"Why do you think that so many manual labor jobs are by illegals? Our country has a culture that hates to do hard labor."

True. Before illegals came America had no construction, no electricity, no plumbing, no roads, etc. etc. Thank god for the illegals.

And to answer your question - they are cheaper. End of story.

"There is always a reason jobs go overseas. Many times, its because its much easier to work with other nations than it is America - less regulations, less red tape, and they are willing to do whatever is needed to get your business. If you change that, then jobs come back."

And it's cheaper, and in the case of China, becoming more skilled.

Call centers don't have EPA regulations (well, not the same as a factory does) but they are still being shipped out cause companies are cheap.

"Its pretty damning when it comes to tariffs. Each country that approaches 0% import tariffs are doing very well economically (Hong Konh, Macau, Singapire, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Canada, ect). Comparatively, no nation that has a 10% tariff rate has seen notable growth in the past decade."

Different situations compared to America.  I will say it once again - the U.S. has a trade deficit. The U.S. is being destroyed by "free trade!" Plus, when you talk about the economy, you have to ask "Who's economy?" You have the corporate American economy, and the people's American economy. You seem to be for the corporate American economy (low wages, no regulations, foreigners deserve the jobs, etc. etc.). Shipping all the high paying jobs to India and China where people work for 10 cents an hour is great for the corporate economy and CEOs who want $10 million bonuses, but not so great for the people's economy.

With tariffs, we will recover the millions of jobs that have been sent to India, China, Haiti, Burma,e tc. etc. There'd be a lot more work here to do, which means a higher demand for workers.

There was no real foreign competition for long time, and people could afford to buy a house, own cars, schools (like college) were cheap, people could hold on to the same job for decades instead of months, and get a fully funded retirement rather than hoping they get lucky in the casino (aka the stock market), and had a sense of stability. Now it is a giant race to the bottom of the barrel. To make matters worse with technology the standards of living should improve but now it is becoming harder and harder.

With $2.5 trillion in a trade deficit, $16 trillion national debt, a stagnant stock market for 15 years, a housing market still unaffordable to many, an 8% unemployment rate (probably more closer to 15%), clearly this free trade stuff isn't working out as well as you hoped, right?

I would get behind this 1000%

This would be REAL health reform, not the crap Obama is shoving down our throats.

It would also be capable of eliminating the debt. Think about it, 330 plus million people, close to 7 trillion in debt. That's just over $200 a person. Lets assume everyone eats healty except those who are obese, meaning that $600 would have to be generated per obese person. To erase the debt in 1 year you would need each obese person to contribute less then $2 a day. Put a 20% tax on junk food and viola. Two trips to McDonalds a day for 30% the population means the debt is gone, and it might even cut obesity rates.

Let me ask you something:

Why does Canada, which has the same trade policies as the US (NAFTA signatory), have much lower unemployment, little debt, and no trade deficit? They have the same modern economy as we do. Get back to me on the reason - again, since they do not have what you're suggesting we do.

Sounds like the Argentinan plan.

Which has been an absolute disaster for Argentina.