|
||||||||
Posted on 07/27/2005 11:24:42 PM PDT by West Coast Conservative
Central America hasn't been on the political radar for a long time, but this week the region takes center stage as Congress debates the Central American Free Trade Agreement. CAFTA would create a free-trade zone between the United States and six countries: Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. CAFTA's vision is to further integrate these young democracies with the U.S. economy, to the benefit of everyone involved.
CAFTA is currently bouncing its way through Congress. The agreement passed the U.S. Senate on June 30 by a 54-45 vote, but as of press time (the House was expected to vote on the bill late Wednesday) the situation in the House of Representatives is much less certain. House Democrats — who increasingly offer only a reactionary, anti-business, anti-freedom vision for America — are in near-unanimous opposition to the bill. Will CAFTA be another sorry example of Democrat obstructionism and demagoguery? CAFTA is a poor spot for House Democrats to take a stand; taken strictly on the merits, CAFTA is a clear win for both the U.S. economy and our foreign policy.
CAFTA is first about expanding trade and economic growth. CAFTA lowers trade barriers between the nations of Central America, the Dominican Republic and the United States. Because two-way trade with the U.S. and these nations reached $33 billion last year alone, enacting this treaty would be an important pro-trade victory, and it will boost growth in all of the participating nations.
In spite of protectionists' claims that this measure would hurt American businesses, most goods already come into the U.S. from Latin America duty free. Since the United States already has very open markets, most of the tariff reductions under CAFTA will occur in our Central American partners, giving U.S. farmers and manufacturers greater access to these growing markets. The main result of CAFTA is that American companies can compete on an even footing in Central American countries. According to the National Association of Manufacturers, CAFTA's lower barriers will increase U.S. exports by $1 billion and create 12,000 jobs.
If House Democrats are really concerned about possible U.S. job losses, as they often claim, they need to get on board with reforms here at home. Onerous regulations, runaway litigation and the broken U.S. tax code are the main culprits in the destruction of American jobs and the flight of some companies overseas. Fundamental reform of our economic and tax policy — not the creation of trade barriers — is the surest way to keep companies in the U.S. and American job growth strong.
There is another aspect to this debate that is almost completely ignored: the interests of American consumers. Opening our market to goods from Central America will give consumers more of the benefits of competition: more choices, better goods and lower prices. As a result of NAFTA, for example, the average family of four saves up to $2,000 a year, according to the U.S. Trade Representative. That's a kind of a national pay raise. While CAFTA will not have as large of an impact, families will certainly benefit from lower prices.
While the economic impact is significant, the bigger stakes for CAFTA are the symbolic ones. Currently, there is a major battle in Latin America between resurgent neo-Marxist strongmen and pro-democracy, pro-U.S. leaders. All of the countries in CAFTA are democracies, but many of them have only recently emerged from dictatorship and their leaders have taken political risks in embracing the U.S. and CAFTA. On the other side, Cuba's Fidel Castro, Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez and Nicaraguan Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega are among the foreign opponents of CAFTA. If the U.S. Congress rejects CAFTA, it also rejects the broader democracy movement in Latin America and strengthens the forces of socialism and despotism in our hemisphere.
The bottom line is that free trade works and benefits the United States, our economy and our workers. America is strong and our workers and businesses can compete with anyone. Between 1993 and 2003, the American economy grew by 38 percent and created almost 18 million new jobs. Let's keep that engine of growth moving. Because of the economic and foreign policy stakes, CAFTA is too important for politics as usual. Congress must set aside partisanship and protectionism and pass this agreement.
Former U.S. House Majority Leader Dick Armey is co-chairman of FreedomWorks.
Nanci Pelosi finds herself in good company again.
|
||||||||
Don't forget that the war on drugs has been highly effective...making Laredo and Nuevo Laredo safe places to visit and live. /s
As a result of NAFTA, for example, the average family of four saves up to $2,000 a year, according to the U.S. Trade Representative. That's a kind of a national pay raise
Can't you see the benefits of having TWO jobs? Blah, blah, blah...
I'm in debt up to my eyeballs...someone help me? ;)
Treaties are enforcable by the courts and are essentially law - this is not a treaty but a trade agreement. Why does it matter that this is not a treaty? That sounds like nit-picking. Does any bill that has anything to do with another nation at all have to be a 'treaty' and require 2/3s majorities? Please.
Anyway, thanks a lot for your thoughtful contribution to the discussion.
Barney Frank is prepared to join the "Dick Armey".
Ah, Dick Armey, what a guy! (/sarc)
Immigration Rising on Bush's To-Do List - The White House wants to build a coalition to court Latinos and marginalize hard-liners.
July 24, 2005
... a White House-backed coalition of business groups and immigrant advocates (to be called the Americans for Border and Economic Security) will be led by former U.S. Reps. Cal Dooley and Dick Armey.
"There's two voices right now, and the noisy one is what I call the slam-the-borders crowd," Armey said. "The voice we want to speak with — and the one that will be in unison with President Bush — is the voice that echoes those marvelous words on the Statue of Liberty."
"To me, the Tancredo wing appeals to the more prurient character of our nature," Armey added. "We want to talk to the better angels of our nature."
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
