Posted on 07/27/2005 9:14:44 PM PDT by RWR8189
WASHINGTON - The House narrowly approved the Central American Free Trade Agreement early Thursday, a personal triumph for President Bush, who campaigned aggressively for the accord he said would foster prosperity and democracy in the hemisphere.
The 217-215 vote just after midnight adds six Latin American countries to the growing lists of nations with free trade agreements with the United States and averts what could have been a major political embarrassment for the Bush administration.
It was an uphill effort to win a majority, with Bush traveling to Capitol Hill earlier in the day to appeal to wavering Republicans to support a deal he said was critical to U.S. national security.
Lobbying continued right up to the vote, with Vice President Dick Cheney, U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman (news, bio, voting record) and Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez tracking undecided lawmakers.
The United States signed the accord, known as CAFTA, a year ago with Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic, and the Senate approved it last month. It now goes to the president for his signature.
To capture a majority, supporters had to overcome what some have called free trade fatigue, a growing sentiment that free trade deals such as the North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and Canada have contributed to a loss of well-paying American jobs and the soaring trade deficit.
Democrats, who were overwhelmingly against CAFTA, also argued that its labor rights provisions were weak and would result in exploitation of workers in Central America.
But supporters pointed out that CAFTA would over time eliminate tariffs and other trade barriers that impede U.S. sales to the region, correcting the current situation in which 80 percent of Central American goods enter the United States duty-free but Americans must pay heavy tariffs.
The agreement would also strengthen intellectual property protections and make it easier for Americans to invest in the region.
"This is a test of American leadership in a changing world," said Rep. Kevin Brady (news, bio, voting record), R-Texas, a leading proponent of the agreement. "We cannot claim to be fighting for American jobs and yet turn our backs on 44 million new customers in Central America.
NAFTA devastated jobs availability in Mexico. Mexico lost over a million jobs. Their leaders promised them NAFTA would help. It only helped the oligarchy's pocket book in Mexico. Almost anything looks better to an illegal alien Mexican than his own economy. That here in southern California where I live, the entire construction trade is now illegal alien labor. Even the US naval shipyards have illegals working on our battleships.
Personally, I don't think I want illegal aliens working on US Carriers and destroyers, no matter how much cheaper they work.
For one thing, treaties list agreed responsibilities between nations and it's laws that that list requirements for citizens inside a country. CAFTA doesn't lower my import taxes, Congress will.
The other thing is that when congress starts lowering my import taxes, the word is that they're also working out lowering my other taxes too (Senate to Vote on Repealing Estate Tax). It's no longer enough for you to make up stuff about how the CAFTA tax cut is "a danger to our independence and to our sovereignty". Now you've got to think up reasons why someone's traitor if he hates the death tax.
He spelled it right.
LOL!
Read it again
Play wordgames all you want, the point was made that the decline has been ongoing since 1973. That's a lie. What I posted is the truth. Deal.
Sorry, still don't see what you claim is in the CAFTA text. Maybe you need to repost and highlight?
It is a real defeat for DemocRATS who really only wanted to defeat a Bush agenda item. Maybe I am wrong but I didn't see much DemocRAT opposition in the Senate to this bill. And it is a defeat for unions who wanted to show their strength. Guess we know what their influence is now.
P.S. Yeah, I do call an increase in the GDP from $7.5 trillion to $11 trillion a turnaround. Yeah, yeah, I know, only five people earned that $3.5 trillion and we're a Third World country, and $3.5 trillion is just a blip on the radar screen, true, but...
"Of course, even if the president could surrender our sovereignty through a treaty, wouldn't that require a two-thirds vote by the senate for approval?"
When Bush signs it it is approved, and according to the Constitution it is the law of the land.
When Bush signs what?
The playing with numbers by people in an effort to deny the improvement in people's personal economics is truly startling, coming from FReepers. These are mostly numbers in a vacuum; they discount lifestyle changes as simple as the cheap availability of products the average working family never even dreamed of having in the early seventies on the one hand, and on the other the skyrocketing pricetag for a college education. It's always dangerous when one simply points to a nationwide average of any kind and uses that as the end-all of data in the subject. It's tempting--I've done it twice in this thread to answer specific points--but in the end, it isn't that useful. I'm thinking the only numbers that really matter are the GDP, and that's merely an indicator, not the final answer.
I'm afraid you are dead right about that.
So where are all these new homeowners coming from if we're all so destitute?
"As if" apparently "is so." Currently these little countries are, collectively, somehow able to afford $15,000,000,000 of U.S. goods annually. Divided by 44 million that's about $340 per capita. That's not huge, but it's certainly not not "anything". Or, what, do you think they'll buy less when tariffs on U.S. goods are lifted?
" CAFTA doesn't lower my import taxes, Congress will."
Correct, but they have acording to this, article abrogated
their power to Iternational trade authorities.
CAFTA-DR article 10.16.3 that "places the United States under the jurisdiction of international tribunals supervised by the United Nations."
Yeah. Imagine that whopper after it's adjusted.
"The other thing is that when congress starts lowering my import taxes, the word is that they're also working out lowering my other taxes too (Senate to Vote on Repealing Estate Tax)."
Get a clue, we do not have import taxes on any of the CAFTA-DR countries. the agreement will alow for a gradual elimination of their import taxes on our products.
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