Obama Gets It Right on Trade

I was encouraged to see President Obama offering some correction to Congress on their attempts to insert protectionist language into the stimulus bill. According to CNN,

President Barack Obama "wants to ensure that any legislation that passes is consistent with trade agreements and doesn't signal a change in our overall stance on trade," White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said in a briefing Wednesday.

That is marvelous. While I am all for buying American goods out of my personal wallet, writing it into legislature in a huge federal spending bill would only incite a round of international protectionism which would further cripple the global economy as it did during the Great Depression. American companies must be effective and efficient and compete on their own merits against their international counterparts, just as we insist these international firms must do so in their own borders.

Thank you Mr. President.