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July 28, 2005

"For a small piece of paper it carries a lot of weight..."

Bush Wins Major Victory on Central America Trade Vote

After some of the most heated Congressional debate ever on a trade issue, the House of Representatives has narrowly approved the Central American Free Trade Agreement - 217 to 215 - giving President Bush a major victory. There were sharp exchanges between Democrats and Republicans over the legislation which aims to eliminate trade barriers between the United States, and six Latin American countries.

In the final hours, President Bush made an unusual visit to Capitol Hill trying to persuade still undecided members of his Republican Party to vote for CAFTA.

"Money money money money -- MONEY!
Some people got to have it hey, hey, hey - some people really need it..."

Eighty percent of goods from Central America already enter the United States duty free. CAFTA would eliminate or gradually phase out remaining tariffs with Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua and includes a separate pact for the Dominican Republic.

"Hey, listen to me, y'all! do thangs, do thangs, do thangs - bad thangs with it..."

CAFTA nations import about $15 billion in American goods. The Bush administration says the agreement will increase U.S. agricultural and manufactured exports to the region by at least $2 billion.

"For the love of money
People will steal from their mother

For the love of money
People will rob their own brother..."

Debate pitted the most fanatic of free-trade advocates against lawmakers who see CAFTA as a giveaway to multinational corporations, and a disappointment in the area of labor standards.

"For the love of money
People will lie, rob, they will cheat

For the love of money
People don't care who they hurt or beat..."

After Mr. Bush's visit to Congress, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay accused Democrats of politicizing the debate over a crucial trade agreement:

"The president is looking out for the national interest. And it is in the national interest that CAFTA passes," he said. "It is good for our national security, in supporting these fledgling democracies at our back door. It is good in our effort against illegal immigration. It is good for our economy."

"For the love of money
A woman will sell her precious body..."

Congressman Charles Norwood, June 17, 2005:

Georgia chicken farmers are trying to sell poultry in Central America under a 160% import tariff, while Central American farmers sell their chicken in America tariff-free. Any five-year old will tell you that’s cheating. So what are we going to do about it?

The global trade crowd says we ought to reward these “competitors” by offering them the chance to cheat us on textiles and sugar, by approving the Central American Free Trade Agreement, or CAFTA. In return, they agree to stop cheating us on chickens after another 18 years during which they put our poultry industry out-of-business. Amnesty for trade cheats, just like the same crowd’s proposals on amnesty for illegal aliens.

The argument then and now for this economic stupidity is the same. We lose some jobs and markets, but overall, our exports will increase, as foreign countries that currently protect their markets through high tariffs agree to lower them on some things - as long as we agree to lower ours more, or eliminate them entirely.

The first, the granddaddy of all the giveaways, passed Congress in 1994 – the North American Free Trade Agreement, NAFTA. Mexico and Canada were our largest trading partners, and this deal would further “open their markets to American goods.”

The undeniable end result is a net loss of dollars and jobs to Americans. A few people gained; the majority lost.

It’s the same argument as every other trade deal. We were told we would lose textile jobs to Mexico under NAFTA, but other industries would prosper, so to heck with those backward textile folks.

CAFTA is just one more in an unbroken chain of bad trade deals that sacrifice our industries, markets, and jobs, with a deceitful promise that other industries will prosper as a result. Then we sacrifice those industries in the very next deal.

"For a small piece of paper it carries a lot of weight
Oh, that mean, mean, mean, mean, mean green... Almighty Dollar!"

Posted by Jeff at July 28, 2005 06:23 AM