Friday, June 24, 2016

Britain Hit Globalization with an Uppercut and Trump Will Deliver the Knockout Punch

Saturday Politics is rarely about something as critical as the UK Brexit vote. ~~~~~ A very cold early morning shower sent chills through US Democrat/Progressive elites on Friday as the scope of the British vote to leave the European Union (52% to 48%) sank in. US Senator Ted Cruz drove it home : “The British people have spoken clearly. The results should serve as a wake-up call for internationalist bureaucrats from Brussels to Washington, DC, that some free nations still wish to preserve their national sovereignty. The United States can learn from the referendum and attend to the issues of security, immigration and economic autonomy that drove this historic vote. Rather than scolding our closest allies for even considering exercising their rights as a sovereign nation, the President of the United States should look for ways to make Brexit...an opportunity to enhance and strengthen the special relationship between our two countries.” ~~~~~ Obama proved that he does not speak for America and tries to sell his personal views as those of the American people. In an April London visit, Obama ignored the US rule of not meddling in allies' internal politics when he said on the BBC that Britain would go to the “back of the queue” for a new trade deal with the US if it voted to leave the EU : “It could be five years from now, 10 years from now before we were able to actually get something done. The UK would not be able to negotiate something with the United States faster than the EU.” On Friday, Obama walked those comments back : "The special relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom is enduring, and the UK’s membership in NATO remains a vital cornerstone of US foreign, security, and economic policy.” Some British polls showed voter sentiment moving an additional 1% to 4% toward Brexit after Obama's London comments. A Daily Mail editorial was brutal, saying Obama had shown "contempt for voters. The tone was patronizing, the language menacing -- and the message not only hypocritical but, frankly, insulting....He has no business to come here and preach that submission to Brussels is good for the people of the UK." ~~~~~ And, Obama got it all wrong when he also praised the EU for its efforts to “promote stability, stimulate economic growth, and foster the spread of democratic values and ideals across the continent and beyond.” No. The poster child for the high-handed EU elite dictatorship is the EU creation of a poverty-stricken Greece -- or Spain or Portugal, and increasingly France and Italy, any of whom may demand its own In-Out EU referendum. ~~~~~ But, while Britain’s Brexit vote roiled US and world markets and currencies, these short-term reactions will end as the new reality settles in. The longer-term impact of Brexit will be on the US presidential race -- boosting the gravitas of Republican Donald Trump's assertion that Democrat/Progressive policies have ruined the lives of "working Americans." In Britain, the traditional Labor Party strongholds in the Midlands, northeastern England and eastern Wales bolted to vote for leaving the EU. Their reasons echo those given by US Trump supporters -- immigrants taking jobs and driving down wages, industry fleeing UK/US high taxes for Asia, China dumping low cost goods that destroy UK/US competitiveness, and the visceral reaction against turning over national sovereignty to a Brussels or Washington bureaucratic regime. Trump said : “What happened should have happened, and they'll be stronger for it." ~~~~~ Dear readers, globalization, trade deals, and immigrants who increase social costs and reduce wages -- these affect Americans and British alike. If you believe these problems will end with Obama, think Hillary. Globalization has become the Democrat/Labor/EU theme. Vice President Biden gave a speech in Ireland Friday attacking politicians who blame immigrants for social and economic problems, calling them "reactionary politicians and demagogues peddling xenophobia..." That is Leftist/Progressive globalization. Brexit rejected it. So will America on November 8.

3 comments:

  1. Difficult problem will be faced by Britain, the EU, and all of Europe. As many are saying Britain din not bring this upon themselves. Clearly if the EU leadership had offered something tangible to Cameron in his renegotiation efforts, then it may not have come to this.
    What I don't understand is the panicked response from the markets. After all, it's likely to take two years to exit the EU. It was business as usual on the 24th as it was on the 23rd. Why plunge the pound and the FTSE almost instantaneously? Obviously there was big money to be made somewhere by some ‘big time’ traders.

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  2. It may be in defense and foreign policy that Britain’s departure from the European Union has the greatest effect. The drop in the value of the British pound has created turmoil in markets; if it is sustained, it will send (as so many world economists forecast) Britain into a recession that could be of long duration.

    That will certainly affect funds available for defense. The Strategic Defense and Security Review took near-term cuts on the expectation of greater spending in 2017. That is surely improbable now. The Cameron government had protected foreign assistance from any cuts, and that, too, is probably over. So there will be less money available across the board for defense, foreign aid, and intelligence.

    I think the Brit’s made the right move, but the actual departure will be filled with economic adjustments that the British citizens didn’t think about.

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  3. There's a line from a song by The Buffalo Springfield ... "Something is happening here, what it is ain't exactly clear".

    I think that sums up what we are seeing. Is thus an overdue adjustment in political thought, is it just frustration on the behalf of of citizens who feel forgotten, or is it worldwide revolt over governments that have lost touch with their authority?

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