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House Puts Off Vote on Trade Agreement
By JIM ABRAMSWASHINGTON (AP) — The Democratic-led House, in an election-year showdown with the White House, on Thursday effectively denied President Bush a vote any time soon on a free trade agreement with Colombia, a key South American ally.
"the message Democrats sent today is that no matter how steadfastly you stand with us, we will turn our backs on you when it is politically convenient." George Bush.
Bush also said that "its not in our countries interest to stiff an important ally like Colombia."
ReplyDeleteFree trade has become an emotional and greatly distorted issue in the Democratic primary campaigns, particularly in the Rust Belt. Therefore it's worth noting that this treaty would benefit us more than the Colombians.
ReplyDeleteUnder an annual agreement, their goods enter the U.S. tariff-free. Under this agreement, our goods, now taxed as high as 35 percent, would enter Colombia the same.
Politics aside, this treaty is a good deal for the U.S. and Pelosi's move sets a bad precedent.
Hostage to Politics
Millions of Colombians will thank you for your support on this issue, even if you neglect to spell it properly.
ReplyDeleteHow much of this is election year politics? Probably enough that after the election and a decent interval, the trade agreement passes.
Which is not an encouragement to vote for either or an excusal of bald mendacity, but a more optimistic, and I think realistic, appraisal of general electioneering. IOW, it's all about Bush.
The Colombian govt has gone above and beyond the call of duty; it won't be rewarded until after the election.
McCain's campaign even sent out a fund-raising appeal that said, "We cannot allow this elitist philosophy to make its way into the White House."
ReplyDeleteAt the same gathering of newspaper editors later yesterday, Obama responded to McCain by saying, "If I had to carry the banner for eight years of George Bush's failures, I'd be looking for something else to talk about, too.
"If John McCain wants to turn this election into a contest about which party is out of touch with the struggles and the hopes of working America, that's a debate I'm happy to have."
Working Class
I'll just add: Every single Congresscritter brought down for the Cook's Tour, thus far, has been a pocketed Yes vote. And we keep bringin' 'em down.
ReplyDeletewhit said...
ReplyDeleteThe proposed merger of Northwest and Delta is reminiscent of Sears and Kmart. The airlines are having a hard time competing these days and in the coming years we may hear a debate to reregulate the industry in order to assure an essential service.
I heard a debate tonight that went further, to form a national airlines. Some good points made. We do have Amtrack. Guess we could have Amcontrails. If they are starting to call for nuclear power in San Francisco, the tide is turning.
Good documentary on Walt Whitman was on tv tonight. Always did love that guy. He came from what we would call today a disfunctional family. He sure pulled his weight, and that of the others too.
Interesting part, going through his notebooks, before he broke into song with "Leaves of Grass".
Said he had a male lover for awhile. I think the truth is he had a friend and an imaginary lover. But I quess no one knows for sure. Most scholarship on the question goes to the imaginary lover side, I think.
By the way, have I missed it, or are our airlines safer now? Seems we haven't had a major air disaster in a long time, and they were a part of the landscape there for awhile.
ReplyDeleteThey're just bitter.
ReplyDeleteToday's cab driver:
ReplyDeleteAll Condi for VP.
I don't know why I get the drivers who just love talking politics. Thankfully this conversation only lasted 5 minutes or so.
In case you missed it, the race of Greens is gone from the Italian parliament. Likewise the commies. Totally gone, for the first time since WWII. This must mean something.
ReplyDeleteHow in the hell did you ever end up in a 90 min taxi drive? BWI to the District at a really bad time of day? Accident reducing lanes to one?
ReplyDelete"queue" fixed
ReplyDeleteO O
ReplyDeleteIndeed, dear host.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear an optimistic scenario for Culombia, Trish.
ReplyDelete