Jobs remain primary issue for Ohioans (Trade deals among factors affecting presidential race)

[Omaha Steve]

http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080302/NEWS09/803020333

Article published Sunday, March 2, 2008
ELECTION 2008

The loss of jobs from Ohio's factory towns and cities - 206,400 since 1994 - has put the state's economy and a struggling middle class at the center of the presidential campaign.

The flash point of the debate is NAFTA - the North American Free Trade Agreement that was enacted in 1993.

But that's not all that has knocked the wind out of Ohio's economic sails.

Critics from the management point of view say Ohio's high labor costs and pension and health-care obligations have gone through a market correction, and the state is remaking itself leaner and nimbler - thanks to international trade agreements.

Organized labor says Ohioans suffered unnecessarily as a result of international trade agreements that have encouraged, or forced, U.S. manufacturers to set up factories or to do business with factories in countries with cheap labor and nonexistent environmental rules.

FULL story at link.

[BearSquirrel2]

1. Remember Hillary isn't a woman on an Island ...

Remember that Hillary is not a woman on an island. When you vote Clinton, you vote for the "Clinton Family" that encompasses all the politicos they worked with. If you take away the media consolidation and free trade deals, I think they did real well. But if Hillary is in, count on having pretty much the same team or their proteges back running things again.

With an Obama presidency, I think you'll see an eclectic Lincoln style cabinet. This would eliminate a lot of the groupthink and pandering.

[namsdubmo]

2. Hillary defends outsourcing in India

Hillary clears outsourcing air

Hillary Clinton made it apparent where she stood on outsourcing during her India visit, in an attempt perhaps to clear the Indian misgivings received during the Kerry campaign. "There is no way to legislate against reality. Outsourcing will continue," she told an audience of Indian big-wigs. She pointed out that there were 3 billion people who feel left behind and are trying to attack the modern world in the hope of turning the clock back on globalization. "It is not far-fetched to imagine ... if the Indian miracle would be the one of choice of those who feel left behind," said Hillary.

Hillary has been at the forefront in defending free trade and outsourcing. During the height of the anti-outsourcing backlash in the US last year, she faced considerable flak for defending Indian software giant Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) for opening a center in Buffalo, New York. "We are not against all outsourcing; we are not in favor of putting up fences," Hillary said firmly, despite inevitably invoking the ire of the anti-free trade brigade.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/GC01Df03.html

(It's nice that she speaks to workers telling them she will fight for them. It would be even nicer if she did it in her own country)