Republicans and Democrats are about equally bad when it comes to pushing protectionist legislation to help certain companies and their workers at the expense of consumers in general. In the letter below, Professor Don Boudreaux clashes with Republican Jeff Sessions of Alabama, who wants a high tariff on imported sleeping bags. As Boudreaux notes, protectionists ought to follow their anti-trade logic to its conclusion, but don’t because it shows the absurdity of their position.
Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Alabama) Washington, DC Dear Sen. Sessions: Congressional Quarterly reports that, due chiefly to your efforts, Congress will raise Americans' cost of buying sleeping bags made in Bangladesh ("Alabama Senator Wins Longtime Effort to Change Tariffs on Sleeping Bags," Jan. 2). The rationale for this tariff is explained by your Congressional colleague Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-AL): it "affects jobs right here in North Alabama and allows for companies like Exxel to return good paying jobs back to the United States." If promoting jobs in American plants that produce sleeping bags justifies a policy of restricting Americans' freedom to take advantage of alternatives to purchasing American-made sleeping bags, your policy doesn't go far enough. Why not also slap a tariff on sleeping bags borrowed from friends? Why not also prohibit the use of sleeping bags that are more than three-months old? (You can sell this prohibition not only as a jobs-creator, but also as a means of protecting Americans' - especially American children's - health and safety. Only Wingnuts would object to THAT goal!) Indeed, why not also tax Americans for every night they sleep indoors? Imposing punitive tariffs on borrowed sleeping bags and on indoor sleeping, along with banning the use of months-old bags, unquestionably, according to your economics, "affects jobs ... in North Alabama and allows for companies like Exxel to return good paying jobs back to the United States." So why only a tariff on foreign-made sleeping bags? Given your evident principles, I must ask why you pursue them so timidly? Sincerely, Donald J. Boudreaux Professor of Economics George Mason University