Posted on 05/01/2005 9:40:04 AM PDT by A. Pole
Simple. They merely displace the rest of us with their higher birth rates. Their increased demands on our social services will speed up the economic collapse. In the meantime, they partition our nation in an alliance with the left. (That way the left doesn't have to do the dirty work of fighting us.) It fits in perfectly with the way they do things.
They've only made one miscalculation: They think we'll display some form of compassion while defending the remnants of the US, thereby leaving some of them alive to continue their quest. They just don't know us very well.
Right on.
To hell with bayonets, keep yer .50's even if they say it's a sin against society.
Yes, economic dislocation is an unfortunate side effect of becoming more efficient and prosperous as a country and there are always winners and losers. But free trade means there are more winners than losers everywhere.
You regurgitate textbook theory of which we are all well aware.
Your little fish and huts story was entertaining. But tell me. In this free trade world what exactly is America specializing in that can't be done by Ram or Chan or Felix overseas at much cheaper cost ? The more dependent Joe Sixpack becomes on borrowing money to buy cheap imports that he can no longer make for himself, the sooner the day of reckoning when the dollar will no longer be worth anything.
In the context of a global glut of labor THERE IS NOTHING THAT AMERICA CAN SPECIALIZE IN THAT WILL SUPPORT THE AMERICAN STANDARD OF LIVING. Or do you flatter yourself with the notion that all Americans are smarter than all Chinese or Indians ?
I've read CAFTA and I don't recall that provision. Perhaps you have a cite.
However, Mexico is allowing enough US corn to enter the country without adding the tariff that corn prices in Mexico do get depressed and the farmers raise hell. The Mex Govt raises the tariff temporarily and the cycle repeats.
The justification for not adding the allowable tariffs is to keep consumer prices down.
It is commonly stated that NAFTA created the farm crisis in Mexico, but actually the farm/food crisis created NAFTA.
Mexico has had this looming food crisis for many years. It is attributable to the fact that over half the cultivation in Mexico is on the ag collectives known as "ejidos" that are small acreage and very unproductive.
At about the same time NAFTA was signed, the Mex Govt put in place the method by which the ejidos would be dis-incorporated and title on the collective lands would be passed to the individual farmers. The farmers would then be able to buy, sell, or lease these lands.
The inflow of US capital associated with NAFTA would facilitate these small ag plots being combined into large, modern farming operations, which would enable Mexico to become more able to grow their own food.
Market economist DeSoto was a consultant in devising this plan.
For various reasons, this plan has not proceeded as planned and 2008 is getting closer.
Correct..they are nothing but costly shams!!
"Mexico has had 500+ years to develop a "middle class". So why the hell should we eliminate our middle class in order to provide them with one? Why "level the playing field" at the expense of only the US? Our forefathers gave their lives to build that advantage for us - the arsenal of the free world - so that we wouldn't have to face the sacrifices that they did during WWII. But no, you greedy short sighted money worshippers had to cash in your profits."
The NWO folks were always counting on our greed : )
"
Our forefathers gave their lives to build that advantage for us - the arsenal of the free world - so that we wouldn't have to face the sacrifices that they did during WWII"
I extracted this, because it makes my blood boil that illegals jump our borders, live in section 8 housing, grab food stamps, and use our emergency rooms as a HMO clinic, while hard working Americans foot the bill.
http://www.ustr.gov/Trade_Agreements/Bilateral/CAFTA/Trade_Capacity_Building/Section_Index.html
CAFTA National Action Plans for Trade Capacity Building
As part of the U.S.-Central America Free Trade Agreement negotiations, National Action Plans have been designed for Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua to identify each country's trade capacity building needs. The action plans serve as a tool for mobilizing and managing trade capacity building assistance – both from public and private sources – to support participation in the negotiations, implementation of the negotiated agreements, and help make the transition and changes necessary to realize the linkage between trade and development
ONE EXAMPLE: COSTA RICA
Capacity Building Issue
Elaboration of an Action Plan to take advantage of CAFTA
to position Costa Rica in the international investor
community
Cluster development and strengthening
Improvement of infrastructure:
- Identification of necessary regulatory changes to
improve public works concession laws
- Development of a program aimed at attracting FDI in
the public works sector
- Identification of possible sources of capital to expand
infrastructure projects
Improvement of physical infrastructure
Qualitative improvement in the education of the Costa
Rican labor force, specially in the fields of English
proficiency and computer literacy
Identification of mechanisms to enable the system of
adjudication of public contracts to operate efficiently
Capacity Building Issue
Implementation of effective mechanisms to enable Costa
Rican SMEs’ competitive participation in international
markets
Strengthening SME participation in export capacity
building programs
Strengthening of trade promotion services, including basic
training, professional update activities, establishment of
trade promotion offices, participation in trade missions and
fairs, access to data bases and other support activities
Negotiation of trade and cooperation agreements aimed at
fostering the establishment of new SMEs and horizontal
links among diverse enterprises
Improvement of information systems and access to
information resources in order to analyze external markets
Promotion and execution of programs specifically aimed
at fostering the incorporation and use of information
technology by SMEs
Improvement of linkages between foreign investors and
local business, including promotion of SMEs as suppliers
of bigger multinational exporting enterprises, fostering an
integration of the productive sector as a whole
Specialized skills’ enhancement in areas such as high
tech and control of the English language
Improvement of technical capacity to match labor offer
and demand through specialized databases
Generation of business development programs, e.g.
assistance with entrepreneurial and technical skills,
including those related to applications of science and
technology such as biotech, market information, export
promotion, quality and consistency of supply, e-commerce
and other technological applications
Development of competitiveness activities, e.g. cluster
development, competitiveness councils, and workforce
development strategies
Generation of new and innovative financial services, e.g.
venture capital and small and micro-scale finance
Capacity Building Issue
Programs to upgrade electronic telecommunications
infrastructure
Programs to promote universal access to Internet
Strengthening of e-government programs and
digitalization of governmental agencies and services
Legal framework improvements
Development of joint programs between government
agencies, universities, and financing institutions to foster
the establishment of SMEs on knowledge-intensive and
high-tech activities
Generation of new and innovative financial services, e.g.
venture capital and small and micro-scale finance
specifically geared to the needs of emerging high tech and
knowledge intensive businesses
Development of professional internship programs with the
private sector, aimed at allowing young entrepreneurs to
learn, through hands on experience, best international
management practices
Generation or expansion of scholarship funds
Promotion of student and professor exchange programs
Promotion and execution of programs aiming at fostering
a higher participation of women in science and technology
based-business
THE US TAXPAYER WILL PAY FOR ALL OF THESE
And of course, it will be a crisis, so the Consitution will be suspended as well.
Hopefully, just a bad dream, but I'm not so sure.
Mark
This is dire. Is it too late to take any corrective action?
Try to fight honestly.
I just am not convinced that removing tariffs on our exports is a bad thing, especially when we have no tariffs on their imports.
Whenever a trade agreement talks about "trade capacity building" it means funding exactly those things and anything else they want to do . Those trade agreements and the "traders" who write them are corrupt and crafty enough to know that by leaving the language very vague, they can interpret it later to be anything they want.
They certainly do use trade capacity building to loot the US treasury to build foreign country infrastructure so the crooked corrupt businessmen promoting "Free trade" can take all the profit with absolutely NO RISK.
Now its your turn to be honest.
This is from the USTR website. This document talks about TAX PAYER MONEY going to build infrastructure in the CAFTA countries. "Free trade" is not about free trade. You can see this with your own eyes. It is about socialist wealth redistribution so corrupt corporations can take advantage of the US taxpayer to build their own wealth and the wealth of the least developed countries in the trade pact. The thing you support DOES NOT EXIST in this world. Please note that USAID is funded by the US tax payer as is the US department of commerce, as is the USDA, the EPA and the US justice department. In fact using our government resources to build capacity in foreign countries is an outrageous theft of tax money and citizen's resources.
Strengthening Democracy, Promoting Prosperity:
A Partnership to Build Capacity
In Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, and Nicaragua
USAID will purchase, install, and provide training on compatible software to manage trade data.
· The U.S. Department of Commerce will provide assistance through its Good Governance
Program to develop joint private/public sector initiatives to promote better business practices.
· USAID will provide assistance to improve and make more transparent commercial laws and
regulations in Guatemala.
· In Honduras, USAID will fund a computer systems analyst to help the Ministry of Industry and
Commerce evaluate their computer and information needs. In addition, USAID will purchase
equipment (e.g., 6 computers, scanner, printer, and server) for the Ministry of Industry and
Commerce.
· USAID will support Nicaragua’s fiscal reform
Government Assistance
USAID will develop websites in each Ministries of Economy for collection of public comments and
dissemination of information regarding the US-CAFTA – similar to the USTR website used to
receive public comments.
· USAID will fund a regional program working with the five local Chambers of Commerce and civil
society to organize outreach events during 2003.
· USAID will provide additional assistance to improve outreach to the private sector, civil society
and other government ministries to strengthen the consultative process in El Salvador, Honduras
and Nicaragua.
· To understand how the United States organizes its advisory groups, the U.S. Department of
Commerce and USTR will organize and facilitate meetings between U.S. Industry
Sector/Functional Advisory Committee (ISAC), the Advisory Committee for Trade Negotiations
and Policy (ACTPN), the Labor Advisory Committee (LAC), and the Trade and Environment Policy
Advisory Committee (TEPAC) representatives and Central American public/private sector and civil
society representatives.
· The U.S. Department of Commerce, as coordinator of the Trade Promotion Coordination
Committee, will work with the governments so they understand how the United States government
coordinates trade promotion activities among agencies.
USAID and USDA, drawing on experts in other U.S. agencies, will provide training and technical
assistance to improve food safety and animal health.
· USAID will provide intellectual property rights (IPR) workshops and outreach events.
· USAID will provide training in government procurement.
· With the assistance of U.S. Justice Department and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, USAID
will provide training on antitrust law and competition policy.
· In El Salvador, USAID will also provide assistance to private sector for compliance with U.S. food
safety and animal health regulations.
USAID will fund a training course for new government negotiators in each U.S.-CAFTA
negotiation area, drawing on historical experiences of past trade agreements (e.g., the NAFTA,
the GATT, the WTO, the Canada-Chile FTA).
· Training courses and workshops for Nicaraguan negotiators and technical officials on several
complex, specialized issues, such as customs valuation, rules of origin, and dispute settlement
will be provided by USAID.
Building on current efforts, with the assistance of USAID, EPA is providing on a regional basis,
through the Central American Commission for Environment and Development (CCAD):
· The Program of Training for International Environmental Law – UNITAR correspondence courses
are being translated to Spanish and will be provided to the five countries for training government
and private officials in effective implementation of international agreements. Modules address
general themes, such as International Environmental Negotiations, or issues that arise out of
specific agreements.
· EPA, with the Central American Commission for Environment and Development (CCAD), is
training environmental compliance inspectors in Central America. The training will strengthen the
regional environmental enforcement networks and will result in better enforcement of
environmental laws in each country. Course material based on local best practice and “train the
trainer” efforts will ensure that training is effective and continues to spread throughout the region
after the EPA efforts are concluded.
· EPA personnel provide expertise in the region, through national Centers for Cleaner Production, in
promoting cleaner production approaches and implementation of other environmental
management systems.
As evidenced by the most recent election? Wasn't it John Kerry and the Dems who were howling about those Benedict Arnold CEO's?
Yes. Take a look at the numbers - it was a near thing. Kerry was and is a deeply flawed candidate who had the charisma of a dishrag. We won, thankfully - but against Kerry? We should have had a landslide.
A hundred years ago 50% of the U.S. population made their living in farming. Now it's just 2%. Did all those farmers end up in the slums?
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