Netting an Election
Hmmm, the very day the Democrats evince some intention to push for votes from the South, the Bush Commerce Department announces shrimp tariffs sure to please shrimpers from Galveston to Norfolk.
Consumers, along with China, Vietnam, and possibly Thailand, Brazil, Ecuador, and India will make the in-kind contribution to the Bush campaign.
Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.
Please
to post comments
joe: Collect some information with your mind and your tongue, and make your own choice.
You seemed to have a point in your post, Mark, but apparently you’re too anti-authoritarian to tell me what it is.
Why, what a wonderful compliment!
Shrimp tariffs may become less important if consumers are made aware of the differences in product. Some might object to the foreign workers’ conditions or the environmental effect. Others may never have consciously noticed that although they can afford more trips to Red Lobster, each trip is somehow not quite as good as their hoary memories. Kind of like the organic food movement, this particular state mistake can be made moot if enough people freely choose particular suppliers.
The differences in steel seem less clear to me.
If you’re satisfied with bland shrimp, or feel proud in American steel, that’s O.K. I don’t know all your preferences; I only offer information you might not have.
Boy, oh, Boy! I sho’ do LOVE election years! This is shaping up to be a protectionist pissing contest. If Badnarik or Nader want to have a chance, they’d better get in early. Maybe Badnarik should impose a moratorium on all imported petroleum.
“Hehe, yeah, what’s up NOW, BushKerry?! Tariffs on shrimp & steel? Laws against outsourcing? Fuckin’ CHILD’S PLAY, beeeyotch! If you want to run with the BIG DAWGS, you gotta REALLY screw America! Badnarik in the HIZZY!”
Every election just seems like another contest to see who’s best at raping the foundation of the Republic.
questy,
Your name reminds me of my Marine Corps days and reverence for Chesty Puller.
Thanks for helping me make my case, I think?
Mayhaps someone here could do some research on major segments of potential voters boycotting THE pivotal election and it not making a plug nickel’s worth of difference.
Didn’t it recently happen in Iran?
What difference would it have made if voters there had been as slavishly devoted to voting as they supposedly are in the US?
Hey, it worked so well with steel. Look how Bush has Penn, Ohio, and W. Va locked up.
I like the reasoning. Are they destroying habitat? Providing a dangerous product? Killing off endangered species? Coercing their workers, getting them killed? Who cares!
Are their prices too cheap? Now THAT’S worthy of a federal case!
I can’t wait for them to invite Forrest Gump to the White House when the president makes the announcement. I just hope he doesn’t do anything really stupid and embarrassing again on national TV.
And that Gump guy better keep quiet too.
You must be joking. joe hits it on the head.
You can never out protect a protectionist, and all you do is erode your own base when you try. What a moron.
Its good to be the King, heh heh….I mean president!
Sure W, just kick economic liberty in the head. Republicans who value principle have a remedy:
http://www.badnarik.org/
Shrimp is the fruit of the sea. You can barbecue
it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it. There, uh, shrimp kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo, panfried, deep fried, stir fried. There’s pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich… that’s, that’s about it.
Let’s see…
We hate protectionists so we’re gonna vote for…
How can anyone not be an anarchist like me? See how voting just encourages ’em?
Bubba’s making me hungry.
Little “Old Bay,” put on a couple skewers on the grill, next to an aluminum foil pouch of veggies w/ oil oil, toss w/ pasta…just make sure you take out the “vein” running along the back. Man, I hope they don’t get too expensive this summer.
How dare you criticize the Bush administration. I thought I was coming to Reason not Mother Jones.
On the plus side, maybe some of the free trade benefits will sink in on the Bush haters side and after all is said and done and free trade will have wider acceptance after this administration is out of the White House among Dems.
Wishful thinking at least.
If John Kerry will lift the tarriffs on my favorite food, that may be enough to get my vote.
Everybody has to draw a line somewhere 🙂
Oh right… it’s my vote that encourages them.
The “If everyone just stopped believing in, and adhering to, the power of the government” anarchist mantra, is about as fruitful as the “if everyone would just share their goods with each other” communist mantra.
There will never be a unanimous shrugging of governance. It is against human nature to turn down an opportunity for betterment, and power is that opportunity.
This is why libertarianism and anarcho-capitalism isn’t an inborn knowledge, it is a knowledge aspired to through careful philosophical thought.
Ruthless say:
How can anyone not be an anarchist like me? See how voting just encourages ’em?
Oh right… it’s my vote that encourages them.
The “If everyone just stopped believing in, and adhering to, the power of the government” anarchist mantra, is about as fruitful as the “if everyone would just share their goods with each other” communist mantra.
There will never be a unanimous shrugging of governance. It is against human nature to turn down an opportunity for betterment, and power is that opportunity.
This is why libertarianism and anarcho-capitalism isn’t an inborn knowledge, it is a knowledge aspired to through careful philosophical thought.
For all you educated and hungry consumers of shrimp:
The tariff may temporarily please shrimpers, until they discover that people aren’t willing to buy in volume at their cost anyway.
Imported shrimp are farmed, not caught, by third-world poor for the same crappy wage that makes so many despise Nike and Wal-Mart. Shrimp farms are environmental disasters, as land for farms is flooded with the filth that shrimp eat and leave behind.
Domestic sea-caught shrimp cost 3-4 times as much as imports, but if you have the money, I think they’re worth it for the taste. Thai or Venezuelan farm shrimp seem flat compared to Louisiana shrimp.
Fight the tariff and buy better shrimp.
I don’t understand which shrimp you want me to buy, Mark.
From the seafood-lovers at Mises.org comes this debunking of the “dumping” theory:
http://www.mises.org/fullarticle.asp?control=1551&id=70
The best part is when they describe bureaucrats trying to guess how much frozen shrimp would cost in Vietnam if the Vietnamese bought frozen shrimp.
Sony MZ-NH1 Net MD / Hi-MD Walkman Portable Minidisc Player / Recorder http://electronics.lowcost.us.com/item_4230303031594e374443/Sony_MZ_NH1_Net_MD_Hi_MD_Walkman_Portable_Minidisc_Player_Recorder.php
Sony DCRDVD201 DVD Camcorder w/10x Optical Zoom http://electronics.lowcost.us.com/item_42303030314d41423036/Sony_DCRDVD201_DVD_Camcorder_w_10x_Optical_Zoom.php
Sony VAIO PCG-K25 Notebook PC (2.8 GHz Pentium 4, 512 MB RAM, 60 GB Hard Drive, DVD+/-RW Drive) http://electronics.lowcost.us.com/item_4230303032395a555a34/Sony_VAIO_PCG_K25_Notebook_PC_2_8_GHz_Pentium_4_512_MB_RAM_60_GB_Hard_Drive_DVD_RW_Drive.php
Canon i9900 Photo Printer http://electronics.lowcost.us.com/item_42303030314442484e41/Canon_i9900_Photo_Printer.php
Garmin Quest Portable Automotive GPS Navigator http://electronics.lowcost.us.com/item_42303030324a5548334f/Garmin_Quest_Portable_Automotive_GPS_Navigator.php
Apple 4 GB iPod Mini Pink M9435LL/A http://electronics.lowcost.us.com/item_42303030314139394c4b/Apple_4_GB_iPod_Mini_Pink_M9435LL_A.php