Bush urges CAFTA passage, calls it a jobs program

[idlisambar]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush on Thursday cast the controversial trade pact with Central America as a "jobs program" that would help the United States and its neighbors better compete with Asian economies.

The U.S.-Central American Free Trade Agreement faces a critical vote next week in the House of Representatives, where some lawmakers fear it will lead to job losses in textile-producing states.

Bush said the pact would create a more level playing field for U.S. businesses.
.....
.....

http://today.reuters.com/News/newsArticle.aspx?type=politicsNews&storyID=2005-07-21T173221Z_01_N21556243_RTRIDST_0_POLITICS-BUSH-CAFTA-DC.XML

[hobbit709]

1. "Jobs Program"

for everybody but Americans

[TahitiNut]

15. It's a "Jobs (Export) Program"

... and that don't mean Steve Jobs, either.

[barb162]

25. well put n/t

[HereSince1628]

28. Ignoring the original ethnic connection...sure that isn't jobs pogrom?

[TahitiNut]

31. "original ethnic connection"??? Do you mean ...

... "better compete with Asian(s)"?? :eyes: :eyes: :eyes:


Sounds to me like there's a fear the PRC might actually start paying their workers more than slave wages ... and the cheap labor conservatives are looking to some banana republics (i.e. neocolonial plantation economies) to go 'traditional.'

How're things in Haiti these days???? (TPTB didn't explode their asses back to the ultra-right without motive, y'know.)

[HereSince1628]

38. I meant "pogrom's" original connection to Russian Jews.

[TahitiNut]

40. (Ahh... missed that.!) Gotcha!

:thumbsup: I'm always a bit perplexed when race and ethnicity is inserted into discussions about jobs export and labor import. :shrug:

[wli]

2. it's all about offshoring

Not sure why he's hellbent on bankrupting the middle and lower classes, but I'm dead set against CAFTA.

[earth mom]

6. * HATES the middle class and the poor....

it is obvious in EVERYTHING he says and does. :grr:

Read this:
http://www.newdemocracyworld.org/War/London.htm

[barb162]

7. All he cares about is that corporations

get the best deal, no matter who or what they screw. The multinationals will survive quite well without the US middle or lower classes who want good wages. They will set up operations in Asia and that will be their new market, 2 billion + people.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

17. Simple.

Money=power. Money in the hands of the lower castes acts as a roadblock to the further concentration of wealth.

[Tux]

3. Help us compete with China?

How about not buying China's stuff? How about not needing loans from China? Damn, what about America's economy?

Too bad my Rep will vote for CAFTA. Looks like I'll have to work with Dems to get a new guy in.

[mknmehappy]

8. Is is possible?

Is it possible not to by anything made in China?

[Tux]

10. Very little

Most American flags are made in China. The only thing I buy that is American is Tom's of Maine toothpaste.

[getmeouttahere]

12. Check out Justice Clothing Co.

www.justiceclothing.com

Union-made, sweatshop-free. I recently bought a polo from them that is made in the U.S. Some products are made in Canada.

[AllyCat]

14. Buy used! Many new car and truck parts are made in China

Computers, electronics, etc. My fiance and I are on a no-Chinese product crusade right now. It's not easy, but it saves a lot of money not to buy stuff like that (you end up doing without). Make sure your merchants know why you didn't buy Chinese-made products in their stores. Write letters to groups who buy things from there (my favorite is REI to which I have belonged for years and am tired of their "store brand" all made in China).

If you boycott China, you have to boycott Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Macau as well.

[FloridaPat]

21. I noticed things containing food are made in US or Canada.

There is quite a lot of stuff from Pakistan and India. A few from Canada and Mexico.

[SleeplessinSoCal]

4. "The Big Lie"

How many of theses names have we got to deal with? "Jobs Program" is the opposite of what most experts report. This is just a way to shore up the corporate hold on America and keep the working class as far away from the richest of the rich as possible.

It's Treason as far as I can tell.

[UpInArms]

5. Countering Doublespeak

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat?bid=1&pid=7204

The House of Representatives is moving toward a vote on the proposed Central American Free Trade Agreement, and the spin machines of the White House and the corporate special interests - along with their amen corner in the media - are working overtime.

These are the days when the big lies get told - as we learned more than a decade ago when the Clinton White House was busy working with congressional Republicans to win support for the North American Free Trade Agreement and more recently when Congress debated establishing permanent normal trade relations with China.

To counter the Orwellian twists of facts and figures that are sure to come from the White House and its political allies, fair trade campaigners (www.citizenstrade.org and www.wiscotrader.org) have come up with a top 10 list of trade doublespeak - and the facts to counter it:

<snip>

No. 1 doublespeak: CAFTA trade policies create jobs and stimulate economic growth. It's the Big Lie. When we import more, and our trade deficit grows, we lose jobs, and export our wealth to other countries. We lost an estimated 900,000 net jobs to NAFTA. Outsourcing the American economy to other countries is a failing strategy for our future.

...more...

[Vincardog]

9. CAll It like it is

Central America F*ck The Aborigines.
Free reign for the reich and wealth to exploit all natural and human resources in the fastest race for the bottom that van be arranged.
The Low Wage ConServatives rushing to rape another part of the planet.

[Rambis]

11. CAFTA is so scary it isn't even funny

It gives corporations all the power in the world over everything. UPS sued the Canadian postal service under NAFTA because a publicly funded postal system gives Canada Post an unfair advantage in the market. Yes folks they are suing for 160 million dollars and a tribunal is going got decide it. Not the Canadian govt but a world corp tribunal that can basically usurp any nations laws if it wants to.

[sadiesworld]

37. Ah, the secret tribunal that has never decided against a corporation?

And what about Ahnuld vetoing legislation which would have used recycled tires for CA roadways because it ran afoul of WTO preferences for gravel companies?

I am very afraid.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

13. And you guy wonder why he jacks his jaw like he's chewing marbles?

He's nuts. He has no grasp of any reality other than the one his mind has created for him. His re-election has confirmed, within him, that he is right. The meds that are being given to him("B12 injection"?) cause the jaw movements and the tics.

He has no understanding of our reality. He has live in a bubble all his life and his thinking processes and thought patterns are outside of societal norms. That is one definition of "insane".

The trouble is he is driving a lot of us nuts with him, on both sides.

[VegasWolf]

16. It is a jobs program, for Central America. nt

[bvar22]

18. It is a program of "slave wages"

for Central America.
NAFTA actually caused on overall decrease in wages and benefits for Mexican Labor.

[54anickel]

19. Such a sick Bastard. He's got such a warpped sense of humor. It's

yet another hand-out for the corporations, just like the f'ing Jobs Creation Bill. This guy is just plain evil.

[brentspeak]

20. The said the exact same thing with NAFTA

But of course that all just a ploy. All those textile jobs lost in the SE during the 1970's to China and Korea? They never came back. There are whole stretches of the Carolinas that are economic wastelands.

[Rainscents]

22. Does anyone know when this bill is going up for vote?

I thought Congress and Senate all are on summer vacation. :shrug:

[gizmo1979]

23. Another knife to the back

of American workers!Is there any data that shows any trade agreement has benefited the American workers?Where are all these jobs it has created?

[The_Casual_Observer]

24. The growing "industry" in the US is the "Real Estate Industry"

Buying and selling houses. Offshore proof? Just about everybody I talk to is thinking about changing careers to cash in on this pyramid scheme nonsense.

[getmeouttahere]

30. There are 400,000 real estate agents in California...

I think that proves your point about people trying to cash in on that giant ponzi game.

[gizmo1979]

39. I couldn't do real estate if I wanted to

I'm not what you call a people person.

[Sgent]

26. Can someone explain to me

what is so bad about this deal from a free trade pespective?

The HIGHEST duty we have currently is 10% on people want to import from central americal to the US. In most cases its 0-3%.

Conversely, central americal has import duties on US goods of 40%+.

Now, I understand that many oppose this bill due to its effect on supplaments; however, how does this particular bill hurt US jobs?

[54anickel]

29. See post 5; see this site - and it's not only about jobs

http://pdamerica.org/tools.php#CAFTA

[idlisambar]

32. on U.S. jobs

From the literature I have read, the agreement will place pressure on U.S. jobs in two industries -- sugar and textiles.

Contrary to the numbers you state, tariffs on sugar are at 100% and this will not change under the agreement, but domestic sugar producers are also protected by quotas and these are set to rise. However the main concern for the sugar industry is not really CAFTA its the FTAA which would include Brazil and represents a much larger threat. By killing CAFTA sugar producers would preempt FTAA.

The domestic textile industry has concerns because the agreement contains provisions that provide a backdoor for Asian textile inputs (yarn and such) to be inported duty-free if they are assembled in the CAFTA countries.

That said, I believe the thrust of your argument is right. Central American farmers are the ones who really have to worry. Though their loss might also have an adverse effect on American workers if it increases illegal immigration from these countries. NAFTA had this effect so it is a concern.

[Sgent]

34. To be honest

The sugar farmers can go to hell for all I care.

In the US, we pay 4X the world market rate for sugar. In addition, we provide goverment subsidies of billions of dollars a year for sugar cane, impose import quotas (not just tarrifs).

All this so a bunch of sugar farmers can get rich.

My bet is we will lose more jobs in the next 10 years from candy manufactoring moving overseas than sugar by doing nothing. Distribution is much more costly than production in that industry, but due to the difference in sugar prices in the US and everywhere else, it is almost imposible to run a candy manufactorer in the US that sells to Canada or Mexico.

[idlisambar]

35. understandable

Of the reasons to oppose CAFTA, protecting the sugar farmers is not the most compelling.

Still, stepping back a bit, perhaps a good way to prevent candy manufacturers from going overseas is to place a substantial tariff on imported candy as well. This would have the additional side benefit of raising candy prices and perhaps decreasing overall candy consumption.

[Deja Q]

27. Jobs for Brazilians! (NAFTA didn't do diddley. Why should CAFTA?)

More level playing field for businesses; in other words American citizens end up losing their upper or middle class lifestyles.

[upi402]

33. Rightards, and the Demlights who love them

Will the Democratic remainder show spine on this, or grab cash and dash?

(still reeling from NAFTA results, sorry)

[ngGale]

36. He had the nerve to come to NC, of all places ...

selling that package of lies. :nuke:

[Disturbed]

41. The Multinationals Wealth Care Program

I really do loath this sockpuppet.

[durablend]

42. New required catch phrase for American citizens looking for work

"WANT FRIES WITH THAT?"

[WhiteTara]

43. yeah right jobs

jobs for whom?

[thinkingwoman]

44. typical idiocy

from the ministry of "truth" :eyes:

[gulfcoastliberal]

45. DLC Stabs Dems In the Back...As Usual

The Beltway-brain-rot insiders at the DLC have once again stabbed Democrats in the back, this time releasing a report defending the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) in an effort to help President Bush attract enough peel-off Democratic votes to pass this corporate-wirten atrocity. I am on book deadline right now so I don't have enough time today to go into all the reasons that CAFTA is bad, except to say look here, here, here, and here. I also don't have enough time to go into how this just once again proves the DLC exists to help Corporate America corrupt the Democratic Party. But make no mistake about it: the DLC is doing everything it can to undermine House Democrats, who are trying to stand up for America's middle class and stop this corporate-written atrocity. Even the House New Democrat Coalition is against CAFTA - but apparently, that's not OK with Corporate America and its reliable allies at the DLC.

http://www.davidsirota.com/2005/07/dlc-stabs-dems-in-backas-usual.html

The DLC is killing America.

[Robert Oak]

46. give DLC out of the Democratic party

What BULLSHIT! Every study shows CAFTA is a diaster for every worker
in every nation! This is nothing but another agreement to erode workers rights and get into the slave labor market.

This is an outrage and these guys should be called exactly what they are, corpocrats.