Sanders bashes Biden on trade for blue-collar votes

[brooklynite]

Politico

Sen. Bernie Sanders is pinning his hopes of winning the Democratic presidential nomination on Detroit autoworkers and Midwestern factory employees.

As the primary campaign swings toward the Rust Belt, the Vermont senator is driving a wedge between him and former Vice President Joe Biden over their starkly different trade legacies. It's an attempt to claw back support among labor unions and blue-collar workers and notch much-needed victories in states like Michigan, the biggest of six states holding primary contests on Tuesday.

In campaign speeches, press conferences and television ads, Sanders has stepped up his attacks on Biden this week over his past support for trade pacts like NAFTA and permanent normal trade relations with China — both of which, he argues, “have cost this country millions of good paying jobs and in fact have resulted in a race to the bottom.”

...snip...

“They were devastated — they were devastated by trade agreements like NAFTA” in Michigan, Sanders said this week as he sought to reset his campaign after Super Tuesday. “Joe is going to have to explain to the people and the union workers in the Midwest why he supported disastrous trade agreements.”

[Hoyt]

1. That trade junk helped elect trump in 2016.

[Thekaspervote]

2. Whip that horse!! Keep pouring out the negatives!! It's worked so well

[democrattotheend]

5. Actually, it did in 2016

It's why Bernie won Michigan in a huge upset. And it's a perfectly valid criticism, IMO. Once upon a time a lot of us thought NAFTA and CAFTA were bad too.

[Sloumeau]

3. Biden on trade:

[link:https://www.ontheissues.org/International/Joe_Biden_Free_Trade.htm|]


Every new trade agreement should have built into it what we all talk about. Environmental standards and labor standards. But we talk about it in terms of preserving jobs here, but it's also about human rights. Signing an agreement knowing they're going to exploit workers either by polluting their lungs or their drinking water and/or putting them in a position where they're getting paid a couple bucks a week. So it should be a condition to every trade agreement that we engage in.
Source: 2007 Des Moines Register Democratic Debate Dec 13, 2007


Defend Workers in Trade Negotiations: Joe Biden believes that US trade negotiations must protect American workers by insisting on basic labor and environmental standards. That's why he opposed CAFTA and fast track authority for President Bush. He will continue to fight for better labor and environmental standards in trade agreements and will oppose new trade agreements that don't meet high standards.
Source: Campaign website, www.joebiden.com, "Issues" Nov 22, 2007


If I were president, I'd shut down any imports from China, period, in terms of their toys -- flat shut it down. Imagine if this was Morocco selling us these toys, we would have shut it down a year ago. They have mortgage on our house because Bush mortgaged us to a $1 trillion to them. He is responsible for this. This is outrageous.
Source: 2007 Democratic debate at Drexel University Oct 30, 2007


Q: Would you scrap NAFTA or fix it?

A: A president's job is to create jobs, not to export jobs, and the idea that we are not willing to take the prime minister of Canada and the president of Mexico to the mat to make this agreement work is just a lack of presidential leadership. I would lead, I would do that, I would change it.
Source: 2007 AFL-CIO Democratic primary forum Aug 7, 2007


Q: What would you do to address the issues of unfair trade and the related global issue of unfair labor practices?

A: Obviously, no trade agreements that do not include workers' rights and environmental rights. But getting right to it, it seems to me that we have an incredible opportunity here to reassert America's dominance in the world economic system, and that is by significantly investing in a health care policy that takes the burden off of employers.

Rated 42% by CATO, indicating a mixed record on trade issues. (People who are totally Free Trade are rated 100%).

Joe Biden does trade on a country by country basis and on a case by case basis. He is not automatically Free Trade or NAFTA.

[Yavin4]

4. The problem with this strategy is that new trade agreements are now in place.

There's a new NAFTA, so dredging up the past is only going to do so much. Also, we've seen how disastrous trade wars can be. Feels good at the time, but it devastates farmers and other workers.