It's a shame that  many libertarians & Republicans cannot see how misguided their free trade advocacy is. If McCain hadn't been a free trade idiot maybe we wouldn't have Obama now. People like him

turn a blind eye to the sabotage of the currency markets practiced by China & other Asian nations, previously. Why are they willing to accept the loss of America's industrial power and many millions of good hi paying manufacturing jobs. We would have lost only a small fraction of those if China didn't buy up its exporters dollars. Twenty five billion dollars hanging around in the currency markets, each month would have appreciated the Chinese renminbi to the point where we would be a lot closer to trade equilibrium. And there were also  nonsensical trade deals...before Dec 2007 the US agreed to a Chinese ban on American exports to any of its mid-sized cities. Was any part of America closed off to Chinese imports? The world as a whole may benefit from free trade, but not necessarily every nation. We certainly haven't. Perhaps you guys could save face and admit that currency manipulation is not part of free trade and that our acquiescent trade policies have greatly damaged our economy. Another thing...you guys love to say the answer is retraining and higher technology. That's very misguided and unrealistic. First we need jobs for all our people, not everyone's going to be an engineer or scientist. And entry level jobs are a necessity for social mobility. Second, the outsourcing includes technical jobs...so it's not a panacea. Third, this country can't count on being a technical leader for much longer when it's children are perennial low scorers in math and science...as long as most of us are devoted to a junk food diet....you are what you eat!  Another thing...LIBERTARIANS: why can't you distinguish between citizens and foreigners , between what's in the family and what's outside. Anything that crosses the border must be subject to the scrutiny and control of the federal government. If not, our national survival is at risk...and then HOW MUCH LIBERTY WILL BE LEFT???