Obama says this is not the time to reopen NAFTA

[masuki bance]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama said on Friday that given the weakened state of the U.S., Mexican and Canadian economies, this is not the time to reopen the NAFTA treaty for negotiations.

Ahead of a summit in Guadalajara, Mexico, with Mexican President Felipe Calderon and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Obama said it was important to stabilize each country's economy.

Obama as a presidential candidate last year expressed a desire to reopen the North American Free Trade Agreement to include enforceable labor and environmental standards in the pact.

Speaking to Hispanic reporters, Obama said he still believed side agreements on labor and environmental protections should be incorporated into the core of the agreement....

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090807/pl_nm/us_obama_nafta

[Joanne98]

1. grrrrrrrrrr

[BobRossi]

2. Oh yes it is Mr. President.

Actually it's time to recall it.

[babylonsister]

3. Sure, let's throw another fight into the mix. I'm glad he's waiting. nt

[havocmom]

8. Yep. A good tacticia knows when there are already enough fronts being fought.

[depakid]

10. The question one might ask is- when is it going to be time?

For instance, when is the United States Department of Justice going to start doing its job again? Will it ever even resemble what we had under Bush I?

In the aftermath of the Savings & Loan debacle, criminals were held to account.

And we didn't have torture in our lexicon.

Patience and methodical deals are one thing- never seeing justice is another.

[babylonsister]

12. I sure wish I worked for this admin and had an answer that I could

share. Ask me again about your concerns after about 3 years, not 7 months. Do you think this is easy?

[jefferson_dem]

4. Like...no shit.

Now is not the time to open up any cans of political worms like that.

[grantcart]

5. right in the middle of the two largest battles in the history of congress

cap and trade and health care reform nothing off topic that doesn't have unanimous support is going to be added.


Certainly this basic level politics 101 is not that hard to grasp.

[Barack_America]

6. I think that Mexico's credit rating is about to be downgraded.

So yeah, now is not the time to renegotiate NAFTA. Stability on the North American continent takes priority, IMO.

[greendog]

7. And Trade Agreements go thru Max Baucus and the Senate Finance Committee...

...and Max LOVES free trade.

[SeattleGirl]

9. Baucus already has a big issue he's working on fucking up.

I agree with Obama here. I don't want Baucus screwing up two things at the same time.

[babylonsister]

13. Damn.

Baucus isn't impressing you either, I see. I thought all the drama would be over when Dems won.

Silly me! :silly:

[SeattleGirl]

15. Yeah, I'm kind of hard to impress.

Especially when it's someone like Baucus trying to do it. :-)

[glowing]

11. This is exactly the time to re-examine our trade agreements..

Create fair trade, not free trade.

[Arkana]

14. Sure, with the LGBT community clawing at his face like angry monkeys, the healthcare bill

being fought bitterly by Republicans and even some Democrats, and all the other shit that goes on, I'm fairly sure NAFTA can take a fucking number.

[scheming daemons]

16. He's right... Health Care is priority 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. NAFTA isn't in the top 10 right now.