Obama Supporters Stuck on NAFTA issue?? READ!

[Clinton Crusader]

For those who oppose Hillary Clinton's candidacy because of President Clinton's support for NAFTA, you need to know that Barack Obama -- when he had the chance to vote against NAFTA -- voted, instead, to EXPAND NAFTA.

Yes, Obama voted to EXPAND NAFTA

"Obama Says He Will Vote for NAFTA Expansion" at:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-sirota/breaking-obama-says-he-w_b_67780.html

Obama is the first presidential candidate to officially declare his/her support for the NAFTA expansion moving through the Congress. His announcement is not necessarily surprising, considering he was the keynote speaker at the launch of the Hamilton Project -- a Wall Street front group working to DRIVE A WEDGE between Democrats and organized LABOR on globalization issues. His announcement comes just days after a Wall Street Journal poll found strong bipartisan opposition to lobbyist-written NAFTA-style trade policies.


"Clinton and Obama vote for Peru NAFTA deal" at: http://tinyurl.com/2qn59q

Vote for Barack Obama if you want to, but please do it with your eyes open and with the knowledge that Rupert Murdoch -- possibly the worst corporate media CEO around -- has endorsed Obama and is using all the resources of his media empire to help Obama and destroy Hillary Clinton (one has to wonder what Rupert Murdoch hopes to gain from an Obama presidency and fears from a Clinton presidency). And bear in mind that Obama chose as his senate "mentor" the loathsome Joe Lieberman, whose gleefulness in voting with the Republicans and against the Democrats
made Lieberman (at the time Obama chose him as his mentor) one of the most despised Democrats in the senate.

So, to sum up: When Barack Obama had the chance to vote against NAFTA, he voted, instead, to expand NAFTA.

And, Obama voted FOR the Oman Free Trade Agreement. (H.R. 3045, 7/28/05; S. 3569, 6/29/06).

OBAMA: "I believe that expanding trade and breaking down barriers between countries is good for our economy and for our security, for American consumers and American workers."
http://www.aflcio.org/issues/politics/issues_trade.cfm

BOTH Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama voted NO on implementing CAFTA for Central America free-trade. (Jul 2005)

Americans need to deal with facts, not pipe-dreams.

---------------------------------------------------------
"In Peru Trade Vote, Senate Democrats Break With Base, Dismiss Widespread Public Opposition to More-of-the-Same Trade Policy and Join GOP to Vote for Another Bush NAFTA Expansion Pushed by Corporations"

Seven of Nine Senate Freshmen Democrats Oppose Expanding NAFTA to Peru

Statement of Lori M. Wallach, Director of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch Division
Public Citizen
Common Dreams
Dec. 4, 2007

WASHINGTON - December 4 - Although not one U.S. labor, environmental, Latino, consumer, faith or family farm group supported the Peru free trade agreement (FTA), a majority of Senate Democrats today broke with their base, dismissed widespread public opposition to more-of-the-same trade policy and joined Republicans to deliver another Bush NAFTA expansion to the large corporations pushing this deal.

The debate in the Senate contrasts with that in the House of Rep. last month. There was little focus on the Peru NAFTA expansion deal in the Senate, but in the House an intense, multi-month debate resulted in a majority of House Democrats, including 12 of 18 House committee chairs, voting against the Peru pact and signaling that it is not an acceptable model for future trade agreements.

The breakdown of this vote vividly demonstrates two phenomena: the distance between most senators and the American public on trade issues, and the depth of the American public's negative opinion about NAFTA-style trade deals. All but two of nine Democratic freshmen senators who recently campaigned extensively in their states opposed the Peru NAFTA expansion today. Most of the Democratic presidential candidates oppose it, including Sens. Joseph Biden of Delaware and Chris Dodd of Connecticut.

In contrast to most of the Democratic presidential candidates who oppose the Peru NAFTA expansion, Sens. Hillary Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois support it. Clinton and Obama's support for the Peru FTA – after BOTH opposed the 2005 Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), which contained identical provisions and now campaign against NAFTA in Iowa, should make voters wonder just what sort of trade policy Clinton and Obama really support. None of the senators running for president voted today, although all four have issued public statements taking positions on the Peru pact.
Read the rest at: http://www.commondreams.org/news2007/1204-20.htm

[Captain Hilts]

1. OUCH!!!!! nt

[bigtree]

2. facts??

facts are stupid

[Politicub]

3. I hate NAFTA

It's one of the legacies of Clinton's otherwise mostly positive term that I dislike most. I didn't know that Obama voted to expand it. I'm from rural NC, and I remember the textile jobs (good ones, with benefits) that quickly left the state in NAFTA's wake.

[crispini]

4. Okay, do you have a link about the Murdoch thing?

I will take this under consideration.... :patriot:

[sandnsea]

5. Peru economy is the size of NH

And the Peru trade deal has the labor and environmental regulations IN the agreement. It was done right. If we don't trade with South America, China, Indonesia and other Asian countries will.

[incapsulated]

6. More pesky facts

About Saint Obama.

(and yes, I hated NAFTA)

[Kermitt Gribble]

7. K&R!

[crispini]

8. Ok, since you didn't answer me on the Murdoch thing, I went and googled myself.

So, although the New York Post gave that fairly nasty endorsement to Obama, Mr. Murdoch himself, as well as his son, have given money to Hillary. He also hosted a lavish fundraiser for her.

http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2008/02/04/2008-02-04_rupert_murdoch_bucks_new_york_post_donat-2.html

Hm.

[ProgressIn2008]

9. Kick.

[rodeodance]

10. BOOKMARKED

[rodeodance]

11. REC

[ProSense]

12. More misleading information. The Peru agreement is not the Clintons' NAFTA

Here is information about the bill

Obama never said he was against trade. NAFTA was a horrible bill, which Bill Clinton signed into law and Hillary has defended.

[ihavenobias]

13. Interesting. That article is from October and the one in my post is from Feb. 11th (by Sirota)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2004172794_sirota11.html

As you can see it's a pretty fair article:

"...In most states, polls show Hillary Clinton is beating Barack Obama among voters making $50,000 a year or less — many of whom say the economy is their top concern. Yes, the New York senator who appeared on the cover of Fortune magazine as Big Business's candidate is winning economically insecure, lower-income communities over the Illinois senator who grew up as an organizer helping those communities combat unemployment. This absurd phenomenon is a product of both message and bias.

Obama has let Clinton characterize the 1990s as a nirvana, rather than a time that sowed the seeds of our current troubles. He barely criticizes the Clinton administration for championing job-killing trade agreements. He does not question that same administration's role in deregulating the financial industry and thereby intensifying today's boom-bust catastrophes. And he rarely points out what McClatchy Newspapers reported last week: that Clinton spent most of her career at a law firm "where she represented big companies and served on corporate boards," including Wal-Mart's.

Obama hasn't touched any of this for two reasons.

First, his campaign relies on corporate donations. Though Obama certainly is less industry-owned than Clinton, The Washington Post noted last spring that he was the top recipient of Wall Street contributions. That cash is hush money, contingent on candidates silencing their populist rhetoric.

But while this pressure to keep quiet affects all politicians, it is especially intense against black leaders...

[golddigger]

14. Double ouch...n/t