Teamsters Threaten to Withhold Support Over Free Trade Vote

AP via Fox News ^ | July 22, 2003 | Not Stated

[Pest]

WASHINGTON

[Pest]

Will the Unions finally figure out that the DNC isn't doing them any favors?

[Texas_Dawg]

Unions and Paleos... the "totalitarians among us"...

[Texas_Dawg]

"I believe strongly that free trade (search) will create jobs and save Americans money," Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, said Tuesday.

Just one more Texan GOP member who supports economic freedom. The Yellow Dog is on its last legs.

[Pest]

Unions and Paleos... the "totalitarians among us"...

I agree to a point. I think unions have made it so workplaces are safer and workers get a living wage. However, they are essentially socialist organizations that have become far too powerful.

[rdb3]

Unions and Paleos... the "totalitarians among us"...

Amen. Again I say, amen.

[Texas_Dawg]

I think unions have made it so workplaces are safer and workers get a living wage.

Even if they did this (free competition did far more to improve workplaces), it came at a great price, through using the government to forcibly make other Americans pay for these changes.

In Thomas Sowell's great book, Race and Culture, he writes at one point about the ships which brought immigrants from Europe at the turn of the 20th Century. The living conditions of these original ships were wretched, so some "well-intentioned" folks decided to force England and other European governments to create government standards for the conditions on board. So these governments passed these laws. And due to the price increases it was going to force the ship operators to pass on to the poor who were their customers, the immigrants went running to pile on the last ships leaving before the laws went into effect. And the immigrant flow drastically slowed for the next few years after the laws went into place... until free competition caught up, and the prices came back down. Unions claim to help some people, but in a free society where people have a choice in where they work, they just punish everyone else.

[Texas_Dawg]

NAFTA has been a disaster for blue collar workers.

Can you give me some evidence of this?

[bigfootbob]

"...they are essentially socialist organizations that have become far too powerful."

Correct. It's obscene when you consider the percentage of the unionized American workforce is about 15%. But a very powerful 15%, Government workers and teachers.

[lelio]

"I believe strongly that free trade (search) will create jobs and save Americans money," Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, said Tuesday.

Well he's right, it will create jobs. In Chile and Singapore.
When did the promise of free trade go from "We'll sell them our goods!" to "Its a bunch of cheap goods for us"?

[em2vn]

Two million manfacturing jobs taken from the American work force sent to Mexico.

[Texas_Dawg]

Two million manfacturing jobs taken from the American work force sent to Mexico.

Do you think there is some set number of jobs in America? Like there were, let's say, 100 million jobs before NAFTA, and now there are 98 million?

[Pest]

It's obscene when you consider the percentage of the unionized American workforce is about 15%. But a very powerful 15%, Government workers and teachers.

Plus, UAW workers get the day off to vote!

[JNB]

Tom Delay is the last of the Texan free traers who still has power within the GOP leadership, Sen. Gramm and Rep. Armey are gone, and even Rep. DeLay is now making noises about China being a threat to the US.

The political backlash over job outsoucing is now beginning, my guess is because of Rove, Bush is going to be proactive and take another issue away from the Democrats like he did on the steel issue.

[Texas_Dawg]

The political backlash over job outsoucing is now beginning

This is just because the economy has been in a cyclical slowdown after a long, unprecedented boom. Once the economy has picked up to normal growth levels, all the socialist cries against economic freedom will be ignored once again just like they were after NAFTA was passed.

[em2vn]

No! There are, however, now two million less manfacturing jobs. Traditionally manfacturing jobs are well paying blue collar jobs. Those two million lost jobs equate to many lost jobs due to the lost businesses that catered to those blue collar workers.
The service jobs that were touted to replace manfacturing jobs are very low paying service jobs. With the influx of illegal immigrants the service jobs are now paying well below the poverty line.

[Texas_Dawg]

With the influx of illegal immigrants the service jobs are now paying well below the poverty line.

This sounds like great campaign rhetoric for Buchananites and others sympathetic to socialist populism, but unfortunately it's just not true. Do you have a job?

[JNB]

The backlash against free trade was one reason why Bush 41 lost in 92. While Clinton turned out to be the most pro free trade president in US history(Clinton being strongly backed by bankers is one reason why this was) in the 92 election he kept quiet in support for NAFTA.

Again Texas_Dawg, based on your posts, you are hardly mature, and there is little substance in your posts to indicate that you are anything other than someone who parrots Limbaugh. Again you throw around the word socialism like Jessie Jackson throwing around the word racism, again, they lose their meaning after a while. If you think tariffs are socialism, then the US was a socialist country from the very beginning, and the constituion is socialist for granting the power to congress to raise trade barriers.

The constition gives the power of congress to protect the US, not to protect a style of economics.

[Texas_Dawg]

you are anything other than someone who parrots Limbaugh.

I haven't heard his show or anything from him in years.

If you think tariffs are socialism, then the US was a socialist country from the very beginning, and the constituion is socialist for granting the power to congress to raise trade barriers.

The founders also lived in a totally different environment where there was no federal income tax. Given the ridiculous amounts of wealth redistribution already being done by the federal government, to still support tariffs (further wealth redistribution), is simply socialist. The founders intended for tariffs to raise the money needed to operate basic government functions. Your reasons for supporting tariffs are simply to force other Americans to pay for your bloated union salaries.

[timestax]

Yeah, I will believe it when I see it. When punch comes to shove, labor always backs DemoncRATS!