Prof. Gordon Lafer: Obama and GOP "collaborating in violation of voters' will" to pass new NAFTAs

[brentspeak]

Today, we saw how hopelessly clueless Obama is while presently under the unfortunate sway of his Wall St-recruited advisers when he unveiled a http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-08/obama-says-community-college-training-can-help-fill-jobs-gap.html">horrifyingly laughable plan to fund community college courses geared to retrain people for manufacturing jobs that will simply be http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/06/us/06retrain.html">offshored as quickly as possible by the very same people who fund both the GOP and the New Democrats.

What's behind this bogus retraining for jobs-that-won't-exist-in-the-USA push? The unholy alliance between Obama and the GOP to give away the farm even more via further NAFTA-like deals:

http://thehill.com/opinion/op-ed/165265-choose-voters-over-donors-on-free-trade

Choose voters over donors on free trade

By Gordon Lafer - 06/07/11 07:47 PM ET

snip

The majority of Americans opposes NAFTA-style treaties. It’s not just union members; only 27 percent of Republicans think “free trade” helps us. And no wonder: We’ve lost almost 5 million jobs since NAFTA was passed — many of them well-paying manufacturing jobs that were the backbone of the middle class. Millions of families have watched loved ones put out of work by companies who could make more profit in Mexico or China, leaving the public firmly opposed to such deals.

The minority that supports the NAFTA model, however, includes the country’s most powerful corporate lobbies. The strongest advocates of “free trade” are the Chamber of Commerce and multinational corporations such as GE, which sent tens of thousands of jobs overseas and built a profitable business helping others do likewise.

snip

As a candidate, Sen. Obama opposed the Colombia treaty “because the violence against unions in Colombia would make a mockery of the very labor protections that we have insisted .” The violence is not better now than in 2008. But President Obama now supports the treaty — ostensibly because the Colombian government has promised to do better in the future. No business would sign a contract based solely on good intentions, with no enforcement mechanism. But these are the terms the president signed, and that Speaker Boehner can’t wait to ratify.

snip

To see the Obama administration and Republican leadership quietly collaborating to seal this deal in knowing violation of the voters’ will is among the most telling signs of corporate power in Washington, and among the most depressing stories in these tough times.

Lafer is a professor at the University of Oregon; in 2009-2010 he served as senior adviser to the U.S. House’s Labor Committee, where he was responsible for labor standards in international trade treaties.

[ProSense]

1. Hmmmm?

Senators support President Obama's decision on trade agreements and trade adjustment assistance

[brentspeak]

2. IOW, too many current Democrats have lost their way

And your link provided the proof of that. Thanks. Very sporting of you.

[xchrom]

3. He ran on re-negotiating those treaties.

He 'decided' to wait.

[Tarheel_Dem]

4. Unrec. (nt)

[brentspeak]

5. Because your stock dividends rely on more American jobs being offshored

You forgot to mention that part.

[Wilms]

6. Obama runs to the right of Heritage Foundation Co-Founder Paul Weyrich.

Both the Republican and Democratic Parties now support free trade, which has some important benefits. But it also effectively averages America's economy with the Third World economies of places such as China and India, which have low wages and low standards of living. Not surprisingly, one result is that the standard of living of middle and lower-middle class Americans is dropping. It will continue to drop so long as we keep outsourcing jobs overseas.

snip

If America continues to lose its manufacturing base and the good jobs it provides we will become a Third World country ourselves.

So if we want to stop or at least reduce outsourcing of jobs to foreign countries, we should tax outsourcing. In my view, that would be a good new tax.

snip

If we are really to be pro-family, we need to make sure heads of middle-class households can still obtain jobs that pay enough to raise a family. A major reason why so many mothers are in the workplace instead of home with their children is that their family requires two incomes to stay afloat.

http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/weyrich/060320

[Enrique]

7. this part is not true

Like Republicans, the White House is eager to get these treaties done quickly, so that voters will have forgotten by the fall of 2012.


The fact is that Obama is holding up passage of the Colombia deal until the GOP agrees to extend the TAA displaced worker program. It's true that Obama made the deal with Colombia, but it's not true to say that he's rushing it through Congress.

[OHdem10]

8. Is anyone really surprised?????

[AzDar]

9. K & R

:kick:

[Jefferson23]

10. Why do you think Obama is hopelessly clueless while under the sway

of his Wall St recruited advisor's?

[brentspeak]

11. kick

:kick: