Phenomenal Obama can be phenomenal disaster like Bush

free trader ?

supposedly he's big on community needs.. we'll have to wait and see...

"he will be a phenomenal disaster for America and the world" ?

I don't think so.... He was teacher of constitutional law for over a decade, and before that, President of the Harvard Law Review, which is one of the most cited law reviews in the United States and considered by many to be the most prestigious. It's alumni includes Supreme Court Justices Edward Sanford, Felix Frankfurter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Antonin Scalia, Stephen Breyer and Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr.,Michael Chertoff, and others... so it's a safe bet, unlike our current disaster he actually knows something about constitutional law.

Just to keep the record straight, constitutional law has little to do with free trade. Particularly the segment of constitutional law that Obama taught, civil rights.

I believe that Obama will try to cut back on North American free trade, cutting back on our trade with Canada and Mexico and shifting our trade efforts to third world countries in Africa. While little attention has been paid to Obama's African ties, he is clearly Afrocentric and tends to confuse sociology with economics.

While fighting poverty and other ills in Africa is a worthy goal for philanthropist and former presidents, the U.S. president needs to be focused on the economic and security needs of the American people.

Trade policy is closely tied with our other national interests. My fear is that Obama is going to confuse our pressing economic national interests with world-wide philanthropic interests.

Ratatosk - well said. We truly never know what we're getting with a President. However, in Obama we have someone who is level-headed and very intelligent, with great knowledge of the US Constitution and laws. With Bush we had someone who couldn't put together a complete sentence, yet we still elected him.

At one time I believed no matter who sat in the oval office, or how bad the policies, our nation would survive. Look at us after 8 years of Bush. Ask the loved ones of the over 4000 American dead, ask those who are returning without limbs and getting no help. Ask the hundreds of thousands of dark skinned folks who lost their loved ones.
Our once Great nation is shunned and made a laughing stock world wide. We cannot afford four more years of the Bush doctrine of hate and conquer. If Jesus were McCains running Mate we cannot afford more Bush.
Micky mouse would fare better. Let's get back on track

Well, there is one good thing I can see will happen if Obama is elected ... the newly elected president will not be accused of stealing the election.

I do hope if Obama is elected it will be a good thing, but I have nothing to go on, He promises nothing but change, I just don't know what He will change us into.

Thought provoking comments all. As a free-thinker, not subscribing to any one party, I look at the man and in Obama, I see someone trying to be someone he isn't to all people. From day one, he has been groomed, handled, told what to say and how to say it, how to look into the camera (his favorite activity), how to present his family (have you noticed the change with his wife?) and, most importantly, how to answer any question with false sincerity. He has an answer for important questions but they are like soap bubbles drifting away on the breeze of hot air. Obama doesn't know how to speak for himself but is great at reading a speech prepared for him. He should be dubbed The Great Orator or The Great Impostor, either one would fit. So any thinking American should ask themselves, is this the man I want in the White House, making important decisions that will affect my life? Because you can rest assured that those decisions won't affect him or his friends.

Well said.

As far as free-trade, we should have the same tariff on imports as they charges us for exports of the same product. They make the same thing we would be exporting to them, then we shouldn't be importing theirs. The world won't be happy until they shut down all of our industries. (United States is now a service sector). All of us can't work in the medical and hospitality field. Is their any job in the United State that is truly safe from outsourcing?

FROM OBAMA WEB PAGE

Trade
Obama believes that trade with foreign nations should strengthen the American economy and create more American jobs. He will stand firm against agreements that undermine our economic security.

Fight for Fair Trade: Obama will fight for a trade policy that opens up foreign markets to support good American jobs. He will use trade agreements to spread good labor and environmental standards around the world and stand firm against agreements like the Central American Free Trade Agreement that fail to live up to those important benchmarks. Obama will also pressure the World Trade Organization to enforce trade agreements and stop countries from continuing unfair government subsidies to foreign exporters and nontariff barriers on U.S. exports.

Amend the North American Free Trade Agreement: Obama believes that NAFTA and its potential were oversold to the American people. Obama will work with the leaders of Canada and Mexico to fix NAFTA so that it works for American workers.

Improve Transition Assistance: To help all workers adapt to a rapidly changing economy, Obama would update the existing system of Trade Adjustment Assistance by extending it to service industries, creating flexible education accounts to help workers retrain, and providing retraining assistance for workers in sectors of the economy vulnerable to dislocation before they lose their jobs.

End Tax Breaks for Companies that Send Jobs Overseas: Barack Obama believes that companies should not get billions of dollars in tax deductions for moving their operations overseas. Obama will also fight to ensure that public contracts are awarded to companies that are committed to American workers.

Reward Companies that Support American Workers: Barack Obama introduced the Patriot Employer Act of 2007 with Senators Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) to reward companies that create good jobs with good benefits for American workers. The legislation would provide a tax credit to companies that maintain or increase the number of full-time workers in America relative to those outside the US; maintain their corporate headquarters in America if it has ever been in America; pay decent wages; prepare workers for retirement; provide health insurance; and support employees who serve in the military.

On a personal note: McCains economic policy is to reduce taxes on all business, while Obama wants to target those tax breaks to companies who favor America over pure profit margins. Obama's positions are geared toward leveling the playing field so that if Americans are willing to work hard in competition, America can again be an economic power!

I surely hope that all the posters who condem Obama for not being tougher and outright stopping trade, are not the same ones who post that we should not subsidize commercial sectors, like for instance agriculture. The more we export agricultural products, the less subsidizing is necessary to insure against market and climatic glitches. How do we obtain resources we do not posses? Trade is a two-way street!

One last thing. Where is all the indignation about the American consumer? Obama spoke about measuring America's wealth by the strength of the middle class, not by the number of millionaires we produce. I would add that our economic strength should not be measured by the number of Walmarts (China Crap for Less) we have!

If so, he will be a phenomenal disaster for America and the world.

Wow, what an insightful article... who's whole premise rests on if.

Apparently journalism nowadays consists of little more than asking a question and providing your own answer that's critical of the candidate you don't like. There's plenty of hard statements by Obama on free trade. You might start with this one, and ignore all the worthless partisan conjecture.

The one thing that bothers me is Obama is a bit vague on bringing manufacturing back to the US.
McCain we know will continue the Bush economic policy and we know it doesn't work for America.
America was once the shinning example of the world largely due to our manufacturing capability and the quality of the products produced in this country.
We now have cheap products that in many cases are a waste of money, due to the total lack of engineering and quality.
This country was successful in WWII, a war that was fought and won in four years for one reason, we manufactured the implements of war literally overnight and idolized "Rosie the riveter" for the contribution of the American worker.
The push for cheaper labor has been going on since Nixon, and has now reached the point it is threatening the very existence of a middle class in this country and everything that is dependent on that middle class consumer including Government.
Once a journeyman electrician or steel worker or shoe maker or furniture maker was the middle class. Now these are jobs gone and those craftsmen are now most likely unemployed.
The answer we've heard form government is "get a degree" and little else. To be considered middle class at his point in time, a degree is the only way, and it excludes perhaps as many as 100 million people from the American dream.
It is ludicrous to expect an unemployed 40 YO steel worker with 4 kids to get a degree and become what? An IT professional?
This is an arrogant and shortsighted approach to the realities of life for America.
Reagan's supply side economics, embraced by Bush are now showing the results of this shortsighted view.
In a consumer based economy you don't diminish the consumer and expect great results, it affects literally every segment of the population. We now have smaller municipalities struggling with lose of revenue as a result of lower sales tax. We see private sector stores closing because of poor sales. The end result in either case is going to be layoff's and more unemployed people resulting in less sales which result in less tax's and sales which results in more cutbacks which.....well there is not an end in sight.
This downward spiral is likely to continue for a while yet, The move to green industries will help (if they are kept in this country, Obama's promise for a bottom up economy is going to help, but the fact is this economic chaos is 40 years in the making and is not going to be fixed in the next 4 years.

Makes me glad I'm old and retired because the future for so many americans is bleak at best.

They only way either candidate could be as big a disaster as bush is if the try to do so on purpose. McCant is off to a great start with his VP pick.