NAFTA proves Edwards right
By Mike Michaud
Commentary--New Hampshire Union Leader
Sunday, December 9, 2007----
FOURTEEN YEARS ago yesterday, on December 8, 1993, the Clinton administration signed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) into law. We have all seen its devastating impact directly: more than a million jobs lost, factories across America shut down and shipped overseas, and entire communities destroyed.
We are now a generation trapped by stagnant wages. Men in their thirties today earn less after inflation than their fathers' generation 30 years ago, forcing families to work harder.
NAFTA has also contributed to an economy that continues to only grow for those at the top. Income inequality is at its greatest level since 1928. Forty percent of economic growth over the past 20 years has gone to the top 1 percent of households. In 2005, income grew 14 percent for the top 1 percent but was stagnant for the bottom 90 percent -- that means millions of working American families struggled to increase their income. If all Americans shared in prosperity to the same extent they did 30 years ago, 80 percent of American families would be earning $7,000 more a year.
In our region, the impact of NAFTA and similar free trade deals has meant that the mills that have been the backbone of the economy are slowly closing their doors. Tragically, some of the only jobs workers can get in the North Country now are tearing down the very mills they used to work in.
Before joining Congress in 2003, I was proud to work at the Great Northern Paper Company in East Millinocket for almost 30 years, like my father and grandfather before me. I have watched the closing of the mills in Berlin and Groveton this year with deep sadness. It is an outrage that our own trade policies have led to so many jobs being lost, the deconstruction of the American middle class, and the rapid decline of America's proud manufacturing tradition.
This election is an enormous opportunity for our country. We have the chance to turn around these failed policies that put corporate profits ahead of American workers so we can rebuild our middle class and create more jobs here in America. That is why I am supporting John Edwards for President.
(...)
Before he signs a trade deal, John Edwards will ask one simple question: Is this deal good for American workers? He will never pass a trade deal that does not include strict -- and enforceable -- labor and environmental standards.
Edwards will also be a President who fights to level the playing field for American workers. He will assign top prosecutors at the U.S. Department of Justice to the job of enforcing trade laws, including the stronger labor and environment standards he will negotiate. He will also go after illegal trade subsidies and insist that China and other countries move toward ending manipulation of their currencies, seeking WTO sanctions if necessary.
But beyond the specifics of his plans, I also support John Edwards because he has been fighting and beating these big corporate interests his entire life. I know he will not capitulate or triangulate when he gets to Washington -- he will fight for us every hour of every day with everything he's got.
(...)
One month from today, I hope New Hampshire voters will pick the man who will stand up for them -- John Edwards.
Mike Michaud is a Democratic U.S. representative from Maine.http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Mike+Michaud%3A+NAFTA+proves+Edwards+right&articleId=dc7f5147-f2fa-46d5-b996-3c5e426ab068
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