Posted on 07/27/2005 10:23:01 AM PDT by w6ai5q37b
Washington, DC – “Buy American” laws and similar state and federal legislation would be gutted by CAFTA procurement rules that prohibit all laws that give a preference to domestic or local businesses according to U.S. Rep. Charlie Norwood, who says CAFTA Article 9 overturns every state and federal law that requires federal, state, and local government agencies to buy American products, or use American workforces. CAFTA Article 9.2.
No Party (Nation) may treat a locally established supplier any less favorably than another locally established supplier on the basis of degree of foreign affiliation or ownership, or …on the basis that goods or services …are goods or services of another Party (Nation).
“CAFTA would immediately overturn all the hard work of our state legislatures in trying to support local businesses and jobs,” says Norwood. “It would overrule all state and federal law on the issue, effectively destroying our sovereignty, and would block any action by the voters to correct this outrage.”
The Article would also prohibit laws that restrict or ban the outsourcing of jobs to CAFTA nations or firms registered to CAFTA nations. Under the protection of the article, a Central American firm with a satellite office in America could contract with an Indian telemarketing company to provide a low bid for federal or state government phone banks, such as IRS hotlines or state employment office services. All state and federal laws to the contrary would be void, and the CAFTA firm could sue if they failed to win the contract after submitting the low bid. The case would be heard by a CAFTA tribunal, consisting of two Central American judges pitted against one judge from the United States.
Norwood says Article 9 is just one more glaring example of CAFTA attempts to overthrow Americans’ ability to govern themselves. “At every turn, this bill seeks to wipe out American law, in favor of CAFTA and other world trade agreement rules. This Article makes it crystal clear that CAFTA is more than a trade agreement – it is a treaty, and should be rejected.”
I will at some point, but as a potential witness, I would prefer not to jeopardize my testimony. Typing the company name will associate my FR identity with this company and will be found by an attorney, etc.
They haven't for a long time now, but there is a constitutional solution to our Wayward Congress and our Wayward President.
And someday, when We the People Wise Up, we will Rise Up, and tell this anti-constitutional government of ours to cease and desists..or we'll do it for them.
NONE of US should be forced to buy anything but USA Products..I will gladly pay extra for sugar and steel, buying USA whenever possible..let the Imports ROT ON THE DOCK!!! SHOW BUSH HE AINT NO KING!!!!!!
Banana Lobby 1, Textile & Sugar Lobby 0.
Ping for more CAFTA bad news
Collecting the benefits Americans won't get.
Republicans are certain that with these votes to redistribute the American wealth and jobs, the Mexican illegals will flock to the polls to vote for them. They no longer believe they need the conservative wing of the party to win elections. They may be right.
At the present, Mexicans are happy to undercut American citizens and work for very low pay. The politicians will count on that, along with forcing the American tax payers to pay for the social services used by the illegals. Those two things should keep the Mexican workers happy for a while. Later, it will be interesting to see if the unions can boost the salaries of the Mexican workers.
President Bush is holding an emergency meeting today.. as it "looks" like CAFTA will not be
passed.. it only "looks" this way because he has not paid off enough representatives to vote for
CAFTA... CAFTA means:
No more Vitamins or health food stores
Irradiated food that is genetically engineered, grown in human fecal matter, and sprayed with
pesticides at least 30 times, from countries that will not be marked on your food.
More manufacturing jobs (Alcoa & Auto Manufacturers have already moved to Centrl America) moving
South. Pay is $.30 an hour... look foward to your children making this pay scale.
Illegal aliens will flood over our borders.. When NAFTA was passed the Mexican got permission to
come over the border.. when CAFTA is passed 6 countries will have permission to send their people
over the border... all this while we have "TERRORISM"??? We are asked to give up all our freedoms
while Bush and congress invite the terrorists to dinner. (give me a break)
If you have not called your representative... TOLL FREE #s to REACH CAPITAL SWITCHBOARD:
866-340-9281, 866-340-9279, 877-762-8762
Unbelieveable! No it's not. American has been sold lock, stock, and barrel. Is Dubya bound and determined to impose his father's vision on us, no matter what?
Kill it dead. Where's the Raid?
When I read passages from the founding fathers on tyranny, there was always a disconnect and it followed me up untill the kelo ruling. Then I finally understood the spirit of 75 and the words of Jefferson.
Up for a tea party?
That is a good idea. Do you think mine will help?
http://www.henrywaxman.house.gov/
Up for a tea party?
Compiling the guest list...
Where to starty with this idiocy? Remember NAFTA gang? It was going to raise the living standards of our allies south of the border, and they would buy our manufactured goods.
How long is it going to take before some commie peasant in china earns enough money to pay for American made golf clubs, or a new Suburban?
LOL!
Hey, it might just work! We must all accept paycuts until our wages are lower than theirs! Then we can work and slave for THEM!
Just like NAFTA this scam will probably pass. Only until politicians feel the heat at election time will they stop selling us out this way.
Many years ago, the company I worked for sent part of its manufacturing capability to Mexico as a cost-cutting move. For two years, they worked with the Mexican employees to train them on the proper techniques for building and testing quality products.
For two years, what they got for their effort was consistently inferior product. Finally, thay had to pull the product line back to the US and resume building it here to obtain the required quality.
This isn't an isolated event, I've heard of other companies that experienced the same problems. If American businesses want to try to maintain the same level of growth or expand it and increase profits, stocking their shelves with inferior products is NOT the way to do it.
Many American businesses are (re-)learning that shipping jobs and manufacturing capacity offshore doesn't always equal a corresponding increase in profits. Many times, the costs of doing business offshore, despite lower wage/benefit costs, is the same or higher than leaving the business in the US. Businesses are beginning to learn that the big profit magins they expected by doing business in India are not being realized. I anticipate that many will begin to quietly pull out of India and return the business segments to the US in the next 2 - 3 years for the same reason.
CAFTA, in all its iterations, will get a lot of people excited and may cause some manufacturing to move offshore. The long-term effect, IMO, will not be as satisfactory as the businesses expect. As another poster noted, it may be just the EU for the western hemisphere, and it will likely bring the same result. The EU is crumbling and, like the EU, CAFTA will also crumble down the road.
I don't like CAFTA anymore than anyone else, but I'm also not concerned that my job is going to be exported south of the border. The biggest beneficiaries from CAFTA are likely to be the businesses in the signatory SA companies that will have open access to our markets for whatever products they can sell here. Traditionally, products from SA have not done well in American markets and have met with only limited success in very limited markets.
Kelo vs. New London redux?
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