Obama hits Clinton on NAFTA support

Jolie Rouge

Obama hits Clinton on NAFTA support
By DAVID ESPO, AP Special Correspondent
1 hour, 43 minutes ago

LORAIN, Ohio - Barack Obama accused Democratic presidential rival Hillary Rodham Clinton on Sunday of trying to walk away from a long record of support for NAFTA, the free trade agreement that he said has cost 50,000 jobs in Ohio, site of next week's primary.

At the same time, he said attempts to repeal the trade deal "would probably result in more job losses than job gains in the United States."

One day after Clinton angrily accused him of distorting her record on the North American Free Trade Agreement in mass mailings, the Illinois senator was eager to rekindle the long-distance debate, using passages from the former first lady's book as well as her own words.

"Ten years after NAFTA passed, Senator Clinton said it was good for America," Obama said. "Well, I don't think NAFTA has been good for America — and I never have."

"The fact is, she was saying great things about NAFTA until she started running for president," Obama told an audience at a factory that makes wall board, located in a working class community west of Cleveland.

Later, at a rally in Toledo, he rebutted the former first lady's statement that her husband had merely inherited NAFTA when he won the White House from former President George H.W Bush.

President Clinton "championed NAFTA," passed it through Congress and signed it into law, Obama said.

A spokesman for Clinton, Phil Singer, said the former first lady was critical of NAFTA long before she ran for president. He cited remarks from March 2000 in which she said, "What happened to NAFTA I think was we inherited an agreement that we didn't get everything we should have got out of it in my opinion. I think the NAFTA agreement was flawed."

Singer also said that in 2004 in Illinois, Obama spoke positively of the trade agreement, saying the United States had "benefited enormously" from exports under NAFTA.

The trade agreement has long been unpopular in the industrial Midwest, where critics blame it for lost jobs and shuttered factories, many of which once employed union workers who tend to vote Democratic.

Ohio and Texas both hold primaries next week, with 334 delegates combined, and former President Clinton has said publicly his wife probably needs to win both of them if she is to win the Democratic presidential nomination.

Vermont and Rhode Island also hold primaries on March 4, but have far fewer delegates and have not attracted nearly as much attention.

On another issue, Obama said he was not concerned that Republicans might attempt to depict him as unpatriotic if he becomes the Democratic nominee.

Asked about a series of events, such as not placing his hand over his heart during the national anthem, he said, "The way I will respond to it is with the truth. That I owe everything I am to this country."

He also said patriotism had more than one definition, and that Republicans had presided over a war "in which our troops did not get the body armor they needed" or were sent into the war zone without enough training.

Polls show Clinton with a narrowing lead in Ohio, where trade has long been a sensitive issue.

Its political impact has long been obvious in the state, since Democratic Rep. Tom Sawyer voted for the agreement and then lost his seat a few years later in an election in which trade was the key issue.

Sawyer supports Obama and attended his public rally in Akron on Saturday. He declined a request for an interview.

Given that backdrop, the issue is the core of Obama's drive to win the Ohio primary and possibly force Clinton from the race.

At the news conference, he said Clinton has "essentially presented herself as co-president during the Clinton years. Every good thing that happened she says she was a part of and so the notion that you can selectively pick what you take credit for and then run away from what isn't politically convenient, that doesn't make sense."

On Saturday, Clinton called attention to her plan to fix problems with NAFTA and a commitment against any future trade deals "unless they are positive for American workers."

To an audience of Boilermakers Union members and their families, Obama promised the same thing, with particular attention paid to labor and environmental concerns.

"Now, if we're honest with ourselves, we'll acknowledge that we can't stop globalization in its tracks and that some of these jobs aren't coming back," he said. "But what I refuse to accept is that we have to stand idly by while workers watch their jobs get shipped overseas."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080224/...A149zCmT2s0NUE

__________________
Laissez les bon temps rouler! Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.** a 4 day work week & sex slaves ~ I say Tyt for PRESIDENT! Not to be taken internally, literally or seriously ....Suki ebaynni IS THAT BETTER ?

Jolie Rouge

Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton told Canada their NAFTA talk was just bluster?

http://lonewacko.com/blog/archives/007510.html

According to the following report from Canada's CTV, http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNew...80227/20080227 last month a senior representative of the Barack Obama campaign called Canada's ambassador to the U.S. and informed him that, despite any anti-NAFTA statements Obama might make, it would all just be bluster and he wouldn't really mean it. Supposedly a Clinton representative made the same assurances to the Canadian government.

Both campaigns are denying it, http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmi...bama_call.html but if they had actually done it it wouldn't be much of a surprise. No doubt foreign leaders are well aware that they have no intention of drastically modifying the trade deal and would at most seek to mollify those affected through various giveaways and the like.

Note also that Obama recently spoke in code, signalling his support for Bush's SPP (spp.gov), aka "NAFTA on steroids". http://www.dallasnews.com/s/advertis...1.464da8e.html

See for yourself ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAJYMgX4JuU

__________________
Laissez les bon temps rouler! Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.** a 4 day work week & sex slaves ~ I say Tyt for PRESIDENT! Not to be taken internally, literally or seriously ....Suki ebaynni IS THAT BETTER ?

hblueeyes

The more he opens his mouth, the more I hope she wins. I was suspicious of him anyway. A first timer running for president. A man who voted for the war even though he had reservations, his words. A man who speaks about the importance of words yet he says nothing and takes whole speeches of others and say them as if they were his own and then claims that we are friends and often have an exchange of ideas. Not to mention how he blames Bush for Al Quida beiing in Iraq yet does not put the blame on Sadam who is the one who was claiming he had WMDs or know that the USA sold our surplus WWII gases and stuff to Hussain. He talks about change yet the way it looks to me is that nothing is changing. I want my government to be honest to me, put my country and countrymen first and do the right thing. He is spinning truths and half truths, avoidiing his role with shady characters and wants to feed the worlds hungry with US dollars and yet not give $$$ to those that are hungry here. How is this change. Oh, let us not forget that he wants to fight Afghanistan. So what is the difference between the war he wants to fight and the one we are fighting now?
Me

Jolie Rouge

Sadly this applies to all three of the front runners ....

__________________
Laissez les bon temps rouler! Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.** a 4 day work week & sex slaves ~ I say Tyt for PRESIDENT! Not to be taken internally, literally or seriously ....Suki ebaynni IS THAT BETTER ?

Crick

You mean Obama, McCain, and Nader! LMAO

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A true southern gentleman. Hillary in 2008!!! Political opinions offered free of charge.

hblueeyes

I agree. Why can we not get people like those of us here to run for office. Oh yeah, we do not have the $$$ it takes. As a result most politicians dont have a clue.

Obama claims he is for change, his whole campaigne revolves around change yet he has shown he is no different.

Me

Jolie Rouge

Nope - Nader is not a "Front Runner" He is a spoiler.

Looks like I am voting for Spud if we can't get a decent independant on board.

__________________
Laissez les bon temps rouler! Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.** a 4 day work week & sex slaves ~ I say Tyt for PRESIDENT! Not to be taken internally, literally or seriously ....Suki ebaynni IS THAT BETTER ?

Jolie Rouge

Mexicans say changing NAFTA may force them to move to U.S.
By Franco Ordonez, McClatchy Newspapers
Mon Mar 3, 6:17 PM ET

MEXICO CITY — Jesus Velasquez doesn't want to move to the United States . He fears, however, that he may have to if he loses his job selling avocados. Velasquez, 36, says he and his family have benefited from the North American Free Trade Agreement. For him, the alternative is to immigrate to the United States .

"The trade act is good because we have jobs," he said Sunday, speaking loudly over the clamor of hundreds of workers hauling fruits and vegetables off rumbling trucks. "If there are no jobs, more people are going to go to the U.S. I have so many friends who can't find jobs and leave."

As voters in Ohio , Texas , Rhode Island and Vermont prepare to go to the polls Tuesday, some workers and distributors at this 800-acre food market, one of the biggest in the world, are expressing concern about presidential candidates Hillary Clinton's and Barack Obama's threats to pull out of NAFTA unless it's renegotiated.

NAFTA is unpopular in Ohio , a key battleground state for Clinton and Obama, where thousands of manufacturing workers have lost jobs.

Several vendors at the Central de Abasto food market said NAFTA isn't perfect. Prices on many products have risen, and many corn farmers said they've been run out of business because of the influx of cheaper American grown corn. But overall, they say, NAFTA has been good for the country, and they worry what changes the U.S. would seek should it return to the negotiating table with Mexico and Canada .

"People are worried," said Gerardo Peralta , 55, who sells rice, nuts and condiments. "If the U.S. tries to renegotiate, they are going to do what's best for them. That could be bad for Mexico ."

Some Mexican leaders sought to downplay the candidates' statements as political rhetoric and "campaign talk."

Sen. Ricardo Garcia Cervantes said that any renegotiation of NAFTA would be based on the issues and not on the "heated statements" made by the American political candidates in hopes of gaining their party's nomination.

"In this electoral environment, one that we have to be very attentive to, we also have to be aware that many of these declarations by the Democratic candidates and Republicans are made for gaining votes," Garcia Cervantes , chairman of the Mexican Foreign Relations Commission for North America , said in a statement.

Mexico has gained because of NAFTA, according to Mexican Economy Secretary Eduardo Soto . He told a gathering last week of U.S., Canadian, and Mexican representatives that the Mexican economy has grown 51 percent because of NAFTA, that nearly 5 million jobs have been generated and that exports to the U.S. and Canada have multiplied five times.

"As representatives of the Mexican government, we do not want to insert ourselves into the U.S. political campaigns," he said. "However, we are convinced that what North America needs is more integration and not less integration. North America needs to look to the future and not return to the past."

Avocados have flourished under NAFTA, but not everyone is in favor of the trade agreement. Last month, hundreds of thousands of farmers clogged Mexico City streets with tractors to protest lifting corn tariffs under the free-trade agreement.

Corn farmers said the entry of cheap imported corn has undermined their profits, and towns are emptying because thousands of small farms have gone out of business. Many head to the U.S. illegally looking for better pay.

"It's not that we're against free trade," said Victor Suarez , the executive director of ANEC, a farmers' coalition, who helped organize the Mexico City rally. "We're in favor of free trade that is balanced— not one that is for corporations and monopolies. We want free trade that is fair for all parties involved."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20...8hOv.hPTe9IxIF

__________________
Laissez les bon temps rouler! Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.** a 4 day work week & sex slaves ~ I say Tyt for PRESIDENT! Not to be taken internally, literally or seriously ....Suki ebaynni IS THAT BETTER ?

Jolie Rouge

First lady records show Clinton promoted NAFTA
By Steve Holland
Wed Mar 19, 6:05 PM ET



WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton now argues that the North American Free Trade Agreement needs to be renegotiated, but newly released records showed on Wednesday she promoted its passage.

The National Archives and the Clinton presidential library jointly released more than 11,000 pages of Clinton's daily schedule as first lady from 1993 to 2001.

The release came in response to charges that she is overly secretive, and also allowed her campaign to promote her argument that she gained valuable White House experience during her years as first lady.

Clinton and Obama are battling to win Pennsylvania on April 22, the next contest in a closely fought campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination to face Republican John McCain in the November election.

The documents clearly indicated that Clinton had a powerful role at the White House, frequently meeting foreign leaders and presiding over meetings.

The NAFTA agreement, linking trade between the United States, Canada and Mexico, was considered a major accomplishment by President Bill Clinton in 1994.

But now many Americans blame the agreement for the loss of thousands of U.S. manufacturing jobs.

NAFTA has become such an issue on the Democratic presidential campaign trail that both Clinton and rival Barack Obama have vowed to renegotiate it.

The former first lady's records showed first lady Clinton worked on behalf of the accord.

Among the thousands of details of daily life for Clinton, there was a November 10, 1993, entry -- a "NAFTA Briefing drop-by," in Room 450 of the executive office building next door to the White House, closed to the news media.

Approximately 120 people were expected to attend the briefing, and Clinton was to be introduced by White House aide Alexis Herman for brief remarks concluding the program.

LEWINSKY, RICH REMINDERS

The documents, while a mundane accounting of Clinton's daily movements, brought back some reminders of the Clintons' White House tenure.

On January 26, 1998, for example, the day Bill Clinton declared "I did not have sexual relations with that woman," Monica Lewinsky, first lady Clinton had a busy day, including a round-table discussion with students from her alma mater, Wellesley College.

Later she went to New York for an education event, and spent the night at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel. The weather forecast on that day's schedule said, "Mostly cloudy. High 37. Low 27.

When Hillary Clinton appeared at a January 1999 event at the Kennedy Center, it was Beth Dozoretz who escorted her to her seat, according to the records.

Dozoretz two years later was reportedly linked to a last-minute drive that succeeded in persuading President Clinton to grant a pardon to fugitive financier Marc Rich, a decision that has haunted Clinton in his post-White House days.

The documents also showed the first lady got herself quickly immersed in what would be a failed attempt to revamp the U.S. health care system.

Clinton's first known meeting to discuss health care came just three days after President Clinton's January 20, 1993, inauguration, according to the records.

(To read more about the U.S. political campaign, visit Reuters "Tales from the Trail: 2008" online at http://blogs.reuters.com/trail08/

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080319/...baEsLmsOis0NUE

__________________
Laissez les bon temps rouler! Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.** a 4 day work week & sex slaves ~ I say Tyt for PRESIDENT! Not to be taken internally, literally or seriously ....Suki ebaynni IS THAT BETTER ?