[the gillman@blacklagoon.com]

They've taken to waiting for a thread to die and then sneaking in comments that nobody sees but them.

Or maybe, just maybe, they are examining some of the evidence sent their way.

Nah!

[hedgetrimmer]

Yoo hoo! "Free traders"! Your talking points are here!

Background Question and Answer
TRADE: Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA)
-- by Lionel Beehner, staff writer, cfr.org

Who is leading the fight for CAFTA?

In the United States, the pro-CAFTA camp is being led by the Bush administration, Republicans on Capitol Hill, and a coalition of free-trade and pro-business groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. In Central America, CAFTA is being promoted mostly by business leaders and pro-trade politicians, and also is supported by most of the region's major labor unions.

(Now we know who to blame)

What happens if CAFTA fails?

Many experts say failing to ratify CAFTA would slow the drive to create a larger Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), as well as possibly derail broader efforts to increase free trade globally. The FTAA has been held up indefinitely by powerful anti-globalization forces in Latin America, particularly in Brazil, Argentina, and Venezuela, experts say. "A 'no' vote [by the United States] will cast a shadow on future [trade] negotiations, both bilateral and regional," as well as in the World Trade Organization (WTO), says Daniel T. Griswold, director of the Cato Institute's Center for Trade Policy Studies and a free-trade advocate. "If the Congress can't stand up to the measly sugar lobby," he says, "this will raise serious doubts that [the United States] can negotiate anything at the next round of WTO talks" slated for December in Hong Kong.

(Call us a wahmbulance, that measly sugar lobby is at it again!)

http://www.cfr.org/publication.php?id=8258