White House defends NAFTA: 'There's nothing broken'

[Joanne98]

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House on Friday vigorously defended the 14-year-old free-trade agreement among the United States, Mexico and Canada against sharp criticism from Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama.

"There's nothing broken. Why fix it?" said Dan Fisk, senior director of Western hemisphere affairs for National Security Council. He acknowledged the administration must do a better job of explaining the benefits of the agreement.

Both Clinton and Obama have threatened to pull out of the North American Free Trade Agreement to pressure Canada and Mexico to negotiate more protections for workers and the environment in the agreement. The accord has removed most barriers to trade and investment among the three countries.

NAFTA will be a major topic when President Bush joins Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Mexican President Felipe Calderon in New Orleans on Monday and Tuesday for his fourth and final North American Leaders' Summit.

Bush has suffered a major setback on the trade front with the derailing of a proposed free-trade pact with Colombia. Bush sent the agreement to Capitol Hill earlier this month, but the House, led by Democrats, decided to eliminate a rule forcing a vote on the deal within 60 legislative days. The House's decision probably kills consideration of the agreement this year, leaving it for the next administration.

"Leaders in Congress have made a serious error," Bush said in a speech. "A serious error for economics reasons. A serious error for security reasons. It's not too late, however, for them to get it right."
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jU7yRUwRpsjZYn95U3JUwyxIVjGgD904C5CG1

[whistle]

1. Now that BushCO has found all the ways to distort and exploit NAFTA

...to benefit corporate fascism, of course it appears to work just the way they have wanted it!

[Demeter]

2. Except The Whole Damned Economy

But since Bush doesn't accurately count that anyway.....