#74) Political Theater

April 21, 2017

Dear Mr. President,

At your inaugural address in January you said, "We will bring back our jobs.  We will follow two simple rules: buy American and hire American."  That sounded pretty good and lots of people cheered.  And then on Tuesday you went to Wisconsin, America's heartland, to promote your executive order that encourages companies to buy American and hire American.  But I've got some problems with this catch phrase;  you don't follow those "two simple rules" in your own businesses, the loss of American manufacturing jobs is mostly due to mechanization/automation, and free trade isn't the root of all evil.

I'm not an investigative journalist by any means, but in just a 20 minute Internet search I found that the Mar-a-Lago resort recently hired 64 foreign workers through the H-2B visa program.  Trump Wine (owned by Eric) hired an "undisclosed" number of foreign workers through the H-2A visa program.  Ivanka's clothing line is made almost entirely in China and is shipped in to the US.  And this is just the most cursory of searches.  Truly I didn't have to go very far to turn these things up. Do as I say, not as I do may work for a parent scolding a 5 year old, but it doesn't work for an international businessman turned President of the United States. 

I get that you want to make America great again (who doesn't?), but our economy has been built largely on free trade.  I'm not saying that we shouldn't look out for #1, but free trade isn't the great evil you purport it to be, and curbing it is not a cure-all for what ails the American economy.  It's complicated.  "Buy American, hire American" is a gross oversimplification of a huge and nuanced problem.  Your trip to Wisconsin and your executive order are nothing more than political theater (probably because we are nearing your 100 day mark and you want to appear as if you are making good on your campaign promises). 

Also, I don't have time to explain the decline of manufacturing to you, but you should really look into it because the real job killer of American manufacturing is automation (not China and Mexico). The shrinking of employment in manufacturing is a worldwide trend because technology is being used globally…it's not particular to us.  Doesn't matter how catchy your catch phrase is, machines are here to stay.

Sincerely,

Amy Beaton