Consider three countries:
1) In Country 1, imports of goods and services are 29 percent the size of the country’s overall economy.
2) In Country 2, imports are 22 percent the size of the country’s economy.
3) In Country 3, imports are 14 percent the size of the country’s economy.
Which of these countries relies the most on imports?
In this real-world example based on World Bank data, most people would say that Country 1 (Mexico) relies the most on imports.
Country 2 (China) appears much less reliant on imports.
Country 3 (the United States) could be described as the least-reliant on imports.
Some people think the United States is being flooded with imports, but compared to China and Mexico, imports are actually quite small relative to the size of our economy.
Of course, more imports are not necessarily a bad thing. Hong Kong, which has the world’s highest ratio of imports to gross domestic product, consistently ranks number one in The Heritage Foundation’s Index of Economic Freedom.
In your special report #91 Saving the American Dream you failed to mention that President Bush's Medicare Part D couldn't have been enacted without the expiration of the Omnibus Bill and the Contract with America and was never paid for. You also forgot to mention the added cost to government of The Department of Homeland Security (unfunded) and The War on Terrorism (unfunded). There was a real need to raise federal revenue; instead, they have been turned into entitlement programs. We have all received benefits but have not contributed one red cent for these benefits. Now you want to reek havoc on the citizens Congress was elected to represent?
What I really dislike is that you absolve Congressional members of choosing and picking which laws they are going to follow this year or next. This is the real reason behind the so-called out-of-control spending. As an independent voter, I expect more than simply partisan economic models.
I flunked. But with the actions of government impositions regarding rules, regulations, mandates AND DISCRIMINATION, seems to be the government future goal of America. Dependent on world imports.