But first, I'd say you need to get beyond the rhetoric (yours, not mine) and focus on substance.

More disposable income means many things - rhetorically claiming it will be spent only on fast food was kind of a stupid thing to say, don't you think?

It means having more for retirement. It means a larger donation to your favorite charity. It means taking your child to the circus. It means paying off your mortgage earlier. It can mean whatever you want. You knew that - I didn't need to spell this out - there can be no dialogue between us if you engage in such rhetoric.

Detroit - the place famous for producing large gas guzzling vehicles when fuel was going to become more precious? Detroit - the place famous for responding to the Japanese and European challenge by producing vehicles that remained less reliable? Where exactly is GM's Smart Car? Anyone surprised Jeeps aren't selling?

You know, the simple rule is "things change." The U.S. has forced change on so many nations. St. Lucia has no one to sell its bananas to, now that you've stopped buying them (you found cheaper places to buy them! Surprise!). St. Kitts has just closed down its largest industry - sugar cane. Fields of sugar cane sit there as we speak - not being harvested. Why? Too expensive to sell at a profit.

Things change. It's hard for those who are caught in the change. But things change. People don't buy fur coats anymore - no one gave a flying f*ck about the people employed in the industry. Things just changed. You still buy leather goods in abundance. But fur doesn't sell.

Things change.

But if you factor this all in - you have to factor in the impact on the savings - and how you'll use them. You have to factor in the jobs created by this new investment. (Unemployment dropped after the free trade deal was signed...... and some of this new employment is directly attributed to NAFTA - in all 3 nations).

The fact is - it was the Mexicans and the Canucks that feared free trade going into the agreement. Their fears were exactly what has been expressed in this thread by Americans! Jobs would be lost! There'd be (horrors) change!

There was and will be change. You'll find it will it you where you are the weakest. Detroit was a long time coming - and they had it coming to them. Consistently bad product at inflated prices. (Worse - a long history of blocking the creation of vehicles that were better on fuel consumption.)

Really, I'd say there's been no better examples of poorly run companies than the big 3 American automakers (except perhaps the big 5 or 6 American airlines)......