Learning Lesson on Trade Agreements
For the real story about the misnomered "free" trade, NAFTA, CAFTA. etc. trade policies; Democrats, especially Democratic candidates at every level, local, state and national, should make Jonathan Tasini, David Sirota , the AFL-CIO, and Public Citizen web sites their required reading.
Lesson 1: "Free market” and “free trade” are both marketing phrases
Here's what Jonathan Tasini has consistently said about so called "free" trade:
"Will Democrats be willing to break from the false worship of the twins gods of the so-called “free market” and so-called “free trade”? This worship has made Democrats quiver, tremble and crumble in the face of policies that have been devastating to our country and the world for the past several decades, and made them incapable of advancing ideas and proposals that people so desperately need.
"Free market” and “free trade” are both marketing phrases. There is no such thing as a “free market” because every corporation in America profits thanks to subsidized public goods like education, roads, the electric power grid, and (albeit, too permissive) regulatory management of the stock market, which imposes stability and deters dishonest behavior. So-called “free trade” is a mirage—nothing is free about a global trading regime that has iron-clad protection for capital investment and corporate intellectual property, and thrives on controlling and suppressing wages of workers, particularly in China."
Lesson 2: Stop being enthralled by the slogan "globalization"
Again from Tasini, " [John] Edwards took a huge swing at corporate lobbyists by singling out the NAFTA-like Chapter 11 rights. As I explained (and Public Citizen has a much more detailed explanation): Let's say a company doing business in a country that has a party to one of these so-called "free trade" agreements believes a law violates rights or protections the company has under the trade deal. The company can take its case before a trade tribunal, which can, then, rule that a law--say an environmental law or labor--is illegal under the so-called "free trade" regime and award tax-payer dollars to corporations. And this tribunal operates behind closed doors, with no public input or scrutiny and none of the basic due process or transparency one would expect in open courts.
"Edwards' position was really important. These Chapter 11 rights are one of the most odious provisions of so-called "free trade" deals. They allow companies to undercut our democracy--laws that are passed by the people we elect can be overridden by an unaccountable, unelected tribunal. Edwards stood up and, effectively, said he would not sign trade deals with these undemocratic provisions.
"Neither Sen. Clinton or Obama have made that specific pledge. Too many people think that globalization is just a slogan to mouth without looking at the rules that are governing trade. The fact is: globalization is nothing new. We've traded ever since humans walked on the earth. We need to stop being enthralled by the slogan "globalization" and think about how we set up rules that govern those trading relationships."
Lesson 3: Remember the Dead Bodies
From David Sirota:
"Back in 1992, candidate Bill Clinton chastised the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) at events with blue-collar workers. A year later, President Clinton joined with Republican and Democratic legislators to ram NAFTA through Congress "over the dead bodies" of those same workers, as the chairman of American Express gushed at the time.
"We all remember what followed. Factories were boarded up, thousands lost jobs, wages stagnated, income inequality exploded, 19 million Mexicans were thrown into poverty, and "the dead bodies" didn't come out to vote during the next election, helping the GOP evict Democrats from Congress in 1994.
"Now comes the rerun."
Lesson 4: Lousy Trade Agreements Equal Job Losses For Each Side
From the AFL-CIO:
"In testimony submitted Sept. 11 to the Senate Finance Subcommittee on International Trade for NAFTA hearings, AFL-CIO Policy Director Thea Lee noted that 'rather than encouraging sustainable and equitable growth, NAFTA has contributed to the loss of jobs and incomes of workers, while enriching the very few.'
"Mexican workers haven’t fared any better. Real wages in Mexico are actually lower today than before NAFTA went into effect in 1994, and the number of people in poverty grew from 62 million to 69 million through 2003, Lee says."
Lesson 5: No More Investment Agreements
From Public Citizen, "...NAFTA is really an investment agreement. Its core provisions grant foreign investors a remarkable set of new rights and privileges that promote relocation abroad of factories and jobs and the privatization and deregulation of essential services, such as water, energy and health care.
"Remarkably, many of NAFTA’s most passionate boosters in Congress and among economists never read the agreement. They made their pie-in-the-sky promises of NAFTA benefits based on trade theory and ideological prejudice for anything with the term “free trade” attached to it.
"Now, over a decade later, the time for conjecture and promises is over: the data are in and they clearly show the damage NAFTA has wrought for millions of people in the U.S., Mexico and Canada.....
Conclusion
Listen up Democrats and Democratic candidates! Educate yourselves about the realities of the terribly flawed and failed US trade policies that continue to be promoted by Bush and his rubber stamping Republicans and some clueless Democrats on Capitol Hill.
Repeal NAFTA, CAFTA, Peru, and erase the clones waiting in the wings. These trade travesties have caused lost jobs, income and economic inequality, lower wages, and suffering for workers, while undemocratically subverting the US and other participating countries' rules of law with secret trade tribunals.
Lesson 1: "Free market” and “free trade” are both marketing phrases
Here's what Jonathan Tasini has consistently said about so called "free" trade:
"Will Democrats be willing to break from the false worship of the twins gods of the so-called “free market” and so-called “free trade”? This worship has made Democrats quiver, tremble and crumble in the face of policies that have been devastating to our country and the world for the past several decades, and made them incapable of advancing ideas and proposals that people so desperately need.
"Free market” and “free trade” are both marketing phrases. There is no such thing as a “free market” because every corporation in America profits thanks to subsidized public goods like education, roads, the electric power grid, and (albeit, too permissive) regulatory management of the stock market, which imposes stability and deters dishonest behavior. So-called “free trade” is a mirage—nothing is free about a global trading regime that has iron-clad protection for capital investment and corporate intellectual property, and thrives on controlling and suppressing wages of workers, particularly in China."
Lesson 2: Stop being enthralled by the slogan "globalization"
Again from Tasini, " [John] Edwards took a huge swing at corporate lobbyists by singling out the NAFTA-like Chapter 11 rights. As I explained (and Public Citizen has a much more detailed explanation): Let's say a company doing business in a country that has a party to one of these so-called "free trade" agreements believes a law violates rights or protections the company has under the trade deal. The company can take its case before a trade tribunal, which can, then, rule that a law--say an environmental law or labor--is illegal under the so-called "free trade" regime and award tax-payer dollars to corporations. And this tribunal operates behind closed doors, with no public input or scrutiny and none of the basic due process or transparency one would expect in open courts.
"Edwards' position was really important. These Chapter 11 rights are one of the most odious provisions of so-called "free trade" deals. They allow companies to undercut our democracy--laws that are passed by the people we elect can be overridden by an unaccountable, unelected tribunal. Edwards stood up and, effectively, said he would not sign trade deals with these undemocratic provisions.
"Neither Sen. Clinton or Obama have made that specific pledge. Too many people think that globalization is just a slogan to mouth without looking at the rules that are governing trade. The fact is: globalization is nothing new. We've traded ever since humans walked on the earth. We need to stop being enthralled by the slogan "globalization" and think about how we set up rules that govern those trading relationships."
Lesson 3: Remember the Dead Bodies
From David Sirota:
"Back in 1992, candidate Bill Clinton chastised the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) at events with blue-collar workers. A year later, President Clinton joined with Republican and Democratic legislators to ram NAFTA through Congress "over the dead bodies" of those same workers, as the chairman of American Express gushed at the time.
"We all remember what followed. Factories were boarded up, thousands lost jobs, wages stagnated, income inequality exploded, 19 million Mexicans were thrown into poverty, and "the dead bodies" didn't come out to vote during the next election, helping the GOP evict Democrats from Congress in 1994.
"Now comes the rerun."
Lesson 4: Lousy Trade Agreements Equal Job Losses For Each Side
From the AFL-CIO:
"In testimony submitted Sept. 11 to the Senate Finance Subcommittee on International Trade for NAFTA hearings, AFL-CIO Policy Director Thea Lee noted that 'rather than encouraging sustainable and equitable growth, NAFTA has contributed to the loss of jobs and incomes of workers, while enriching the very few.'
'NAFTA’s main outcome has been to strengthen the clout and bargaining power of multinational corporations, to limit the scope of governments to regulate in the public interest and to force workers into more direct competition with each other, while assuring them fewer rights and protections. The increased capital mobility afforded by NAFTA has hurt workers, the environment and communities in all three NAFTA countries.'
"Since 1994, the U.S. combined trade deficit with Mexico and Canada has ballooned from $9 billion to $127 billion, Lee says. The Department of Labor has certified that well over half a million U.S. workers lost their jobs due to NAFTA, and the nonprofit Economic Policy Institute (EPI) estimates the skyrocketing NAFTA trade deficit contributed to the loss of more than 1 million jobs and job opportunities.
"Mexican workers haven’t fared any better. Real wages in Mexico are actually lower today than before NAFTA went into effect in 1994, and the number of people in poverty grew from 62 million to 69 million through 2003, Lee says."
Lesson 5: No More Investment Agreements
From Public Citizen, "...NAFTA is really an investment agreement. Its core provisions grant foreign investors a remarkable set of new rights and privileges that promote relocation abroad of factories and jobs and the privatization and deregulation of essential services, such as water, energy and health care.
"Remarkably, many of NAFTA’s most passionate boosters in Congress and among economists never read the agreement. They made their pie-in-the-sky promises of NAFTA benefits based on trade theory and ideological prejudice for anything with the term “free trade” attached to it.
"Now, over a decade later, the time for conjecture and promises is over: the data are in and they clearly show the damage NAFTA has wrought for millions of people in the U.S., Mexico and Canada.....
Conclusion
Listen up Democrats and Democratic candidates! Educate yourselves about the realities of the terribly flawed and failed US trade policies that continue to be promoted by Bush and his rubber stamping Republicans and some clueless Democrats on Capitol Hill.
Repeal NAFTA, CAFTA, Peru, and erase the clones waiting in the wings. These trade travesties have caused lost jobs, income and economic inequality, lower wages, and suffering for workers, while undemocratically subverting the US and other participating countries' rules of law with secret trade tribunals.
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