"The measure of the wealth of a nation is indicated by the measure of its protection of its industry; the measure of the poverty of a nation is marked by the degree in which it neglects and abandons the care of its own industry, leaving it exposed to the action of foreign powers." -- Congressman Henry Clay, 1824

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The Prophetic words of Congressman Henry Clay are becoming a scary reality for many. We are facing close to $700 billion in trade deficits and as a result outsourcing of our jobs is becoming more common as the days move on. Is it any wonder we are a nation facing economic turmoil and uncertainly? No industry is immune, manufacturing, technology, financial, insurance, medical, and other sectors are moving offshore in staggering amounts. Professor of Economics and Public Affairs at Princeton University and Director of Princeton’s Center for Economic Policy Studies Alan S. Blinder, in the Washington Times article "Free Trade's Great, but Offshoring Rattles Me" estimates up to 40 million U.S. jobs are potentially offshorable. He states:

"The first is technology, especially information and communications technology, which has been improving at an astonishing pace in recent decades. As the technology advances, the quality of now-familiar modes of communication (such as telephones, videoconferencing and the Internet) will improve, and entirely new forms of communication may be invented. One clear implication of the upward march of technology is that a widening array of services will become deliverable electronically from afar. And it's not just low-skill services such as key punching, transcription and telemarketing. It's also high-skill services such as radiology, architecture and engineering -- maybe even college teaching."

He continues:

"It's also going to be large. How large? In some recent research, I estimated that 30 million to 40 million U.S. jobs are potentially offshorable. These include scientists, mathematicians and editors on the high end and telephone operators, clerks and typists on the low end. Obviously, not all of these jobs are going to India, China or elsewhere. But many will."

He wisely concludes his article regarding free trade with, "That is why I am going public with my concerns now. If we economists stubbornly insist on chanting "Free trade is good for you" to people who know that it is not, we will quickly become irrelevant to the public debate. Compared with that, a little apostasy should be welcome."

Mr. Independent Lou Dobbs has reported extensively on this issue, during his testimony to congress on March 28, 2007 he stated:

"The United States has sustained 31 consecutive years of trade deficits, and those deficits have reached successively higher records in each of the past five years. The trade deficit has more than doubled since President George W. Bush took office. The U.S. trade deficit has been a drag on our economic growth in 18 of the 24 quarters of George W. Bush's presidency.

The current account deficit in 2006 reached almost $857 billion, also a new record, and now represents 6.5 percent of our total GDP. Since 1994, the first full year in which the North American Free Trade Agreement was in effect, the United States has accumulated more than $5 trillion in external or trade debt."

Amazingly, even our own top trade officials admit that U.S. free trade policies aren't working, unless they consider trade surpluses for our trading partners to be the objective of U.S. trade policy.

U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab appears to understand the consequences of the past few administrations' free trade policies, but she's shown little willingness to shift that policy. Schwab said, "...Our trade deficits are too high. We can't...pretend that the trade imbalance can just keep getting bigger with no cost."

And Ambassador Schwab's Deputy Trade Representative, Karan Bhatia, said outright, "From Chile to Singapore to Mexico, the history of our [Free Trade Agreements] is that bilateral trade surpluses of our trading partners go up."

Why then would Congressman Joe Pitts vote "YES" on every so-called free trade bill? Wouldn't it make sense to advocate a responsible trade policy? Perhaps being a career politician, Mr. Pitts does not understand the working class, or worst yet doesn't care or feel our plight. Since beginning his tenure as a Pennsylvania State Representative in 1972, Mr. Pitts has been in the government sector for 36 years, with no signs of yielding his seat, even after pledging to serve no more than ten years. Mr. Pitt's record speaks for his self. See below.