Largely forgotten in the free trade debate is the tremendous environmental cost of shipping goods long distances. Things that can be made and bought locally should be. Trade should be reserved for natural resources and specialty crops (e.g. coffee), not t-shirts and athletic shoes made in sweatshops.

Superb article, Mark. Clarification that those of us out here in the netherland have long needed. Thank you.

If you watch politics for awhile, you'll find there are some issues where both parties positions switch every time there is a change in who's in power. The constant is that the party in power always takes one position, and the party out of power always takes the opposite. When the Democrats and Republicans change positions of power, they also change positions to maintain this. This issue has been one of these.

Its very easy for the party out of power to use rhetoric around this issue in their campaigns. But, what we've seen is that since money rules American politics, the party in power always does what the money wants.

So, the Dems might be sniping at this while out of power. But don't expect anything to change when they are in power. If you doubt that, note closely that there is no movement at all by the Dems in Congress to repeal the WTO.

Columbian President Uribe chastised Obama for NOT supporting the Columbian free trade bill, but not Clinton who supposedly has the same position.

Why? Because he knows she's lying, TO US, not to him.

capitalism is NOT democratic- why are we surprised that governments and institutions embracing this religion are not democratic as well? the guiding institutions of the american nation are the corporation, the military and religion- top down deciders all. small wonder we act as we do. . .

It's not enough to be pessimistic and defeatist. It takes hard work, but so what? We need to engage in changing our culture. IF we can work together, slowly, we can persuade people to give up on these dangerous policies. One of the first things we can do is challenge the two-party duopoly by voting for alternatives. We must actively support & reward media that reports accurately and outside of the box. It's not enough to complain; we must be the agents of change.

dont worry, when you all lose your jobs to slave labor in third world countries, because BLACKWATER is hiring enforcers to work in those same countries to keep the slaves in line....of course, you will have to settle for$3/hr and all the peasants you can rape.

The whole premise of NAFTA, supposedly, was that median incomes in all three countries would rise at a faster rate. It hasn't happened.

Another assumption was that income disparities within each country would lessen. In fact, exactly the opposite has occurred.

Any surpise, then, as to why Republicans think that free trade agreements are such wonderful things?

This article shines an all the brighter light on Obama's vague assertions that he is a critique of ne-classical liberal economics. But Obama's idea of fair trade is to make it more fair for the US!

I think that the politicians who supported NAFTA and the WTO had a fair idea of its real consequences. They had to know that the system is set up to benefit corporations, banks and speculators who, in order to profit, use the above organizations dismantle the public sector infrastructures of the the countries that sign these "free trade agreements." Regular people are never the winners here or abroad and lose whatever control they had over their employment and natural resources. Privatization of everything in sight and government backed private thugs and killers to quash any dissent or real labor movements.

I have to agree with sorefeets that the neo-liberal global economy is infinitely UNdemocratic and with Ceecee_em that, until we really start working toward local (democratic) economies, we will be caught in the web of the corporate spinners.

Free Trade and WTO = Genocide. The WTO and NAFTA must die.

http://www.larouchepub.com/other/2008/3517kill_wto.html

"The following is an accounting of the crimes of the WTO-era, and of actions by agencies and figures leading up to it. What is evident, is that the conditions for the vulnerability of millions of people to hunger and now famine, were masterminded by networks with the intent to subvert nations and cause depopulation. The capstone of the whole downgrading process was the biofuels craze, with Al Gore as the top biofool, campaigning to "save the planet." Not his own man, Gore is just the pathetic puppet of the neo-British Empire crowd, intent on subverting the system of nation-states itself, now that the financial system is crumbling.

The WTO crime record can be best understood by looking back to the decades and locations where policies to promote agro-industrial production once were in effect—from the 1930s anti-Depression farm programs in the United States, to the food self-sufficiency programs of India, undertaken after its independence from the British Empire in 1947. But then, over the decades, a series of policy downshifts undercut the goal and the gains made, and decreased the volume of available food. Former high-productivity farm regions were depopulated, from the High Plains of North America, to Europe, Australia, and South America. Now one-seventh of the world's population lacks enough to eat. Against this backdrop, the story of the WTO is one of crimes against humanity, and not an academic "economics" debate.

How to stop the WTO? Nullify it. Withdraw membership. Suspend its codicils, and also those of its multilateral clones, such as NAFTA, CAFTA, and all the rest. There is no way to make any of this so-called "free" (rigged) trade fair or useful. In the face of today's food emergency, recall what the core WTO liturgy is: Nations must not keep food reserves, because this would be trade-distorting. Nations must not attempt to be food self-sufficient, because this would deny their citizens the "right to access the world market." Nations must not support their own farmers, because this harms farmers elsewhere. Nations must not use tariffs, because this denies right-of-access to your citizens by foreign producers. And so on and on. The consequences of this are genocidal, so don't debate it. Cancel it."

Does anyone think that the Democratic Party doesn't support "free trade" uber alles? OK, maybe five or so Dems oppose it.

Unfortunately, the majority of voting Democrats don't even understand the problem with sacrificing trade, labor and environmental laws to treaties drawn up by corporate lawyers.

I'm glad to hear in this article that some opposition has been effective, causing the Dems to go underground with their nefarious free trade plans. The problem is that people keep voting for these Democratic leaders who betray their constituents.

Stop voting for Democrats and Republicans, please. Say "No" to plutocracy.

Free trade can be summed up in one word: exploitation. Well, in the US, maybe 2 words: exportation (of jobs), and exploitation. Through 'free' trade mainly the richest of the rich have profited, and everyone else has lost. Some might say China has gained, but has anyone seen what industrialization is doing to their environment? 'nuff said.

ceecee_em April 24th, 2008 12:36 pm

"Largely forgotten in the free trade debate is the tremendous environmental cost of shipping goods long distances. Things that can be made and bought locally should be. Trade should be reserved for natural resources and specialty crops (e.g. coffee), not t-shirts and athletic shoes made in sweatshops."

Well said. And I agree with Rich Griffin, "It's not enough to complain; we must be the agents of change."

Change comes about when we question the status quo, then act on our own to move things in the direction we want to go. Not only in the political arena, but more importantly in our personal habits and actions. We can rant all we want about the lack of political will, but only we can supply the personal will.

The Democratic and Republican parties are corporate owned. Are we?

When someone says that they want to reopen NAFTA, you have to be very careful to listen to their rhetoric. Do they say exactly what they figure needs to be changed or are they vague in the details.

Obama says that we should alter the agreement to put in worker and environmental protections.

Clinton says that she wants to remove all "trade barriers" (whatever that means) and open up the border.

Usually the SPP is looked at as an add on to NAFTA - but make sure that it is not what the candidate means when it talks about modifying NAFTA:

Time to renegotiate NAFTA, not expand it

>by Peter Julian, Marcy Kaptur and Yeidckol Polevnsky

Launched in 2005 by the three NAFTA countries, the SPP was billed as an initiative to "develop new avenues of cooperation that will make our open societies safer and more secure, our businesses more competitive, and our economies more resilient." That sounds good, but after three years and four summits it has become increasingly clear that the SPP is an attempt to expand the reach of NAFTA using stealth to circumvent the debate our three democracies demand.

Under the SPP, these heads of state - advised solely by a body of 35 elite corporate CEOs - have committed Mexico, Canada and the U.S. to a series of regulations, rule changes and other executive decrees that are not subject to the scrutiny and oversight of the three countries' nationally elected legislative bodies. The SPP affects over 300 areas of government responsibility, from energy production and environmental protection to national security and public health.

http://rabble.ca/news_full_story.shtml?x=70313

This whole thing was preplanned between the three of them:

Re-opening NAFTA would benefit Canada: Harper

Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Tuesday that re-opening NAFTA would actually help the Canadian economy, because Canada is the biggest supplier of oil and gas to the United States.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080422/cusm_summit_080422/20080422/

Business leaders to urge public support of NAFTA

Top business leaders from Canada, the United States and Mexico will urge their governments to publicize their support of NAFTA, in an effort to counter calls by the Democratic presidential candidates to review the deal.

Tom D'Aquino, president of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives, said the three governments should do more than just refute critics of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

"(I want to see) strong affirmation of NAFTA, an agreement we should make it work even better, and the fact we should defend it publicly," he told CTV News.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080419/nafta_summit_080419/20080419/

"Under the market fundamentalist policies of neoliberalism, the international economy has been managed for the benefit of a very narrow slice of the population."

Yes - the recent Bear Stearns bailout is a perfect example...... of, by and for the wealthy.

"It has placed the U.S. Treasury and the International Monetary Fund in positions as economic overseers on a global plantation."

Yes - they're essentially the money pimps of the 21st Century economic slave trade.

There is no "free market" and there is no "democracy"!

this guy is one of top writers on the web
yes, ITZ me again,
actually i will use CAFTA to import some food into El Salvador, desperately needed lower cost meat, however of course subsidized by USA taxpayer money, we have the last laugh
fuck you idiot gringos
LOVE it payback cocksukers for the war in El Salvador paid for by bullshit military countractors,[soon to be crab bait all]
Viva Thomas Jefferson, a guy Mr Engler quotes a bit

however as Colombia is one of my fav countries, the people are unreal!! exceleete and they do NOT want this trade thingy

this trade is just for the dope dealers like Bush, Uribe, Saca of course, Dyncorp, KBR etc bring in THEIR dope, along with coca cola of course the largest still legal importer of coca leaves
only ignorant obese losers drink that crap.
anyway
this never needs to go into effect as it is wanted by that felon traitor Bush, actually his Dad,Mom and cronies want it, and still make the rules
Jr is just a evil drink, as Sr Chavez touts
and along with Bilary, I am sure they wanted it, as much $$ as they made in the Mena years

Barry Seal was a cool guy, rest in Peace

www.fairtradefish.org. for REAL facts and data and LINKS to pertinent sites
for 'the people' such as HEMP needs to be grown in all Latin countries yesterday.....

Viva El Frente
Buddha Blesses