Imports: America's Achilles heel.

[Robin Hood]

With the recent news of the ever widening trade deficit gap and the climbing cost for a barrel of oil, I fear that we may have brewed our own perfect economic storm. At the store yesterday, I paid .35 cents more for a jar of nuts than i paid a week ago. Prices have ballooned up all across the economic spectrum. Inflation has been rising for years now, but it doesn't seem to hit greenspan in the wallet.

With our belt busting dependence on imported goods, how can we escape being slot machines for foreign countries? Just about everything that is in the market place is made somewhere else. Hell, Made in America has become a novelty.

We have put ourselves in the awful position of having to be puppets for such wonderfull countries such as Saudi Arabia and China. All those cheap imports won't be so cheap anymore as OPEC tightens the squeeze on the American family jewels. Not only have we become used to inferior products but now we are about to pay through the nose for them.

[MsTryska]

1. Make Energy independence the Meta-Issue for the next couple

of campaign cycles - draw the conclusions for people, offer a new way of thinking - it's theonly way we can even begin to head off the inevtiable.

[Robin Hood]

2. I hope that it's not too late.

You are correct about the actions that need to be taken. Energy independence and self reliance need to be the direction that we go in.

[MsTryska]

3. it's not too late.....

Our people need to get on the ball (i mean the ones that allegedly set policy and and planks for us), but it is actually the new up and coming issue as far as the population at large is concerned - they jsut know they're paying more for gas than at any other time int he past decade.


we need to start connecting the dots for them. but more importantly we need our people to take the baton and run with it.