Speaking of efficiency: Well, we all now how big a proponent of the free market Bush is, right? And interfering with that market is something he simply finds an anathema to his neo-con philosophy, right? And large, distorted tariffs on imports certainly would represent such an interference, right? Right?? Oh, wait, those tariffs were for "trade promotion" and so, using Bush's penchant for labeling, that's justified.

Listen, I understand the games countries play with subsidizing certain industries to boost productivity and/or lower prices. Responding countries slap on tariffs, called "safeguard restrictions" to fight fire with fire.

But here's the issue, the WTO, our brainchild and pet project decided not once, but twice, that Bush's pandering to steel states was illegal. In response, Bush is "considering" still whether he's going to remove them. People say that the U.S. doesn't need to play nice with its "allies" because we're right, and everyone else is too wimpy to do what needs to be done. On the security issue, I'll agree. However, these tariffs have nothing to do with security...not even under the expanded umbrella that Ridge et al. use. It's about securing W. Va. among other states come election time. The increased antagonism towards the U.S. will have a reckoning. No, we're not about to face invasion, but an economic cold shoulder is hardly helpful to either side. Hell, even most steel producers don't even want the things. And if those struggling American steel companies want any kind of international market, long term, then they had better re-prioritize their votes. The stakes only get higher.