PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 11, 2011
Obama Shifts Away From Jobs Message to Promote Bush-Signed Trade Pacts Projected by Official Government Studies to Increase Trade Deficit
Statement of Lori Wallach, Director, Public Citizen’s Global Trade WatchWASHINGTON - October 11 - It is bizarre that President Barack Obama has switched from his long-awaited focus on jobs to spending effort passing three George W. Bush-signed, NAFTA-style trade deals that official government studies show will increase our trade deficit even as polls show most Americans oppose NAFTA-style trade pacts and recognize that they kill American jobs.
The only way these deals will pass is if congressional GOP lawmakers expose themselves to the foreseeable election attack ads and provide President Obama almost all of the votes; most congressional Democrats will oppose these deals, which are loved by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and despised by the Democratic base groups.
Apparently, the Obama team has a way to win re-election that does not involve Ohio or other industrial swing states. We saw with NAFTA in 1993 the dire political consequences of a Democratic president blurring distinctions between the parties on this third-rail issue of trade and jobs. And unlike NAFTA, this time, even official government studies show that these pacts will increase our trade deficit.
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Public Citizen is a national, nonprofit consumer advocacy organization founded in 1971 to represent consumer interests in Congress, the executive branch and the courts.
http://www.citizen.org/pressroom/pressroomredirect.cfm?ID=3429-------------------------------------------
Trade deal votes to divide Democrats
By Mike Lillis
October 11, 2011Congress is poised to pass trade agreements with South Korea, Panama and Colombia on Wednesday in a series of votes that will divide House Democrats.
House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) on Tuesday predicted that the trade agreements would garner support from many Democrats, despite strong opposition from some in the caucus.
The House on Tuesday approved the rule governing the three proposals, while the Senate Finance Committee also cleared the bills for floor consideration. Both chambers are expected to vote on the measures Wednesday, and President Obama has said he’ll sign them when they hit his desk.
The trade agreements, which were first negotiated during the George W. Bush administration, have languished for years over concerns that they will hurt American workers and kill jobs.
Read the full article at:
http://thehill.com/homenews/house/186899-trade-deal-votes-to-divide-democrats-------------------------------------------
Act Now: Tell Congress ‘No’ on Korea, Colombia, Panama Trade Deals
by Mike Hall
October 12, 2011Both the U.S. House and the Senate are expected to vote today on a trio of job-killing trade deals with Korea, Colombia and Panama. There’s still time to call your representative at 1-800-718-1008 and your senators at 202-224-3121 and urge them to vote “No” on the three trade deals.
Colombia remains the most deadly nation in the world for trade unionists, with 23 union leaders killed so far this year. Says Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.):
What do you get when you exercise your rights in Colombia today? You get death threats and death squad activities against you and your family.
According to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), the Korea trade deal will cost 159,000 net U.S. jobs while Panama routinely tramples workers’ rights and shelters money launderers and tax dodgers.
http://blog.aflcio.org/2011/10/12/act-now-tell-congress-no-on-korea-colombia-panama-trade-deals/