Thread: CAFTA Passed in the Senate: Pressure House & embold Bush

Vicente,
I don’t have an issue with Trade, but this trade is unfair to the American People. Trade ought to be fair and balanced and since we joined the WTO and NAFTA it has had nothing but devastating effects on our nation and our Trade deficit is growing on a daily basis. We have to think of ourselves first. Call me selfish, but our government needs to put our interests first.

CAFTA is a 1000 plus page document that has never been released. How anyone can support it without knowing all that it contains does not make any sense to me. Only a criminal would want to pass a law without publicizing all of its provisions.

The parts that are released are letting us know that there are far too many provisions that force us to give up the rights that our nation has fought to keep. The most important is that it will help to dissolve our borders; our nation will fight to keep our sovereignty. CAFTA will create more job loss for us; it will adopt CODEX which will only allow us to get vitamins via a prescription. Something the pharmaceuticals have been pushing for. They claim this needs to be done because too many people are dying from vitamins. Far more people die in automobile accidents and adverse drug interactions then die at from vitamins, yet they don’t outlaw those things.

I have studied for months on CAFTA and I can assure you that it is only a good deal for Central America because they are desperate for the income.

I will fight this bill until it is defeated. I welcome any fair trade agreements, but thus far NAFTA, CAFTA and the FTAA are not fair and they are not right for the United States.


"The size of the lie is a definite factor in causing it to be believed, for the vast masses of the nation are in the depths of their hearts more easily deceived than they are consciously and intentionally bad. The primitive simplicity of their minds renders them a more easy prey to a big lie than a small one, for they themselves often tell little lies but would be ashamed to tell a big one."

"All propaganda must be so popular and on such an intellectual level, that even the most stupid of those towards whom it is directed will understand it. Therefore, the intellectual level of the propaganda must be lower the larger the number of people who are to be influenced by it."
"Mein Kampf" by Adolf Hitler


Oh by the way here are some things to read about IBM from 2001


Book, Lawsuit Slam IBM's Nazi Ties
http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/7417.html

Probing IBM's Nazi connection
http://news.com.com/2009-1082-269157.html?tag=cd_mh

jp_48504 : Thanks for your ideas. I appreciate.



Well, I am glad that we have something in common. A dislike for Adolf Hitler and Nazism. And an appreciation of Free Speech and Liberties.

And we both seem to have a strong motivation por Politics.

And yes, I have heard that IBM and some others did business with Nazi Germany.



jp_48504, You said :

I will fight this bill until it is defeated. I welcome any fair trade agreements, but thus far NAFTA, CAFTA and the FTAA are not fair and they are not right for the United States.

Can I ask these questions ???

1) Your dislike of NAFTA is only for the Treaty with Mexico. Or your dislike extends also to trade with Canada. ???

2) Did you protest the Trade Agreement with Australia ???? ..... This nation is more industralized and Richer than Central America, so theoretically it would pose a gravest danger to the USA in competition.

3) Is illegal immigration such a terrible catastrophe that Trade takes a back seat ??? .... Does illegal immigration obscure all other issues and opportunities ???

4) Aren't Canada and Australia potentially more dangerous in competition to American Good employment and American Good Jobs ???

Thanks for any illustration and knowledge.

Vicente

Can I ask these questions ???

Sure you can and I will do my best to keep the answers short.

1) Your dislike of NAFTA is only for the Treaty with Mexico. Or your dislike extends also to trade with Canada. ???

My dislike for CAFTA has nothing to do with the countries, it has to do with the effects that it has had on our Country. Millions of Americans forced into unemployment and standing in line for food so that their families can eat.

2) Did you protest the Trade Agreement with Australia ???? ..... This nation is more industralized and Richer than Central America, so theoretically it would pose a gravest danger to the USA in competition.

Had I known about it at the time, I would have argued against it as well, not because of a protectionist attitude or fear of competition. This agreement was not a fair agreement as well. No country should be forced to accept GMO’s nor should they loose rights to rule themselves whether it be us or them.

3) Is illegal immigration such a terrible catastrophe that Trade takes a back seat ??? .... Does illegal immigration obscure all other issues and opportunities ???

The two are very much connected. That is why I am a member of ALIPAC. The cheap labor pool, the work visas from foreign countries, as well as the amnesty that has been given to millions of illegal aliens, has affected our country in disastrous ways.

4) Aren't Canada and Australia potentially more dangerous in competition to American Good employment and American Good Jobs ???

I would have to say no. They don’t work as cheap as those in Central America. Capitalists only want to make more profits for their investors. Labor eats a substantial part of that profit, so they go to where they can get it cheap. Many U.S and Canadian companies are going to Mexico and Central America for Cheap labor and increased profits. they try to make the claim that we would be paying substantially higher prices for goods if they did not. But when they move there the prices always go up not down. So it seems to boil down to corporate greed.

Vicente--what benefits will the average American procure from CAFTA? NAFTA resulted in a net loss of nearly 2.5 million manufacturing jobs for Americans. I can certainly see why the IBM's of the world want to exploit Third World Nations who have no minimum wage laws, no workers Comp, no retirement packages, no worker safety requirements, blah blah blah, but what am I going to get out of this?

I am asking this seriously and want to hear what I'm apparently missing.

While you're at it, explain to me why we, as the most successful nation on the planet, somehow need to form a "block" with anybody, let alone impoverished Third World nations who aren't exactly setting the world on fire?

The nations with the highest standards of living, the highest rates of education, the highest in everything are Western European nations so I could see forming a block with them if we needed to, which we don't, but Central America?

And now--regarding "how bad" illegal immmigration is--I've watched my nation, in five years time, slowly and quietly devolve into something I barely recognize. There are whole segments of Dallas where NO ONE speaks English and gangs are going crazy. My friends who are teachers tell me how the onslaught of Spanish and other language speakers are hopelessly bogging down their classrooms.

All I can see that we're getting out of this is a slow, steady slide into the Third World. Show me the errors of my thinking--I'm all ears.

1) Your dislike of NAFTA is only for the Treaty with Mexico. Or your dislike extends also to trade with Canada. ???

2) Did you protest the Trade Agreement with Australia ???? ..... This nation is more industralized and Richer than Central America, so theoretically it would pose a gravest danger to the USA in competition.

3) Is illegal immigration such a terrible catastrophe that Trade takes a back seat ??? .... Does illegal immigration obscure all other issues and opportunities ???

4) Aren't Canada and Australia potentially more dangerous in competition to American Good employment and American Good Jobs ???

HI VICENTE!! WELCOME TO ALIPAC!!

My responses to your questions:

1) and 2) I am opposed to trade agreements that allow "free flow of people, labor and goods" into the United States under government authority, whether it be from Canada or Mexico or Central America or China or Australia or Europe. The existing trade and tariff regulations have worked well for the United States. The first of these that most of us are familiar with is NAFTA and starting 20 years ago many of our fabulous industries and technologies closed their facilities here; laid off millions of American Workers; and reopened in Mexico with the plan of shipping these same goods back to Americans to buy them. I would have no problem should the companies wish to expand their operations to Mexico to supply the Mexican Market or the Canadian Market or the Central American Market or the Chinese Market to build plants there to serve those markets. It is however offensive to relocate American Plants to these countries then SHIP the same goods our people developed, engineered, refined, marketed, and manufactured back to us to buy without any economic benefits for our Nation or our People. This is simply a "wicked" concept in my view. In addition, it was anticipated and represented that in exchange for this sacrifice of our business activity here in the US that these companies would be paying good wages and salaries in Mexico and the other countries such that they could buy things from the US and balance out the trade deficit. This of course turned out to be a bold-faced lie and fraud.

We are learning more about the trade agreements every day and I understand that there were some entered into for example with Singapore before we knew anything about it. I'm not familiar with the trade agreement with Australia but due to the distance and the high standard of living there, I doubt that Australia would cause the same result as CAFTA. Singapore could it seems to me cause a similar result but I am not that familiar with Singapore today. I was several years ago but not now. I would have to research both. The US Government is moving faster than we can keep up.

3) There are no opportunities or issues that warrant these trade agreements. This is the United States and our companies are free to travel the world and make deals selling their products and purchasing products from other nations. They may have to charge a tariff to balance the differences between the nations. This protects our manufacturers here in the US from unfair competition. If the tariffs are outdated and too high and both countries are in agreement to a reduction on both sides of the table then, this is easy to resolve without a 2400 page "Trade Agreement"--its called simple thing like a "Tariff Reduction". The American People despite popular opinion are not imperialistic. We do not wish to go around the world telling people how to run their countries. We like to see countries that wish to improve their liberties and freedom and have always stood by to assist in that regard in any manner possible including liberation if the people or enough people of the nation desire it and we can afford it. My concern with illegal immigration is that there are too many people entering the United States. We do not have jobs for them. So what are they going to do when they get there? They will either be unemployed and expect to be supported by the American People, something we can not afford to do or they will take or steal a job or business opportunity from an American Family. Now what does the American Family do? There are not enough jobs for the level of immigration presently invading the United States. For some reason our US Government and US Trade Representatives are in a "la la" land, a fairy land, an unrealistic, unpragmatic mindset that makes no sense to most of us. WE DO NOT HAVE THE JOBS TO SUSTAIN THE POPULATION GROWTH. I guess if someone is a US Trade Representative earning six figures with full government benefits, they have a hard time understanding how simple Americans live and the fragility of their lives. These "professionals" servants of the people of the United States are feeding some hand other than the hand of the American People with these agreements.

4) Canada and Australia have higher standards of living and because of that there is less impact on the US Economy from trade with Canada and Australia as well as Europe. We sell things to them and they buy things from us. It seems to balance out such that they don't take jobs away from Americans and we don't take jobs way from them. Over the years we have all prospered rather similarly together. Based upon what I understand about economics, I do not see this changing. Very few companies have relocated plants from the US to Australia and none to my knowledge have relocated them to ship goods back to the United States. There has been some expansion into Canada to serve that market and some items are shipped back but they are not in Canada solely to serve the US. Prices are comparable; wages are comparable; and I expect due to this commonality the locations of plants in Canada are more logistic oriented.

These are just my opinions based upon my experience and knowledge. There seems to be a "sing-song" going on world wide over these Trade Agreements and all nations need to look hard and fast at the reality of them. If other countries are expecting some big "wind fall" from having a US Company come down there and employ people, then you need to look at Mexico and see what that really means. Mexico as a nation has not benefitted from all the industry that went there. The USA has not benefitted from losing all the industry that went there. It achieved nothing but disappointment in both nations.

While the proponents tout a good "sing-song" about how much the agreements are going to improve the other countries, the fact is they haven't. They have only enriched the handful of primary shareholders who own the majority share of the companies along with a cadre of overpaid executives.

Also, the word "free" is a misnomer. If the "deal" is free trade, there wouldn't be a 2400 page agreement dictating what everyone can and can not do. It would just be "free" and everyone negotiates their deals and does business based upon a free market, supply and demand basis. There is MUCH MORE involved in these agreements with respect to "rules and regulations" than what would be needed for "free trade". There is nothing new about international free trade. It is as old as Mankind. A 2400 page "agreement' would not be required if all we are talking about is international free trade. In otherwords, there are 2400 pages of " strings" attached. That means, it isn't free, but highly regulated and highly controlled to benefit the owners of these companies and not the people of either nation.

July 5 : Four US Congressmen talk with Colombia about FTA



On July 5 of 2005 four U. S. Congressmen talked with President Alvaro Uribe and some Colombian Government Officials.

These are the four American Congressmen. All of them from the House of Representatives :


William Thomas, Representative, Republican, California, Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee.

Devin Nunes, Representative, Republican, California

Jerry Weller, Representative, Republican, Illinois

Clay Shaw, Representative, Republican, Florida

They told the president of Colombia to be postive on trade Agreements with the USA. And they contradicted the opinion of expresident Bill Clinton, that told the president of Colombia to be easy and not press the American Congressmen.

They told the Colombian president that the ATPDEA or "Andean Trade Preferences Act" would not be renewed on 31 December of 2006, and that the best idea for both parties was to accelerate a Free Trade Agreement.

Mr Thomas said that expresident Bill Clinton had every right to give his own opinions. But he as chairman of the House committee that has to conclude the pact, wanted to tell the Colombians that "Tomorrow won't be a better day".


Let's stay tuned to see if the House of Representatives approves or rejects CAFTA, so that we can analyze the events, the causes and the possible implications for the future. And we should analyze the congresswomen and congressmen and their vote as well.


I am publishing many Free Trade News, Ideas and Trade History, in my site FASHYON.com so that what we can forecast the future, make guesses about what is going to happen, etc ...


Thanks a lot for conversing with me.


Vicente Duque

yoohoo Vicente--can you answer my questions?


Oh here's a few more: What the minimum wage in Columbia? What rights do people have there if injured on the job?

Vicente--what percentage of employers in Columbia offer heath insurance?

Based on this article, it looks like our Congressmen are busy trying to push FTAA down the throats of Colombians when they might prefer something else!

Vicente--what do you think the people of Colombia want with respect to "Free Trade"?

EVeryone, Colombia is part of the Free Trade of the Americas agreement, not CAFTA, so our Officials as pushing full steam ahead, aren't they?