People throw "DLC!" around as a bogeyman and project all sorts of nefarious motives and negative views to it. In reality the DLC stands for what Hillary and Obama, and by extension most Democrats, stand for. A great example is the DLC's views on trade are exactly like Obama and Clintons. Use Clinton as a proxy for the DLC if you don't want to go through DLC position papers. What differences are there between Obama and Clinton on trade?
The trade platform of both were compared yesterday. Obamites conveniently ignored the thread just like they always do when presented with anything that conflicts with their hopes and dreams.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x4521457Here's just one DLC article on trade to give a flavor of what the DLC stands for. Compare that to Obama and Hillary. The basic tenets of the Obama and Hillary views on trade are embodied in this and this is reflected by both Obama and Hillary supporting the Peru trade agreement that this DLC endorsed deal paved the way for (Edwards opposed the Peru deal).
DLC | New Dem Dispatch | May 11, 2007
Idea of the Week: Reviving Trade Policy
Some real progress emerged yesterday on an unexpected front: an agreement between House Democratic leaders, led by Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel (D-NY), and the Bush administration on a template for future trade agreements. For the first time, the administration has agreed to
the inclusion of core labor and environmental standards in trade agreements, along with a comprehensive effort to update and expand domestic programs that help U.S. workers deal with dislocations caused by globalization and other factors. This accord paves the way for congressional approval of at least two pending Free Trade Agreements, with Peru and Panama, while establishing a framework for future deals. It is a triumph for Chairman Rangel, and a very good sign for Democratic leadership on policy in the years ahead.
The agreement establishes as U.S. policy that future bilateral Free Trade Agreements -- that is, agreements which create special relationships offering partners greater access to the U.S. market than WTO rules require -- include enforcement of the fundamental workers' rights provisions set out by the International Labor Organization's 1998 Declaration on Core Labor Standards (including the right to organize unions, and bans on child labor and discriminatory practices), and of seven specific international environmental pacts.
And it commits the administration and House leaders to a "Strategic Worker Assistance and Training Initiative " to "promote education, training and portable health and pension benefits, design and implement concrete and comprehensive programs, including public-private partnerships to educate youth, update and upgrade workers' skills on the job, stimulate science education and research, provide meaningful health and pension benefits and income support, go beyond the current TAA system to provide meaningful support, training and revitalization programs for entire communities hurt by the effects of trade and technology."
The latter provision has been a long-standing goal of all pro-trade progressives. And the labor and environmental standards usefully focus on widely acknowledged international norms that will be binding on the United States and its FTA partners equally, avoiding arbitrary and unilateral efforts to impose wage rates on poorer countries that would simply make trade agreements impossible.
http://www.ndol.org/ndol_ci.cfm?kaid=108&subid=900010&contentid=254299Obama
Date Bill Title Vote
12/04/2007 United States-Peru Trade Agreement NV
09/19/2006 U.S.-Oman Free Trade Agreement Implementation Y
06/29/2006 U.S. -Oman Free Trade Agreement Y
07/28/2005 CAFTA Implementation Bill N
06/30/2005 CAFTA Implementation Bill N
Hillary
Date Bill Title Vote
12/04/2007 United States-Peru Trade Agreement NV
09/19/2006 U.S.-Oman Free Trade Agreement Implementation Y
06/29/2006 U.S. -Oman Free Trade Agreement Y
07/28/2005 CAFTA Implementation Bill N
06/30/2005 CAFTA Implementation Bill N
07/07/2003 U.S.-Chile Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act Y
07/07/2003 U.S.-Singapore Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act Y
08/01/2002 Trade Act of 2002 N