A NEW SURVEY says 60% of Republicans say free trade has hurt America.

This is really no surprise. Here are a couple of observations.

First, all Americans should be worried about this kind of a reaction. The same sentiment happened in the 1920s; the result was a worldwide Depression.

Second, Tom Friedman may be right. In his book, The World Is Flat, he predicted that the Republican and Democratic parties would split and realign. Friedman hypothesized that free traders in the GOP—namely small business people—would feel an affinity with Democrats on the coasts—namely in LA and NYC. At the same time, the unions would find solace with Republicans who want to put up the barriers to everything from products, services, and immigrants.

Third, this is a typical reaction from a large portion of our country seeing our economic power decrease. I’m not saying we’re going under, but we are losing some of our clout. The computer and the Internet make it easier for smaller countries and upstart entrepreneurs to make good livings. If anything, we Americans should be demanding more education—not higher tariffs.

Fourth, and here is the reality check, we haven’t had real free trade anyway. We subsidize our farmers. We ignore the many illegal immigrants who pick the crops that keep those prices low. We allow political candidates to receive millions of bundled dollars for their campaigns, yet we believe them when they say that money doesn’t affect the way they vote. Isn’t this like a tariff on someone else’s product or service? To me, it is.

It’s no irony that the political favors given to the auto industry and their workers over the years have enabled them into the mess they’re in now.

Think about why we’re in Iraq. It’s the oil. And we have allowed oil industry money to avoid the exploration and the invention of alternative fuels—a problem we’ve known about since the 1970s.

Don’t get me wrong: I’m not against the oil industry. They’re only part of the problem. I think some of the left-wing environmentalist arguments about not drilling in our backyard is just as much to blame for the shortage of oil supply while demand is soaring—thus the high prices. Why should we keep pristine beaches while other countries are exploited for our once cheap gas prices?