The cost of "free trade"...

[Joanne98]

The cost of Free Trade, it is destroying the entire planet. Almost 500 textile mills in the United States have closed their doors for good here in America since Bill Clinton slammed the Bush written NAFTA into law against Congress, Bush Jr. has been adding Free Trade agreements all along, Now Bush has been trying to slam the Colombian Free Trade Agreement through Legislature and with a mostly partisan Congressional vote to slow the Fast Track status of the agreement, he almost accomplished his task.

I'm not saying that this is a Dem/Rep thing, but you can tell who stands to gain by the agreement, or is too stupid to realize that extending Free Trade to the absolute worst country for a worker isn't a good idea, you can see them by their NO vote to slow down the fast track decision on the Colombian Free Trade Agreement. Take a look at the tally here, Republicans are in italic.

As a matter of fact Bill Clinton has made a lot of money speaking in favor of Colombia Free Trade and Hillary's campaign strategist has been at meetings lobbying for the agreement.

John McCain is no winner either, he has stated he is a "free trader", he also voted in favor of NAFTA, CAFTA and other bad trade deals.

<1>McCain Has Voted for Every Other Bad Trade Agreement That Has Come Up. McCain votes in support of any and all trade agreements regardless of their negative impacts on U.S. workers. He voted for trade agreements with Oman, Singapore, Chile and Morocco, among others, as well as for Fast Track bills to make it easier for the president to enact trade agreements without strong worker protections.<2>

McCain in 1999: “I Would Negotiate a Free Trade Agreement with Almost Any Country.” “If I were president, I would negotiate a free trade agreement with almost any country willing to negotiate fairly with us.” <3>
And John McCain has not protected workers from the ill affects of these agreements

McCain Supported President Bush’s Outsourcing Efforts. McCain voted to allow overseas outsourcing of government contracts after President Bush’s economic advisers released a report saying America should outsource its jobs. <4>

McCain Voted Against Limiting Tax Breaks to Companies That Re-Import Foreign Manufactured Goods. He voted against a bill to tax multinational companies on income from foreign factories when goods are shipped back to the United States and to require companies to notify employees and give a reason before they move their jobs overseas. <5>

McCain Supported Waiving and Weakening Buy American Laws. McCain voted to allow the Secretary of Defense to waive Buy American laws for defense systems and place our defense manufacturing industry in jeopardy. He also voted to exempt defense goods from six European countries from Buy American requirements that traditionally have required most military equipment and defense systems to be manufactured in the United States. <6>

McCain Voted to Allow Unsafe Foreign Trucks on U.S. Roads. McCain voted against an amendment to prohibit Mexican trucks from operating beyond a limited border zone because they are not held to the same safety standards as U.S. trucks. <7>

McCain Abstained from Voting to Protect Steel Jobs. McCain abstained from a vote to filibuster a bill to protect steelworker jobs from illegal dumping after 10,000 steelworkers lost their jobs. <8>

McCain Voted Against Providing Health Insurance for Employees and Retirees of Bankrupt Steel Companies. McCain voted against a measure that provided temporary health insurance assistance to retirees of bankrupt steel companies. <9>
The EPI (Economic Policy Institute), states in part "since China entered the WTO in 2001, job loss has increased to an average of 353,000 per year. U.S. jobs"<1>

NAFTA was the beginning of the Global adjustment which we are all now seeing with our own eyes. Current administration bullying our jobs away with henchmen on both sides are doing everything in their power to make it worse.
Notes: *from the above article "The price of a kilogram of coarse rice, the staple food of Bangladesh's poor, has more than doubled over the past 12 months, to about $0.60 (30p)."
.60 Euros = 0.94938 U.S. dollars
1 kilogram = 35.2739619 ounces
<1> John McCain Revealed <2> S. 33569, Vote #190, 6/29/06; H.R. 2739, Vote #318, 7/31/03; H.R. 2738, Vote #319, 7/31/03; H.R. 434, Vote #353, 11/3/99; H.R. 3009, Vote #115, 5/16/02, Vote #117, 5/21/02, Vote #207, 8/1/02; S. 1269, Vote #292, 11/4/97 <3> (Speech to the National Press Club, 5/20/99) <4> S.1637, Vote #32, 3/4/04 <5> S.1637, Vote #83, 5/5/04 <6> S. 2400, Vote #135, 6/22/04; S. 1050, Vote #191, 5/21/03 <7> H.R. 2299, Vote #252, 7/26/01 <8> H.R. 975, Vote #178, 6/22/99 <9> S.Amdt. 3433, Vote #117, 5/21/02 Sphere: Related Content

http://unionreview.com/free-trade%2526%2523039%3Bs-working-victims,-bangladesh%2526%2523039%3Bs-workers-cannot-afford-rice,-john-mccain-free-tr

[Joesunionreview]

1. Thanks Joanne98

For bringing that part of the article here to DU, when writing it I wasn't sure that it would be fully read. From the above article with the link added:

you can see them by their NO vote to slow down the fast track decision on the Colombian Free Trade Agreement. Take a look at the http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2008/roll181.xml">tally here, Republicans are in italic.

Remember all the "nays' want the Colombia Free Trade Agreement slammed into law.

John McCain is still avoiding speaking to working class Americans, the AFL-CIO reports he has dropped the ball on several occasions in this article "

Once again, McCain missed an opportunity to talk to real people about the issues facing working families, just as he did in http://blog.aflcio.org/2008/04/03/mccain-skips-out-on-worker-roundtable/:Maryland], http://blog.aflcio.org/2008/04/04/2300-a-person-fundraiser-or-meeting-with-workers-mccain-prefers-cash/">Florida, http://blog.aflcio.org/2008/03/28/across-california-union-members-confront-mccain/">California, and nearly everywhere else he’s http://blog.aflcio.org/2008/04/04/mccain-union-members-are-right-im-just-like-bush/">traveled.[/div>

Thanks for reading,
Joe

[Joanne98]

2. You're welcome.

[Omaha Steve]

3. OOPS

I hate to reply to fast so as not to discourage others. I agree. Thank you.