Obama has spoken again!!!
McCain is in Colombia today, and Obama is using the occasion to take swipes at McCain's support for the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement, which Obama opposes:
This morning, the Obama campaign argued that McCain’s trip highlights his support for Bush’s economic polices. In an email to reporters, spokesman Tommy Vietor wrote, “Senator McCain’s trip to Mexico and Colombia just underscores his insistence on continuing George Bush’s failed economic policies that have left nearly 2.5 million more workers unemployed—including unfair trade deals that have been written by lobbyists.” .
Good Grief.
Obama of course is trying to "pander" to part of his base. That is Unions. He is also using xenophobia in a acceptable way that preys on Americans concerns about foreigners and domestic economics that are more based on the unknown, lack of understanding about markets, propaganda from the Protectionist, and other issues.
This is not the first time Obama has screwed over Latin American. Obama at the request of the Unions voted for a poison pill to kill immigration reform and kill a rational guest worker program . Something I hope the McCain folks let be known in the Hispanic and Latino community.
If you are from Louisiana and concerned about such things as the Port of New Orleans, the Port of Shreveport and the Port of Lake Charles to name a few that would benefit directly you should be concerned. Houston is the Financial and Trade Gateway to South American. A position New Orleans ounce had in the good ole days
Obama throws out the Bush's name like it is voodoo hex. It is inconvenient that the New York Times is not buying it.
See the New York Times Killing a Trade Pact
Also see
The New York Times: “Time for the Colombian Trade Pact. … This deal would benefit the American economy and further the nation’s broader interests in Latin America. It is time for Congress to ratify it. … Rejecting or putting on ice the trade agreement would reduce the United States’ credibility and leverage in Colombia and beyond.” (Editorial, 4/12/08)
Corpus Christi (TX) Caller Times: “Congress should pass Colombia trade deal. … Pelosi's politically motivated action is a bad precedent that increases the odds against eventual passage. The trade deal should be approved. … Some Democrats in Congress are looking for scapegoats for our economic woes and they have focused on free trade and globalization. This shift ignores the historic evidence: The key to American prosperity since World War II has been the free exchange of goods and services. Turning inward by erecting barriers to free trade or refusing to tear down existing barriers would have disastrous consequences in the long term. …. If Congress -- or, rather, Democrats in Congress -- reject the deal with Colombia, it will likely scuttle other free trade agreements; two are pending with Panama and South Korea. Congress would be foolish -- which is not exactly a novel thought -- to turn away from free trade.” (Editorial, 4/14/08)
The (WA) News Tribune: “Free trade shouldn’t be sacrificed to politics. … As Pelosi and many other Democrats know full well, economic growth and free trade are not mutually exclusive. One of the surest ways to achieve the former is to expand the latter. … Pelosi and the House Democrats changed the rules and scuttled it for the year to save Obama and Clinton from embarrassment. … But the agreement deserved approval on its merits, regardless of politics. It served American interests. Other U.S. trade partners will see its fate as evidence that the president cannot deliver on negotiated promises.” (Editorial, 4/14/08)
Ventura (CA) County Star Columnist: “Still hope for Colombia trade accord in the House. ... Democrats would be making a big mistake by turning their back on Latin America, and on new markets for U.S. exports….” (Op-Ed, 4/14/08)
Harrisonburg (VA) Daily News Record: “Free Trade Pact Should Be OK’d. … There are many reasons this pact should have been approved now, not the least of which is that Colombia, which shares a border with decidedly anti-American Venezuela, is our foremost ally in this unsettled region. The treaty, if passed, would have leveled the playing field, opening up new — and unrestricted — markets for U.S. goods. President Alvaro Uribe's government has made great strides in initiating democratic reforms and in taking the battle to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, a brutal terrorist and narco-trafficking syndicate. … The geopolitical consequences will be significant. Thursday's failure to move positively on a trade agreement signed 16 months ago demonstrates, yet again, that America is hardly immune to turning its back on a friend. For shame, Congress.” (Editorial, 4/14/08)
Charleston (SC) Post and Courier: “Politics trumps free trade. … The vote 'aligns with the goals of (Venezuelan President) Hugo Chavez and South America's narco-terrorists.' … The vote also sends the message that the United States is an unreliable partner. … The agreement would also benefit the United States, but to a greater degree, because it would remove barriers to our exports. … The ruse devised by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to block the agreement was politics at its lowest.” (Editorial, 4/14/08)
Charlottesville (VA) Daily Progress: “Altered rule poses danger. … Political gamesmanship on Capitol Hill is now putting at risk the very honor of the United States. … Instead, Ms. Pelosi said she would seek a rules change to freeze action on the deal. Changing the rules midstream to ensure a favored outcome is cynical in the extreme. Indeed, it is corrupt. … Any rationale for thwarting the rules is potentially dangerous. If rules of procedure mean nothing, then the legislative process can be warped — and, moreover, it can be warped at the “discretion” of a single powerful person. This is not the way democracy should work. The effort to change the rules after the process was under way dishonors Congress. And failure to adhere to its own rules dishonors the United States in the sight of its treaty partners, and the rest of the world.” (Editorial, 4/13/08)
Wake me up when the new politics of Change and Hope arrive please
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