Thread: A YES on CAFTA may not even matter really?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------I am against CAFTA as I was NAFTA and I fear FTAA even more.

If this is passed do not fret. So much of our industry is already so gone that CAFTA may not matter. If it isn't in Mexico already or China why would you go to Honduras or Nicaragua as a busines or plant owner? China is cheaper!

These countries are a part of the CBI already. Caribbean Basin Initiative passed by Ronald Reagan. I believe, when passed, CBI caused lots of clothing plants in the U.S to close? You NC people may know more than I on this. Since then, we have seen many clothing products from the Dominican Republic, Honduras, El Salvador etc. The thing is is that CBI was supposed to be about the Dominican Republic but all of Central America is in the Caribbean too.

As I have posted, Colorado's and California's ROSE industry has been decimated since Congress added the Andean Pact nations (Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru) to CBI. A Department of State official in Bogota, Colombia sent me an email explaining this..
this cold hearted AID official said in the letter "....there are winners and losers in trade agreements.." Winners? Colombian businessman and Wal-mart..losers? California and Colorado rose growers and Colombian workers who probably earn peanuts?

The problem with CAFTA is that the people of Central America have little disposable income so they can't buy US products even if they wanted to and a job paying 1 dollar an hour will not do it!

As you know there is a ban on Canadian beef right now. (mad cow disease) US cattle producers are enjoying high prices because of it BUT the cattle packing houses don't like it and many workers are laid off from the packing plants but I don't care because many of them are now ILLEGALS! In Nebraska for example! I can pay a dollar more a pound for a US FAMILY FARMER!

It isn't about free trade but FAIR trade! I have no quarrel with trade with a country that is modern like Canada where the people live quite well.

The problem are the dirt poor nations where we are promised an end to illegal immigration and it does not happen cause the wages never rise!

Big corporations only want to lower their labor costs and increase their profit margins!

BTW I spent a week at a resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic a few years ago. The lady cleaning our rooms made like 40 dollars a week in wages. She said she made more in tips and we gave her $40.......Pathetic wages and until laws are made raising the wages these trade agreements are worthless....environmental as well! I sound like a darn Democratic activist now but it is the truth! Free trade when it is FAIR! It ain't!

There are people out there who care more about other countries than the US but mostly it is just about greed! In the long run we weaken the US economically and socially do we not? We need investment HERE not there!

I don't know what would be the actual cost in terms of jobs / industry, but to the individual "losers of free trade", the cost of each additional "free trade" agreement is always huge.

But from a political angle, I think the stakes are high... There must be some reason that the Bush admin, the Chamber of Commerce, and other interest groups are pulling out all the stops.

They're offering both carrots and sticks... They're offering reps large pork-barrel projects on the one hand, and on the other, they're threatening reps with well-funded primary challengers... The prediction is that this could be a squeaker, decided by just one vote.

If it fails, it would be a huge embarassment for the globalists who are something like 10 wins and 0 losses on these trade agreements. (I don't know what the actual number is, but they haven't lost many.)

Also, it would make world news, because the U.S. is always seen as a super pro-business country... Coming off the heels of the EU shocker, it could put the globalists on their heels.

Suddenly, the smooth path to FTAA doesn't look so certain, and maybe people everywhere are emboldened to fight the globalism.

Of course, if CAFTA goes down, then the really big test would then be in 2006 to see whether the courageous Republicans who voted against CAFTA can hold their seats... If we can support them and they get re-elected, then this would be a signal that the lobbyists are weak and the winds have changed... It would show that it's safe for a rep to be against "free trade", because The People will stand by their courageous reps.

When all the reps feel the winds are turning, even the ones who cowardly voted for CAFTA will suddenly be "courageously" on our side... Then the globalists will be in full retreat.

Well, maybe I exaggerate the importance, but I'm confident this would be a big blow to the momentum of the globalists... Besides, if you find yourself in a ditch, the first thing you should to do is stop digging... We've got to stop this at some point... The earlier we stop it, the sooner we can start to pull our way out...

There's no redeeming features for CAFTA... If we can't stop this, then will we be able to stop FTAA?.. We need to get people on the pro-borders, anti-globalist bandwagon as soon as possible... This is as good a time as any to get people engaged and build up our forces, so that we can win the more important "trade" battles.

I hope you are correct!!