The infatuation with Obama is wearing off as they are starting to realize their worst nightmare--The U.S. adopts socialism.
The EU has increased its pressure on the US to reconsider the "Buy American" clause in the $800bn (£567bn) economic recovery package now before Congress.The clause seeks to ensure that only US iron, steel and manufactured goods are used in projects funded by the bill.
A European Commission spokesman said it was the "worst possible signal" the Obama administration could send out.
The EU will launch a complaint with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) if the clause remains, the spokesman said.
The EU and Canadian ambassadors to Washington have already warned that the clause could promote protectionism and trigger retaliatory moves.
Protectionism is the very soul of socialism.
You just have to wonder what these people where thinking during the two year election cycle. American unions are staunchly anti-trade, and any Democrat that won was going to owe them big time.
Its going to be very bad for the Europeans who rely heavily on the U.S. consumer culture. Yet that consumer culture depends entirely on disposable income, which Democrats want to erase with higher taxes and by extension, higher prices. Democrat officials are openly discussing raising gas taxes to make driving unaffordable and thus control the mobility of the population, reducing competition from neighboring tax jurisdictions. The "buy American" program is actually another way of saying "buy union".
High taxes, high prices, declining incomes and a spiking savings rate means the end of that fabulous American market our trading partners have gotten rich on since Ronald Reagan was President. With no domestic consumer market to cushion the blow, its a looming economic catastrophe.
In France that means a lot more burning cars and looted shops, but social unrest is going to be a seriously problem everywhere in Europe.
Anyone who is a serious student of history knows that times of deprivation inevitably lead to war--big, serious, lots-of-people-are-going-to-die wars. Don't you just love the irony that all the anti-war people who voted for Democrats to destroy the housing industry and are hastening the depression with fraudulent stimulus packages, will inevitably be responsible for the death of millions?
You can call it schadenfreude if you like, but there is another German euphemism you should be more worried about.
Lebensraum.
