Two More U.S. Republicans Say No to Trade Pact

[Rose Siding]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two more congressmen from President Bush's Republican Party declared on Tuesday they would not vote for a new free trade agreement with five Central American countries and the Dominican Republic.

The declaration came as Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez warned that rejection of the U.S.-Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) would send a troubling message to the rest of the world about the United States' commitment to free trade.
....
Because of opposition from labor groups, sugar producers and much of the textile industry, most Democrats in the House of Representatives are opposed to the pact. The White House therefore needs every Republican vote it can get in the House.

However, Rep. Mike Simpson and Rep. C.L. "Butch" Otter, both Republicans from the sugar-producing state of Idaho, said on Tuesday there was nothing the Bush administration could do to get their support for CAFTA.

"We are confident there is no additional information, nor any amount of arm twisting, which the administration or USTR can provide that would change our position," they said in a letter to the U.S. Trade Representative's office.

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=politicsNews&storyID=8028386&src=rss/ElectionCoverage

[Charlie Brown]

1. Good

"Free Trade" has become synonomous with corporate wellfare, exploitation, and imperialism. Let's work on keeping our own labor market viable.

[meganmonkey]

6. Don't forget environmental destruction

and overall unsustainability!

:)

This is very good news.

[UpInArms]

7. "Free" is that word

that is such a buzzword - folks need to figure out that nothing is "free" - there are prices attached to trade -

Fair would be such a much better goal.

[Robbien]

2. It was so sad when Dominican police fired into the crowd

of protesters against CAFTA. Hopefully the US will not ratify this master/slave agreement with the DR. Our addiction to sugar here in the US is finally good for something.

[Skip Intro]

3. Gee, wonder what message an unjustified first-strike invasion sent? n/t

[Al-CIAda]

4. Excellent! -eom

[Leilani]

5. Great news!

If any of you have Repub congresspeople, why not call or send an email?

This bill must go down.

[VegasWolf]

8. Good! No turncoat democrats better vote for the job outsourcing

program.

[cosmicdot]

9. Gutierrez warned ... I don't think so, Carlos ...

"Gutierrez warned that rejection of the U.S.-Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) would send a troubling message to the rest of the world"

oh, you meant the multinational corporations would see it as troubling

the rest of the world would likely sigh relief and say, 'that's a start'

[meganmonkey]

10. Kick for some good news!

[warrens]

11. I think this is going down

Which isn't necessarily a good thing. Nearly everything Central America ships us is duty free as it stands right now, while they charge us an average of 20 percent or so on everything we export.

Notice who opposes the bill the hardest? The sugar industry, one of the scuzziest, protectionist, and hard-right factions in the entire U.S. The amount of sugar that would be allowing in is tiny, but they aren't going to give up a dime of their ill-gotten gains. Sugar is priced by LAW, not by market demand, and these guys are essentially guaranteed a massive profit whether they produce sugar or not.

Remember, it wasn't that long ago that the sugar cane industry in Florida was essentially using slave labor from Jamaica, holding their passports so they couldn't even quit and go home.

This one is not a black and white issue.