Originally posted by Lazar+Jul 27 2005, 10:17 PM--> (Lazar @ Jul 27 2005, 10:17 PM)Good! The more imperialism, the more injustice, the more wrongdoing created the better.[/b]
Good?! Wishing suffering on other people is not "better". I don't see a "brighter" side to any of this. Does it seem like a "brighter" side because it is not happening to you? We are trying to liberate workers from this type of exploitation, and you are saying this is a "good" thing?! I understand where you are coming from, but that is just an ABSURD and CRUEL statement....
Moving on...
CAFTA was narrowly passed in the House last night, not because those who were on the fence were convinced by fair discussion and debate, but because they were bought over by the Bush administration by making deals....what a democracy...
*source* (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/27/AR2005072701195.html)
Originally posted by The Washington
[email protected], July 28, 2005
The 217 to 215 vote came just after midnight, in a dramatic finish that highlighted the intensity brought by both sides to the battle. When the usual 15-minute voting period expired at 11:17 p.m., the no votes outnumbered the yes votes by 180 to 175, with dozens of members undeclared. House Republican leaders kept the voting open for another 47 minutes, furiously rounding up holdouts in their own party until they had secured just enough to ensure approval...
Bush spoke for an hour, lawmakers said, stressing the national security implications of CAFTA, which are rooted in the concern that growing anti-American sentiment in Latin America would flourish if the United States refused to open its markets wider to the nations that negotiated the pact...
The last-minute negotiations for Republican votes resembled the wheeling and dealing on a car lot. Republicans who were opposed or undecided were courted during hurried meetings in Capitol hallways, on the House floor and at the White House. GOP leaders told their rank and file that if they wanted anything, now was the time to ask, lawmakers said, and members took advantage of the opportunity by requesting such things as fundraising appearances by Cheney and the restoration of money the White House has tried to cut from agriculture programs. Lawmakers also said many of the favors bestowed in exchange for votes will be tucked into the huge energy and highway bills that Congress is scheduled to pass this week before leaving for the August recess.
So many top Bush administration officials were working the Capitol last night that Democrats joked that the hallways looked like a Cabinet meeting. Cheney made an after-dinner trip to the second floor of the Capitol and stayed until shortly after 10 p.m., meeting with members...
Foes retorted that CAFTA differs from accords such as the ones with Morocco and Australia. "This is the first agreement in which we would move backwards in enforcing international labor standards," said Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin (D-Md.), noting that the provisions protecting worker rights are weaker than those under the Caribbean pact.
*source* (http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/28/business/worldbusiness/28trade.html)
The New York
[email protected] 28, 2005
[T]he end result did not come without some drama. The voting took almost an hour as Republicans pressured about 8 to 10 members. The count seemed to stall after about 30 minutes with the tally at 214 in favor and 211 against, and a handful of votes outstanding.
For the next half-hour, Republicans, mostly from textile states, jockeyed over who would be allowed to vote against the bill and save face back home. The final count came minutes after midnight...
Passage of the bill came only after intense pressure from Mr. Bush, who made a last-minute trip to the Capitol on Wednesday morning, and after deals with reluctant lawmakers from textile-producing states, sugar-growing areas and industrial states like Illinois, Ohio and Pennsylvania...
The treaty has also been the focus of a power struggle between Mr. Bush, who championed it as a model for expanding free trade, and Democratic lawmakers who argued that it would encourage American companies to shift jobs out of this country while doing little to elevate the working standards of Central Americans...
Democrats charged that Mr. Bush has missed an opportunity to elevate labor practices in Central American nations, predicting that the pact would encourage American companies to shift jobs out of the United States without prodding Central American countries to offer livable wages and basic protections for workers...
But some textile industry groups, particularly those that represent producers of finished products rather than yarn or fabric, were furious and vowed to punish those who had changed their views...