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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush used a meeting with Mexican and Canadian leaders Monday to hammer Democrats who oppose a free trade deal between the U.S. and Colombia, saying that blocking the deal is "bad for American workers and bad for our security."
Bush must be blind or just doesn't get it. Our economy is in a mess and a good portion of the blame can be laid at the doorstep of free trade. How many jobs have been sent overseas and he still wants to continue this insanity. REVOKE NAFTA NOW before the United States becomes a relic of the past!
NAFTA is a treaty with three parties. If the US just starts unilaterally breaking its treaty obligations, international faith in our government and economy would collapse.
NAFTA is a treaty with three parties. If the US just starts unilaterally breaking its treaty obligations, international faith in our government and economy would collapse.
Our economy is collapsing with Nafta. I don't think the American people can afford it any more. We need to put the best interest of the American people first instead of the rest of the world.
NAFTA is a treaty with three parties. If the US just starts unilaterally breaking its treaty obligations, international faith in our government and economy would collapse.
ya, cause we are so respectable right now.
Like it or not you have to worry about the people before you worry about the rest of the world and NAFTA and the WTO are making it more profitable to outsource. So the big companies are benefitting like crazy while the working class is being screwed over...
In 1993 I thought that with proper worker and environmental protections addressed that NAFTA would work and the benefits would be enjoyed by a wide spectrum of U.S. citizens. Proper U.S.interests across the board weren't secured and the results have been negative. In addition the core issue failed to take into account the great difference in living standards of the countries involved--especially Mexico.
NAFTA proponents insisted that U.S. and Canadian investments would shoot the standard of living in Mexico to record heights--their workers would be paid higher wages and the tide of illegal immigration would be stemmed. They claimed NAFTA would create 170,000 U.S. jobs annually.
What actually occured is more than a million U.S. jobs were lost--as a direct or indirect result of NAFTA. The trade deficit with Mexico is 9 times as large today as it was when NAFTA was signed. Rather than rising Mexican manufacturing wages actually fell by 25% by 1998 and today more than half the Mexican people live in poverty. In reality illegal immigration to the U.S. has increased since NAFTA and at present half the illegal immigrants now residing in the U.S. have crossed the border in the last decade.The free trade at any cost advocates choose to ignore the facts, and go so far as to declare failure a success. The above is only the tip of the iceberg.
I can't speak for citizens of other countries (my loyalties don't live there anyway) I'm an American and in our country we have had a thirty yr. period in which the real median wage has grown 9% while productivity is up 79%. Very little of that improvement has gone to the labor force. Forced into competition with people paid very low wages--no right to oganize in unions or any other labor oriented activity you will indeed have downward pressure on prices. The downward pressure on wages however is seriously hurting many employees in this country much more than the cheaper consumer goods are helping them--and probably always will.
American standard of living--will this be a phrase only some will refer to in the future?
Removing restrictions on people doing business around the world is good. Goverments shouldn't interfere with two people in different part of the world from trading, except for setting up simple rules and justice system. Constant restrictions and protection measures are useless and add nothing but problem.
A majority of mexican problem are due to their goverment corruption and due to our inability to bring free trade to agriculture products(U.S farm welfare program). Of course, people keep talking about U.S jobs lost, yes, we have lost jobs but there is no such thing as a 'american job' and of course no one talks about jobs gain.
Free trade is good!
However, Bush should stop talking. Whenever he tries to 'save' or 'fix' something, it ends up been destroyed. Iraq, medicare, tax system, education.............on and on.
Oh, and since nancy pelsoi some how found her powers of speaker to put this bill aside, maybe now she can do the same thing for a military budget and iraq war bill------and stop funding this war by not bringing that bill to vote.
Location: Jonquil City (aka Smyrna) Georgia- by Atlanta
16,259 posts, read 24,752,651 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by John1960
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush used a meeting with Mexican and Canadian leaders Monday to hammer Democrats who oppose a free trade deal between the U.S. and Colombia, saying that blocking the deal is "bad for American workers and bad for our security."
Actually I agree with Bush on this. He is right that the deal with Columbia would be a plus for the USA because they tariff us now and we do not tariff them. And under normal circumstances it would pass. But the reason it will not pass is because of all the bad horrible trade deals of the past- such as NAFTA- and because Bush has more or less said it is perfectly fine with him if China sends us poisonous toys and dog food and buys the country. The voters are fed up with it all and the era of "free trade" is about to come to an end. And that is really too bad because, if we had done things right and been fair to workers, free trade would have been a good deal for everybody.
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NAFTA & The Mighty
