The CPI rising is not all the data you need. For starters, you need to know, or estimate, what it would've been in the absence of free trade. Possible it would've gone up more, right? Do you really think a clock radio produced in the U.S. would be close to the same price as one produced in China? That's ridiculous.

Protectionism is a temporary fix to a long-term reality: industries change and evolve. We are not an efficient producer of a lot of stuff anymore - not even close. So we should be focusing on things where we are competitive. We've certainly failed our citizens by not helping them with their transition, and should focus on that more than enacting short term fixes that will turn us into France.