowing China to become a trading giant and leaving Obama with too little leverage when China flouted the trading rules.
There was also a certain Asian quality to the president's negotiations with China. "They push and push and push until you say no," Obama told those around him. "And then they stop pushing."
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Source: The Obamians, by James Mann, p.179-180
Mike Bloomberg on Globalization:
(Foreign Policy Apr 19, 2011)
Partner with World Bank: reduce traffic fatalities worldwide
Mayor Bloomberg joined the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the UN Economic Commission for Europe today to address efforts to reduce global traffic fatalities. The following are Mayor Bloomberg's remarks:Around the world, road
traffic injuries are taking the lives of 145 people every hour of every day. That adds up to something like 1.3 million people dying on the world's roads each year--and a further 20 to 50 million people suffering injuries, often debilitating ones.
But make no mistake about it: this is a problem that affects us all--especially the world's poorest. 90% of these fatalities occur in the world's rapidly urbanizing low- and middle-income nations.
Our record of improving safety in
New York encouraged me to try to replicate this same success around the world, and it also inspired us to act at the fact that road safety has not typically been a top priority--yet the number of lives that could potentially be saved is incredible.
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Source: Mayoral website, NYC.gov
Mike Bloomberg on Globalization:
(Principles & Values Sep 28, 2010)
Impatient with government; executive ok; not legislative
Mike's list: President of the US. Secretary General of the UN. Head of the World Bank. Those were 3 jobs Mike Bloomberg coveted as far back as college. He talked about them so often that friends were convinced that he wasn't fantasizing the way young
people do, but actually planning ahead.He made political contributions--modest ones given his wealth--to mostly Democratic candidates. But participatory politics was never his thing. In fact, he wrote in his self-admiring memoir, fittingly
titled "Bloomberg by Bloomberg," that when he was pondering a career change in his late 30s, "My impatience with government kept me away from politics. All elected officials could stop worrying."
In what could have been a broad hint, however, he also
wrote that thought being a legislator would bore him, "If I ever ran it would be for a job in the executive branch of government--mayor, governor or president. I think I would be great in any of those 3 executive jobs that mirror my experience."
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Source: Bloomberg: Money, Power, Politics, by J.Purnick, p. 73-74
Barack Obama on Globalization:
(Energy & Oil Oct 7, 2008)
FactCheck: Reluctant on nuclear power in past; now favors it
Obama flatly said he favored nuclear energy--embracing it more warmly than in the past. Obama said, “Contrary to what Sen. McCain keeps on saying, I favor nuclear power as one component of our overall energy mix.”
Previously Obama has been more hesitant. He said at a town hall meeting in Newton, Iowa, on Dec. 30, 2007, when asked if he was “truly comfortable” with the safety of nuclear power, “I start off with the premise that nuclear energy is not optimal.
I am not a nuclear energy proponent.“ He then went on to say later in the same response that he has ”not ruled out nuclear ... but only so far as it is clean and safe.“
The energy plan Obama released in
October 2007 only grudgingly conceded that more nuclear power is probably needed to reduce carbon emissions: ”It is unlikely that we can meet our aggressive climate goals if we eliminate nuclear power from the table.“
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Source: FactCheck.org on 2008 second presidential debate
Barack Obama on Globalization:
(Free Trade Jul 1, 2008)
Supports trade & globalization but opposes CAFTA job loss
"I believe that expanding trade and breaking down barriers between countries is good for our economy and for our security, for American consumers and American workers. Globalization is a technological revolution that is fundamentally changing the world'
economy, producing winners and losers along the way. The question is not whether we should protect our workers from competition, but what we can do to fully enable them to compete against workers all over the world."These strong words in support of
international trade and globalization are from an OpEd Obama published in the Chicago Tribune on June 30, 2005, entitled, "Why I Oppose CAFTA." But Obama also believes that trade agreements must address issues of fairness, such as labor, environmental,
and consumer safety.
The trade Obama is most concerned with is that which costs jobs in America and depresses wages here. Primarily, this is trade with developing countries who have a much lower wage structure due to their much lower cost of living.
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Source: Obamanomics, by John R. Talbott, p.113-114
Barack Obama on Globalization:
(Free Trade Jul 1, 2008)
Assist workers who lose globalization's race to the bottom
Obama comments, "But the larger problem is what's missing from our prevailing policy on trade and globalization--namely, meaningful assistance for those who are not reaping its benefits and a plan to succeed in a twenty-first century economy.
So far, almost all of our energy and almost all of these trade agreements are about making life easier for the winners of globalization, while we do nothing as life gets harder for American workers."
Obama adds, "But this is about more than displaced workers. Our failure to respond to globalization is causing a race to the bottom that means lower wages and stingier health and retiree benefits for all Americans.
It's causing a squeeze on middle-class families who are working in this new economy. As one downstate (Illinois) worker told me during a recent visit, 'It doesn't do me much good if I'm saving a dollar on a T-shirt in Wal-Mart, but don't have a job.'"
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Source: Obamanomics, by John R. Talbott, p.117-118
Jesse Ventura on Globalization:
(China Book Apr 1, 2008)
Active role in bringing China into WTO
Interestingly, the University of Minnesota has the largest population of Chinese students of any campus in the US and, when I was governor, I met with a group of about 20 of them.
They'd told me that 80% of their people are still involved in agriculture, but that China's farmland is pretty much maxed out. I thought it would be great if US farmers, in MN and elsewhere, could sell their surpluses to China.
I became a big supporter of bringing China into the World Trade Organization (WTO), something that was also one of President Clinton's foremost concerns.
They'd moved from strictly command economy to one where market forces were playing an increasing part, and it was definitely time to break down the remaining trade barriers.
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Source: Don`t Start the Revolution, by Jesse Ventura, p.102-103
Jesse Ventura on Globalization:
(Free Trade Apr 1, 2008)
Active role in bringing China into WTO
Interestingly, the University of Minnesota has the largest population of Chinese students of any campus in the US. They'd told me that 80% of their people are still involved in agriculture, but that China's farmland is pretty much maxed out. I thought it
would be great if US farmers, in MN and elsewhere, could sell their surpluses to China.I became a big supporter of bringing China into the World Trade Organization (WTO), something that was also one of President Clinton's foremost concerns.
They'd moved from strictly command economy to one where market forces were playing an increasing part, and it was definitely time to break down the remaining trade barriers.
Clinton's administration encouraged me to take an active role, and I'm proud
to have been a part of the effort that resulted in China being admitted to the WTO in December 2001. That's how I ended up spending a week in China on a trade mission early the next year. First in Beijing for several days, and then Shanghai.
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Source: Don`t Start the Revolution, by Jesse Ventura, p.102-103
Donald Trump on Globalization:
(Free Trade Jan 18, 2008)
Embrace globalization and international markets
The important thing to consider is that more and more there is an interdependence of world economies. No one can afford to be isolationist any more.
Keep your focus global. Globalization has torn down the barriers that have formerly separated the national from the international markets.
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Source: Never Give Up, by Donald Trump, p.158
Joe Biden on Globalization:
(Corporations Dec 13, 2007)
We’ve yielded to corporate America on trade
Q: Given the WTO guidelines, could you actually restrict trade with China?A: With the WTO guidelines, we could stop these [unsafe] products coming in now. This president doesn’t act. We have much more leverage on China than they have on us. The
idea that a country with 800 million people in poverty has greater leverage over us is preposterous. We’ve yielded to corporate America. We’ve yielded to this president’s notion of what constitutes trade, and we’ve refused to enforce the laws that exist.
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Source: 2007 Des Moines Register Democratic debate
Barack Obama on Globalization:
(War & Peace Dec 13, 2007)
Iran: Bush does not let facts get in the way of ideology
Q: Do you agree with the president’s assessment that Iran still poses a threat?A: It is absolutely clear that Pres. Bush continues to not let facts get in the way of his ideology. And that’s been the problem with the administration’s foreign policy
generally. It is important for the president to lead diplomatic efforts, to try to offer to Iran the prospect of joining the World Trade Organization, potential normalized relations over time, in exchange for changes in behavior.
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Source: 2007 Des Moines Register Democratic debate
Barack Obama on Globalization:
(Free Trade Aug 19, 2007)
Congress subsidizes megafarms & hurts family farmers
Q: How do you protect jobs without hurting farmers?A: Congress subsidizes these big megafarms and hurts family farmers oftentimes in the process. And we’ve got to cap those subsidies so that we don’t have continued concentration of agriculture in the
hands of a few large agribusiness interests. But, on the trade issue generally, we’re not going to suddenly cordon off America from the world. Globalization is here, and I don’t think Americans are afraid to compete.
And we have the goods and the services and the skills and the innovation to compete anywhere in the world. But what we’ve got to make absolutely certain of is that, in that competition, we are hard bargainers. You know, I’m always struck by the
Bush administration touting that this is the MBA president and they’re such great businessmen, and they get taken to the cleaners in a lot of these trade agreements. And we’ve got to have somebody who’s negotiating on behalf of workers and family farmers
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Source: 2007 Democratic primary debate on “This Week”
Barack Obama on Globalization:
(Free Trade Aug 8, 2007)
People don’t want cheaper T-shirts if it costs their job
Q: The flip side to fair trade: how do you convince a working family that’s struggling to get by that buying American is still best for them, when American T-shirts cost $20 and imported ones are $10?A: Look, people don’t want a cheaper T-shirt if
they’re losing a job in the process. They would rather have the job and pay a little bit more for a T-shirt. And I think that’s something that all Americans could agree to.
But this raises a larger point, which is: globalization is here. And we should
be trading around the world. We don’t want to just be standing still while the rest of the world is out there taking the steps that it needs to in order to expand trade.
Congress has a responsibility because we’ve got right now provisions in our tax
code that reward companies that are moving jobs overseas instead of companies that are investing right here in the US. And that is a reflection of the degree to which special interests have been shaping our trade policy. That’s something that I’ll end.
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Source: 2007 AFL-CIO Democratic primary forum
Hillary Clinton on Globalization:
(Foreign Policy Jul 9, 2007)
More cautiously internationalist than Bill Clinton
Just how far apart are Mr. and Mrs. Clinton on the question of global economic integration? The gap is yawning. For the former president, three sweeping and historic trade agreements did much to cement his reputation as bone-deep internationalist: the
passage of NAFTA, the ratification of the Uruguay Round of the GATT, and the extension of permanent normal trading status to China and its inclusion in the WTO.But for the current senator, much of this apparently seems dubious, at least as a road
map to the future. "We just can't keep doing what we did in the twentieth century," she said, adding that we may need "a little time-out" before the enactment of any further trade deals. Accordingly, in 2005, she voted against CAFTA, and she has even
repeatedly spouted skepticism about the wisdom of NAFTA--while stopping short of blaming her husband for its deficiencies: "I believe in the general principles NAFTA represented, but what we have learned is that we have to drive a tougher bargain."
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Source: New York Magazine, "Marital Discord," by John Heilemann
Barack Obama on Globalization:
(Jobs Mar 24, 2007)
Burdens of globalization are placed on the backs of workers
This world is not standing still. And we’ve got to take the values that have made America great but we have to adapt them to new times. And we know what those challenges are. Because of globalization, because of automation what we’re seeing is
increasingly a situation in which the benefits of this new economy accrued to just some and leave too many behind. Wages, salaries have flat lined and benefits are diminished. And the message that we’ve heard over the last six years is,
You’re on your own. The troubles, the difficulties, the burdens of globalization are going to be placed on the backs of workers. But there’s always been another vision that says we’re in it together and that the burdens and benefits
of this new economy have to be spread evenly across the economy, and nowhere do we see that more than in the issue of health care.
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Source: SEIU Democratic Health Care Forum in Las Vegas
Jennifer Granholm on Globalization:
(Free Trade Oct 1, 2005)
Encourage insourcing, instead of victims of globalization
Michiganders had long feared globalization. The reasons were understandable: Our economy had consistently been eroded by manufacturers leaving for cheaper countries. I believe we must fight every unfair tilting of the playing field. But I have also tried
to lead INTO these fierce global winds. Instead of being victims of globalization, we need to embrace it and take advantage of it, not by promoting outsourcing but by encouraging INSOURCING.In my terms as governor, I made 12 international trips to
recruit businesses: our state attracted 48 companies and $2 billion in investment, with more than 20,000 jobs generated. It was surprisingly easy to get midsized companies in other countries to invest in Michigan. These companies were interested in the
American market, but many lacked the multinational global staff to help guide them through the process. Because of their smaller size, relationships were important. My message to them: Let Michigan be your gateway to the US--we'll help you.
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Source: A Governor's Story, by Jennifer Granholm, p.262
Jesse Ventura on Globalization:
(Jobs Dec 10, 2000)
Training and retraining to resolve workforce shortage
Eight years of economic growth has done us a world of good. Minnesota’s overall unemployment rate is lower than ever. But now we face a workforce shortage, which makes us less competitive in a global marketplace.
It’s vital to our ongoing economic health that we have a well-trained, flexible, and healthy workforce that allows us to be quickly responsive to the opportunities that globalization presents. That means training and retraining constantly during
a person’s working life. It means looking after displaced workers to get them back into the game with salable skills. It means providing adequate medical care and benefits to injured workers, so that they can return to
suitable work as soon as possible. It means finding new workers. When someone says, “We need good people who can do X, Y, and Z. Do you have them for us?” We want to be able to say, “You bet we do!”
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Source: The Big Plan: Minnesota: World Competitor
Donald Trump on Globalization:
(Jobs Dec 2, 1999)
Foreign companies are taking jobs from US
Trump said he wasn’t surprised by the violence this week at the World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle. Protesters there accused the global organization of considering only the needs of giant multinational corporations at the expense
of protecting the environment and worker rights. “I’m not so sure that anybody can dispute what’s happening in Seattle,” Trump said. “Jobs are going left and right. Foreign companies are ripping off the United States like never before.”
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Source: Pat Eaton-Robb, Associated Press, on 2000 presidential race
Hillary Clinton on Globalization:
(Free Trade Jun 17, 1999)
Globalization should not substitute for humanization
As with any sweeping change in history, there are those who are great proponents of globalization, [and] there are others who are great opponents. The real challenge is not to engage in an argument, but to try better to understand the forces that are at
work and to harness those forces on behalf of society. To ensure that globalization, however one defines it, is never a substitute for humanization, never a force for marginalization, and not an enemy of the values that have long shaped our society.
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Source: Remarks at The Sorbonne, Paris, France
Donald Trump on Globalization:
(Principles & Values May 12, 1997)
Trump Tower glitz: Italian marble 80-foot waterfall
Delineating his commercial aesthetic, he once told an interviewer, "I have glitzy casinos because people expect it. Glitz works in Atlantic City. And in my residential buildings I sometimes use flash, which is a level below glitz."
His first monument to himself, Trump Tower, possessed many genuinely impressive elements--a sixty-eight-story sawtoothed silhouette, a salmon-colored Italian-marble atrium equipped with an eighty-foot waterfall--and became an instant tourist attraction.
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Source: Mark Singer in New Yorker magazine, "Trump Solo"
Page last updated: Mar 01, 2022
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