'Repeal NAFTA' can be our '10 version of Rethugs '94 "Contract w America" and turn our party left.

[Union Yes]

Think POPULISM.

Think working class. Blue collar. The little fella. The middle class. The working poor. The unemployed. Retirees. The single mother working 2-3 jobs to scratch out a meager living for her kids, if she's lucky enough to have 1 job.

I've just described 90% of DU'ers.

Populist anger is reaching a boiling point all across America. Across almost the entire political spectrum, the voters DESPISE "Free Trade".

The voters despise the fact that "Free Trade" has ravaged America and left it in a state of ruin. They despise the fact that NAFTA, CAFTA, GATT have ravaged the Manufacturing, Tech, and IT sectors of our economy. Free Trade has created mass unemployment, outsourced good paying/good benefit jobs to Mexico, CA, China, India, Taiwan, Malaysia etc. NAFTA has fueled wage deflation or low wages here in America. As a result, Free Trade has fueled the explosive growth of the wealth divide, the gap between rich and poor.

I've lived in the midwest almost my entire life, cept for my years in the Army. The midwest has been ravaged by Free Trade. Falling wages and mass unemployment are fueling the housing collapse and leaving cities with mass vacancy, dead city blocks, blight, urban decay, rural American decay.

Detroit stands on the edge of collapse, as a city.

The Midwest is being driven into a state of Serfdom. I live in the Midwest and am using it as an example. But I know full well that Free Trade has hit every one of us all across this once great land. You don't have to live in the Midwest to have felt the negative impact of Free Trade.

CAN THERE BE A MORE UNIFYING FORCE IN POLITICS TODAY THAN THE POPULIST OUTRAGE AND THE VOTERS DISGUST FOR FREE TRADE?

WANTED: A progressive Democratic candidate with the guts to make the repeal of Free Trade a leading issue of their campaign for office.

WANTED: A DNC with the guts to make the repeal of Free Trade a leading campaign issue for the party, nationwide. Make the repeal of Free Trade our 'Contract with America' in the 2010 midterm elections.

Rethugs used their Contract with America in their pathetic attempt to reach out to populist support during 1994's midterm election. The result- Rethugs captured control of both the House and Senate. That single event dramatically changed Bill Clinton's presidency.

Job creation will be key in the 2010 elections.

Could there be a better job creator than repealing Free Trade combined with a ban or heavy regulation of US companies using foreign labor then reimporting goods back into America to sell in US stores like Walmart.

Again..

Can there be a better job creator?

Repealing Free Trade combined with a ban on reimportation could bring tens of millions of jobs back to America and solve our unemployment crisis.

If only a progressive candidate would open his/her eyes and see this golden opportunity to grab hold of populist outrage and ride it to election victory. Then fight for it once elected.

If only Howard Dean and the DNC would grab hold of populist outrage across America and make the outright repeal of Free Trade and ban of reimportation a major front runner type campaign theme for the Democratic party nationwide. Our Contract with America.

Instead, today I heard on KO that the DNC wants to try paint the Rethug party as the party of Bush and make that theme the Dem's appeal to voters. That won't work in 2010. The voters are as pissed off at Dems as they are at Rethugs.

This class of Dems, the 111th, isn't currently doing itself any favors regarding voter popularity. Approval ratings are abysmally low for Dems of the 111th Congress. Voter apathy is skyrocketing among Dem party voters. Many Dem voters are threatening boycott, or voting 3rd party, or just plain sitting home on election day and not giving a hoot. Can anyone blame people for feeling this way?

We need a populist issue to bring back the voters. We're losing the swing voter. We're losing the moderate voter. We need a real issue to bring them back and do something meaningful for all people.

That issue is the repeal of Free Trade. We can turn our party more progressive in the process by giving progressive candidates an incredibly unifying and popular campaign theme to run on.

Not only can progressive candidates grasp populist support but they can paint their Rethug opponents as Pro-Free Traders and make Rethugs even less popular, if that's possible.

Repealing Free Trade is..

a win for job creation.

a win for the working class.

a win for the working poor.

a win for labor. Labor is in desperate need of a win for a change.

a win for America and the strength of our nation's economy.

a winning issue for progressive candidates during both primary and general elections.

I've said it before and I'll say it again..

NAFTA, CAFTA, GATT/WTO ARE THE ENEMIES OF THE PEOPLE.

Repealing Free Trade is PATRIOTIC!

:patriot:

[Oregone]

1. Didn't you get the memo. Obama already confirmed his tough talk on NAFTA was just tough talk

Remember the primary and the leak from the Canadian government after Obama's promise to renegotiate it in the debate?

[ThomCat]

9. Right. His advisors were immediately telling the Canadian Gov.

That the tough talk was just for the US voters. He was there to reassure them that Obama really, truly didn't really have any interest or plan to touch any free trade agreement.

And lo and behold, after the election what do we see, Obama really was lying to all of us. He immediately appointed a pro-NAFTA guy to be his chief trade negotiator and revisiting any free trade agreement was Never put on his agenda.

Worse than that, he immediately started talking about implementing an Additional free trade agreement with Panama using the existing standard free trade agreement language, and because Panama is a tax haven country, having a free trade agreement with them would make their status as a corporate tax haven protected so the IRS could not do anything about it, ever. :grr:

[galileoreloaded]

13. We can't go getting all principled can we?? n/t

[Sarah Ibarruri]

2. Now that is something I can definitely get behind. nt

[Elwood P Dowd]

3. Where our our favorite DU free trade worshipers?

I'm expecting them any minute now with their corporate talking points.

[cliffordu]

4. ...And the Chinese then call in all their markers and we are bankrupt.

Cause we're already bankrupt, the world just hasn't let us know, yet.

[leftstreet]

5. 2010 will be about Healthcare

Voters aren't interested in NAFTA

[Union Yes]

6. 2010 will be about jobs. And you're dead wrong about voters not caring about Free Trade.nt

[ThomCat]

10. Like Hell.

Voters aren't so shallow that they can't think about more than one issue at a time.

Free trade has cost too many millions of people their jobs, and has lowered almost everyones standard of living. People know this and sure as hell care about it.

What world are you living in that you think people have forgotten?

Do you really, truly think that just because health care is the big issue right now that people don't care about the economy? With unemployment at the highest it has ever been since the Great Depression and still climbing, and wages still falling for people who manage to keep their jobs, and foreclosures still running rampant, and retirement accounts gone, do you really imagine that all people care about is health care?

I would love to know how you could possibly come to a truly nuts conclusion like that?

[Union Yes]

18. Man, do I agree with what you said! nt

[Captain Hilts]

7. It won't keep the jobs from running to China. nt

[Elwood P Dowd]

11. Hit them with the same tariffs and VAT they charge us, and we will see.

It's time for fair trade, not corporate written outsourcing/investment scams masquerading as so called "Free Trade".

[pampango]

16. What if Canada and Mexico, don't charge us tariffs or VAT, what do we hit them with?

If you're saying tariffs and VAT rules should be "fair" (equal? in favor of the "rich" country or the "poor" one?) that sounds great.

"Free trade" isn't really "free" anyway, since there are always limitations and regulations. Just make sure the right regulations are there and, most importantly, that they are enforced.

[Union Yes]

12. I don't think you read what I wrote about banning reimportation. nt

[Jamastiene]

8. THIS

is when I love DU the best...when we are brainstorming. I love it when we are really working and thinking and framing our debate to work for us. THIS is what the Democratic Party really is.

K&R

[Union Yes]

15. ..

:fistbump: :hi:

[mike3121]

14. You are so right

The Rethugs want to give the business community huge tax breaks for reinvestment. That's fine except they'll reinvest in factories in China! Also, they want to drill for oil. Great but they will sell the excess off to China and Japan. I'm a firm believer in higher tariffs.

[G_j]

17. K&R