Bush 'Slush Fund,' Courtesy of Canada

[MrPrax]

Bush 'Slush Fund,' Courtesy of Canada

"....want to talk for a few minutes about the genesis of this agreement and one of its most important and least discussed elements. There is a bit of Watergate in this story and, as in Watergate, it is essential to follow the money. Back before Christmas, David Emerson, then minister in a Liberal government, and his ambassador in Washington, Frank McKenna, were asking what it would cost to buy peace in softwood lumber. They were adhering to all of the usual Canadian negotiating positions on this subject: protecting Chapter 19 in NAFTA, fending off onerous anti-circumvention clauses, protecting Canadian prerogatives. But, unlike any previous dispute, this one involved the accumulation of over 4 billion, now 5 billion, dollars. And there was the Byrd Amendment, which led the U.S. industry to believe that if it could just stall long enough to wear down the Canadians, while claiming title to all of the money, they could settle for a lot of it. They knew the Canadians had brought a case in U.S. courts that could prohibit them from claiming any of the money pursuant to the Byrd Amendment. They demanded a 60/40 split back at Christmas.

...

First, on April 7, the United States Court of International Trade ruled that the U.S. industry was entitled legally to no money. None of it. It was not surprising then, that 20 days later, the U.S. coalition said that it would take $500 million. It was hardly a negotiating triumph to persuade them to take $500 million, when they had become legally entitled to not a penny.
Word on the Street - Vancouver: September 24th

Second, net present value at the end of April was not the same as it was at Christmas, especially as the pot kept growing. Canadian industry had in mind a fixed sum for the coalition, maybe as much as $150 million, not half a billion. Third, it was not quite as obvious in the two and a half page term sheet of April 27, that Canada would give away everything that the previous government had been defending in order to complete a deal, because political priorities had changed so radically. And fourth, the term sheet promised a major joint initiative to improve North American competitiveness. The "remainder" -- that was the word the terms said -- would go to so-called "meritorious initiatives" in the United States.

...

So, here we have the government of Canada requiring that Canadian private parties sign over $450 million to an escrow fund slated to be conveyed to the White House. The agreement does not mention Congress, and the Bush administration says that Congress will not be involved in any way with this agreement. The government of Canada thus is making a gift of $450 million to be spent by the president. That was more than a belt buckle, even more than a stetson, on July 6th. There is only one date certain in the deal: that the planned expenditure of the $450 million must be determined by September 1.

The Tyee ...more

Well that explains a lot...a few weeks ago Emerson was throwing in the towel at the Committee hearing, and then all of a sudden, the industry came on board...hmmm.

I think we can start to see why Emerson was so important to the deal that he had to cross the floor, which in our piss poor 130 year old democracy is perfectly legal for honourable gentlemen to do dishonourable things like steal, lie and graft with sanction.

Additional link courtesy of new member lambert from his blog
http://www.correntewire.com/450_million_slush_fund_for_bush_from_canadian_lumber_deal_just_in_time_for_the_mid_terms">CorrenteWire

Homepage for CorrenteWire: http://www.correntewire.com/

[Fiendish Thingy]

1. This is "hugh"! should be in GD too!

any chance the Liberals, BQ and NDP'ers can unite to defeat the SLA slush fund legislation?