President Obama promised to be a free-trade advocate and yet with the Stimulus Bill’s signing into law today, we still have the ‘buy american’ clause in the plan.

I understand the patriotic notion that buying American is a worthy cause.  And truly, we’ve outsourced many jobs, that in hindsight, we shouldn’t have, in the quest for ever growing profits.  But the horse is out of the barn, and to force the ‘Buy American’ call to action at a time when the economic engine of the world depends on the smooth flow of capital around the globe  –well, it’s almost suicidal.

By forcing US companies to, say, buy US steel vs. Chinese steel, will also force China to play the patriot game and, say, buy Chinese tractors and Cranes vs. John Deere or Catepillar.

With China being our single biggest stakeholder in the US (because we owe them more money than any other country in the world), I think we’d be wise to not pick this moment as our time to swat at the hornet’s nest.  –Even if Geithner does speak fluent Chinese.

Here’s a quick article, to get you up to speed.