Top Republican leaders have accused President Barack Obama of letting China go scot free with its currency manipulation and unfair trade practices, which is hurting the United States.
“Take trade with China. China manipulates its currency giving it an unfair trade advantage. So why doesn’t the president do something about it? I’ll tell you one reason, President Obama could not run up his record trillion dollar deficits if the Chinese did not buy our bonds to finance them,” Ohio Senator Rob Portman, told his party colleagues during the Republican national convention.
“We are as beholden to China for bonds as we are to the Middle East for oil. This will end under Mitt Romney,” Portman said in his address to the convention which has voted to nominate Mitt Romney as the Republican challenger to Obama during the November 6 presidential elections.
“We need to knock down these trade barriers abroad, but we also need to knock down the self-imposed barriers to success right here at home. We need to reform our outdated and complicated tax code. We need to fix our burdensome regulatory system and we need an energy policy that encourages development of our resources right here, in the ground, in America,” he said.
“America has a choice between Mitt Romney, who seeks to grow the economy, and Barack Obama who seeks to redistribute it,” Portman said.
In his address Congressman Ron Paul said the US can no longer afford to borrow money from China.
“You can’t keep borrowing from China, and you can’t keep printing money. We have to cut the spending,” he said.
Senator John McCain said the US can’t afford to give governments in Russia and China a veto over how we defend our interests and the progress of our values in the world.
In his speech, Portman said Barack Obama, who has never started a business, never even worked in business, now claims that those who should have give credit to the government or someone else for their success.
“So, you have one candidate who understands that success comes from working hard, competing and taking risks. And you have another candidate who believes success comes from government,” he said.
“Which one do you think knows how to turn this economy around? Which one would you choose to invest your life’s savings? Should it be any different for safeguarding our nation’s economy? Or let’s say you don’t have any savings.
Let’s say you’re worried about how to pay September’s rent or mortgage,” he said.