Obama: U.S. Must Compete
   - Compete with whom, on what terms, to what end, and who decides? -"

      A truly sorry state of the union when another "new democrat' president consigns Americans to a forced "free trade" and fascist trade policies and processes -" exactly those which have already devastated the USA and First World nations.
      Clearly, no majority of Americas, and their once First World brethren, would ever have voted for "free trade" as we know it -" i.e., a system created by and for capital leaving the vast majority of wage labor completely out of any decision determining their future, their economy, and their environment. 
     The ruling elite line parroted by "our" representatives is that you have no choice and fascist globalization is somehow inevitable.  In effect,  they are telling you that democracy is already disappeared and dead.  In short, the First World is no more, democracy is history and your currency is trash.  Gee, what a great "universal gain" from free trade we've procured, thanks to our despicable crew of corporate-sucking belt-way whores.
      In capital's successful quest to obliterate any regulation by the many, we have now been rendered completely dependent on and to a totalitarian "capitalist"' society.   So our bankster-appointed leaders are busy begging China to devalue their pegged currency (a violation of trade rules) and urging us to further trash our own currency""in order to compete."   All this is due to the lack of real and rational trade freedom.
     Apparently, these capital-sucking acolytes think this First World destroying system is better than simple tariff freedoms for nations allowing them the ability to rebalance their export-perverted economies and, in the process, undue global oligarchy and oligopoly.  Yet this god-awful system is now destroying freedom, diversity and producing a dismal fascist monoculture of global sameness.  What's next?  A Mcdonalds at the Potala!
     What a real democrat president would seek is a truly democratic trade system wherein we, and the rest of the world, elect our representatives to the World Trade Organization, and where any trade treaties are subject to a referendum of the people, and where we enjoy a tariff freedom to get our relation to the world just right, not too protection-ist, and not too exposure-ist wherein "we" screw ourselves.
     A real democrat would have railed against the Citizens v. United decision and all the democracy-crushing power of an unrestrained capital unmatched by any force of a wage-laboring majority.  A real democrat would realize we need to undue the perverted Supreme Court theory that money is free speech and that corporations are persons.
     A real democrat would have demanded a return of the Fairness Doctrine and pursued long overdue anti-trust solutions to a media regime completely owned and run by fascist oligarchs favoring corporate capital and privilege over the vast majority.
     A real democrat would not have an administration full of banksters and a government handed over to Goldman Sachs.  
A real democrat would have nationalized the "Fed" and restored the constitutional Purse Power of the people to save us from yet another rape by bankers.
    As well, there is no reason that real Republicans would not want the very same things outlined here, unless they prefer fascism to democracy and care not for the fate of this country.  Right now, however, we suffer the fate of phony, corporate, "democrats" in power whose agenda is no different from phony, corporate, Republicans.  We are screwed by our friends and buried by our enemies.  Welcome to the Oligarchy.

Kent Welton,
OligarchyUSA.com