The Obama administration seems to have tried every trick in the book to jumpstart the economy and increase jobs. From cutting taxes to keeping interest rates low, bank bailouts, stimulus plans and now a doomed jobs bill, nothing seems to be working.
The tea party-led Republicans are even a bigger failure with their fixation on the reducing the deficit by gutting Social Security and Medicare.
One thing neither party is talking about are the various trade agreements such as NAFTA, which have promoted the export of jobs.
What I would propose is a new trade agreement called MASA (Made in America — Sold in America), which would state that if you want to sell a product in America it has to be made here.
I would tell China to follow the example of Toyota and build American assembly plants employing American workers if they want to sell their products here.
On the flip side I would tell American companies if they make a product using workers in Mexico or Thailand it cannot be sold in the United States.
Our senators were in the news a few days ago whining about China devaluing its currency to keep its prices low. I say stop the whining and promote something like MASA if you really want job creation.
Bob Brummel, Winslow
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