Posted on 07/15/2005 8:36:53 AM PDT by 1rudeboy
President Bush's tour of a North Carolina textile mill takes him to the kind of business that critics say would be damaged by his free trade pact with Central America.
Ahead of that visit Friday, Bush was to meet at the White House with President Antonio Saca of El Salvador, one of the countries that is a party to the trade agreement.
The Central American Free Trade Agreement passed the Senate on a 54-45 vote two weeks ago. It could come up as early as next week in the House, where its fate is less certain. It faces near-solid Democratic opposition and only lukewarm GOP support.
Bush was scheduled to tour the Helms plant of R.L. Stowe Mills in Belmont, in the Piedmont region of central North Carolina, and then give a speech at nearby Gaston College. Both are in the district of Rep. Sue Myrick, R-N.C., the only one of North Carolina's 13-member House delegation to publicly endorse the measure.
The trade agreement, signed by the United States a year ago, would end or sharply lower trade barriers with the five Central American countries of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. It would also apply to the Dominican Republic, a Caribbean nation.
The measure "is important to supporting emerging democracies in Central America," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan.
It would also help stabilize trade between the United States and the region, McClellan said. "Right now, when 80 percent of the imports from Central America come in here duty-free, that creates an unlevel playing field. We want to make sure the markets are open and that there's a level playing field."
North Carolina is one of the hotbeds of opposition to the pact, which is modeled on the North American Free Trade Agreement passed 12 years ago that established free trade among the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Critics contend CAFTA will cost U.S. jobs by making it easier for U.S. companies to relocate operations in Central America, where labor costs are lower. The White House argues the opposite, asserting it will bring jobs to the United States.
Bush contends the pact would be "good for American workers, good for our farmers and good for small businesses" and "help increase sales abroad and job creation at home."
The textile industry is divided on CAFTA.
Some are opposed because of an inherent mistrust of any free trade deal. Others say it will help the U.S. industry because it will help Central American manufacturers, who buy material and yarn from the United States. Chinese textiles, by contrast, have little or no U.S. content.
CAFTA would further open a market of 44 million people by eliminating trade barriers to U.S. manufactured and farm goods, protecting trademarks and other intellectual property and establishing legal frameworks for U.S. investment. Last year the region purchased about $15 billion worth of U.S. goods.
Many Democrats argue that inadequate worker rights provisions in the agreement will lead to labor abuses. It is also opposed by lawmakers from sugar beet and sugar cane-growing areas, and others who link free trade to America's soaring trade deficits.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said the fact that GOP House leaders haven't yet brought the bill up could be a sign that it lacks the votes.
"I can't really speak with authority on the number of Republican votes that are 'no' on CAFTA, but I hear that it is a significant number," she told reporters. "I know that there are only a small number of Democrats who would be supporting it, so I think they are in trouble on CAFTA."
Depending on whose figures one uses, the CAFTA-DR region purchased between 11 and 15 billion dollars' worth of U.S. goods last year. It might not be for you, but to me that is real money.
These debates seem to go into a kind of polarization. On one side are self supporting free merchant types who research the issues and can site sources; and the other side are them that simply decide that they'll be better off with other people's taxes are raised.
Look, everyone knows that the federal government is using my tax dollars and the tax dollars of every working American to fund "trade capacity building" giveaways in the CAFTA countries so the transnational corporations don't have to spend their own money doing it. Being an ex-pat, I guess you don't care about the Americans who still live and work in this country. Most of us would rather have that money not taken out of our paychecks, we really don't want it to go to foreign countries for the benefit of the socialist ideology that we are going to "lift their boats" by redistributing American wealth to them.
The CAFTA is as phony as anything can get. When its pointed out that its about sustainable development and the FTAA and hemispheric integration, even more so that tariffs, you "free traders" all start pinging each other and in classic Alinski style try to redirect the discussion away from those points. Sustainable development is global socialist control of private property. It is featured in the preamble of the CAFTA very prominently. If you support CAFTA you must be a socialist who hates private property, otherwise sustainable development would never be included in a phony trade bill. No true American would ever approve that loss of sovereignty for his fellow Americans.
More sustainable development. More American tax dollars unconstitutionally given to NGOs to promote global socialist programs in Central America. If you're so hot on protecting your own pocketbooks, why would you want to take from the rest of us to support the unconstitutional CAFTA?
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U.S. Funds Program Supporting Humane Agriculture and Wildlife Protection in Central American FTA Partners
Contact: Richard Mills/Ricardo Reyes | (202) 395-3230 10/02/2003
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador – U.S. Trade Representative Robert B. Zoellick today announced that the U.S. government, through its Agency for International Development (USAID), will make a $500,000 contribution to the CAFTA Alliance Fund of the Humane Society of the United States. These funds will support environmentally sustainable and humane agriculture as well as the protection of wildlife and habitat in Central American countries currently negotiating a U.S.-Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). The announcement took place at Shuchil, a small Salvadoran company that produces organic soaps, including a line of natural shampoos and soaps for pets.
"The United States is working to link aid with trade, and to partner with private groups that can promote sustainable development in the CAFTA region," said Zoellick. "There is a growing market in the United States for organic and environmentally-friendly products. In this project, USAID will join with the Humane Society to assist small producers in our Central American FTA partners who want to sell organic products to high-value specialty markets in the United States and elsewhere."
Shuchil is operated out of the home of Ms. Matilde Carillo de Palomo in San Salvador. The company produces organic soaps and shampoos, many of which are made from traditional Mayan formulas and ingredients. Most of the company’s employees are women from rural areas outside of San Salvador. Shuchil is seeking to expand its exports of a line of natural pet products, such as shampoos and soaps for pets. The Humane Society will provide technical assistance to Shuchil in having its products certified and sold under the "Certified Humane" label in the United States and Europe.
"We appreciate the leadership and creativity of the Humane Society in working to support sustainable trade with Central America. This grant shows that the U.S. government, environmental groups and the private sector can work together to find winwin solutions that help everyone benefit from the CAFTA," said Zoellick.
Zoellick is visiting Central America October 1-3, to discuss the ongoing U.S.-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) negotiations with the Presidents of Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Nicaragua; Central American trade ministers; legislators; and, members of the private sector and civil society.
BACKGROUND
The $500,000 contribution from the U.S. Agency for International Development will help support humane slaughter of animals, in addition to improving customs regulations to control illicit trade in animals. A sustainable agriculture component of the program will support the export of organic products such as Shuchil’s shampoos and soaps, the export of organic cacao, and the promotion of high quality organic coffee. The Humane Society, working with its partners in the CAFTA Alliance Fund, will also provide funds for this effort.
The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is a member of the Trade and Environment Policy Advisory Committee, which advises the U.S. Trade Representative and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on international trade and environmental issues. HSUS was one of the first non-governmental organizations to become a resource partner in capacity building efforts supporting the CAFTA negotiations.
The CAFTA Alliance is a group of non-government and private sector groups dedicated to sustainable development in Central America. Led by the Humane Society of the United States, it also includes Counterpart International, Earth Council Costa Rica, Earth Voice and resource partners such as Stewart and Stewart of Washington, DC, Caribbean Conservation Corporation of Costa Rica, Humane Farm Animal Care of Herndon, Virginia, ARCAS (Asociación de Rescate y Conservación de Vida Silvestre) in Guatemala, AMARAS of Honduras, SalvaNatura of El Salvador, FAZOONIC (Fundacion Amigos del Zoolologic Nicaraguense) of Nicaragua, ForesTrade of Vermont and Guatemala and Costa Rican Cocoa, San Jose, Costa Rica.
Good Lord, Alinsky again? Your definition of his "style" is so broad that nearly every response on this thread fits your model. Including your reply above, I should add.
What the heck do you care about other peoples' money?
That's why he is there to shut them down, and send the mills to Nicaragua. He is a good conner. He conned me into voting for him twice.
Being a hedge trimmer you need to realize that those of us who pay taxes to support your gardening are ready for you to get a better job than just trimming hedges. Unless your name is misleading. You haven't been able to figure this out, but pay attention here because this is important: sometimes freeper names can be misleading.
I grew up in Lincoln Co. NC, and that is pretty much what happened there. I remember kids dropping out of school at 16 to go work in the mills. They figured "I'm getting stuck on the mills anyway, so why bother to go on with school." Then NAFTA came along, and their dependable mill job went south. What ever menial labor jobs that are left go to the illegals. There are big vacant mill lots all over the county. It is sad. Smalltown NC has been getting screwed by politicians from both parties for the last 15 years. Not just on trade policies, but on the illegal immigraton policies also. Jesse Helms was one of the few who would take a stand against this nonsense.
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