Posted on 03/11/2008 9:33:27 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
ST. LOUIS (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate John McCain criticized his Democratic rivals on Tuesday for pledging to renegotiate a hemispheric trade treaty that Democrats blame for U.S. manufacturing job losses.
At a town-hall meeting in St. Louis, the Arizona senator also called for the Democratic-controlled U.S. Congress to approve a free-trade treaty with Colombia that is being stymied on Capitol Hill.
"On trade, I'm a free trader," McCain told employees at Savvis Internet company, a session dominated by questions about the ailing U.S. economy.
McCain, the likely Republican nominee to run in the November election, is spending the week hop-scotching across several states raising money for his cash-strapped campaign ahead of a trip to the Middle East and Europe next week.
McCain, going to Jerusalem, London and Paris as part of a congressional delegation, said he would talk to NATO allies about Afghanistan and the need to do a better job in fighting the return of the Taliban.
He said he would reaffirm relationships he has with leaders there but would not intervene in U.S. efforts to arrange peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
"I just don't think it's appropriate for me to do so. But I certainly will be brought up to date and made aware of the, frankly, deterioration of the situation," he said.
In recent weeks, both Democratic rivals Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have increased their criticism of the North American Free Trade Agreement linking the U.S. economy with those of Canada and Mexico.
They pledged to pull the United States out of the NAFTA agreement if Mexico and Canada did not agree to renegotiate it. Critics blame NAFTA, China's accession to the World Trade Organization and other trade agreements for many of the roughly 3 million manufacturing jobs the United States has lost since 2000.
"I do not believe in isolationism and protectionism," McCain said. "We've got to stop this protectionist NAFTA-bashing."
The Bush administration -- noting that U.S. manufacturing output and exports set records last year -- argues that increased worker productivity and advances in manufacturing technology account for many of the lost jobs.
U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab argues NAFTA had been good for all three countries and warned reopening it could backfire on the United States.
McCain said promoting green technologies would help the U.S. economy rebound from manufacturing job losses.
"The moral of the story is, my friends, is we're not going back to the old manufacturing base of the economy," he said.
Any business that manufactures in China is akin to the manufacturers who supported the Nazis. China’s record on human rights is awful, and they are a threat to our security.
I think McCain must be tone deaf in terms of politics. The NAFTA issue basically gave Hillary the win in Ohio-a crucial Republican state. Go figure.
How many other innocent people have been convicted?
And how many people did the Clintons murder?
You think its ok for the U.S. government to loot 1/2 of our income for ridiculous government grants,projects and studies?
The U.S. government under the direction of Democrats haven't allowed companies to build refineries or drill for oil etc.
The U.S. government has allowed an invasion from Mexico to happen.
The U.S. government has assisted in the genocide of 40 million unborn babies.
The U.S. government hasn't stopped crime, drugs, illegal immigration but takes away our right to defend ourselves by carrying guns.
The U.S. government and McCain with McCain-Feingold took away our freedom of speech.
These are God given inalienable rights that no government has the right to take.
Is it ok for the U.S. government to take away capital and investment and money from the most productive sectors of the economy ( the most productive sectors of the private sector) and put trillions to wastefull and useless government program s many of which make people lazier like Medicaid and welfare? I could go on but what's the use.
In fact almost every problem in the U.S. could be traced to something the U.S. government has done.
Yeah, lower tariffs and reduced barriers to trade are terrible.
Exactly! Just like Bill had to do something about his middle class tax cuts. LOL!
How many other innocent people have been convicted?
And how many people did the Clintons murder?
You think its ok for the U.S. government to loot 1/2 of our income for ridiculous government grants,projects and studies?
The U.S. government under the direction of Democrats haven't allowed companies to build refineries or drill for oil etc.
The U.S. government has allowed an invasion from Mexico to happen.
The U.S. government has assisted in the genocide of 40 million unborn babies.
The U.S. government hasn't stopped crime, drugs, illegal immigration but takes away our right to defend ourselves by carrying guns.
The U.S. government and McCain with McCain-Feingold took away our freedom of speech.
These are God given inalienable rights that no government has the right to take.
The U.S. government has burdened businesses and individuals with so many environmental laws, taxes, and regulations that they can't compete in the world economy and our standard of living is going down. Is it ok for the U.S. government to take away capital and investment and money from the most productive sectors of the economy ( the most productive sectors of the private sector) and put trillions to wastefull and useless government program s many of which make people lazier like Medicaid and welfare? I could go on but what's the use.
In fact almost every problem in the U.S. could be traced to something the U.S. government has done.
Doesn’t McCain’s global-speak make you feel all warm and fuzzy, my fellow Republicans?
You must be kidding...China regularly harvests organs from living victims, they murder woman who dare to have more children than allowed, they murder political prisoners, they stifle free speech, have no free press and they are using our lovely money to build weapons which will one day be used against us.
The US is not perfect, but for you to suggest that there is any similarity between us and China is insulting. As for free speech-that bastion of free trade Bill Gates (Microsoft) helped the Chinese catch those who talked against Chinese leaders on the computer. These Chinese posters are all imprisoned many are dead.
If you recall Bill had ‘targeted’ tax cuts. It wasn’t much, but he did something. Why should I vote for McCain who will only hurt manufacturing worse than ever?
The Mexican people now have access to lower cost food and greater variety and you think that's bad for them? Do you think higher priced food is beneficial to the people who can least afford it? If we built a fence along the border and truly punished businesses who knowingly hire illegals we wouldn't have such a problem with illegals from Mexico. Your problem is with the weak kneed politicians who won't protect our borders; not with a trade agreement that has benefited all parties.
It doesn’t matter what food cost when you don’t have a job. My problem is with NAFTA and other trade deals that take jobs from Americans. This is going to be a big issue in the coming election, and John McCain is on the wrong side.
If you think China is so much superior then move there.
The growth of the U.S. government is the worst threat we face.
Every day we lose more of our freedoms and treasure.
The way the U.S. government is going is on the road to becoming a socialist state. Now any prosecutor or the IRS can prosecute an innocent man but in a few years the oppresion will increase as it is inevitable with the rapid growth of government size and power at all levels in the U.S.
Everyone knows that Capitalism = Freedom.
Capitalism is a social system based on the principle of individual rights.The term capitalism is used here in the broader philosophical political sense, and not in the narrower economic sense, i.e. a free-market.
China with its free market reforms and allowing foreign investment and private companies is going the opposite way the U.S. is going toward capitalism.
Yes the Chineese government has done evil but nothing you can say can make me believe that the growth of the U.S. government is not an evil thing as it will lead to socialism.
I am not a fan of any government.
I’m a capitalist.
I thought McCain wanted to cut corporate taxes? I thought he wanted to make the Bush tax cuts permanent?
I thought Hillary and Obama wanted to let the cuts expire and wanted to raise corporate taxes?
I'll let you decide which actions are worse for American manufacturers.
Just like it did for Gore in 2000 and Kerry in 2004? Could it possibly have something to to do with the unions, or Ohio taxes, or onerous and excessive regulation? No, that would require some semblance of personal responsibility.
The easier road to take is to just blame it all on NAFTA. Maybe you weren't aware that manufacturing jobs increased in this country for the seven years that followed the approval of NAFTA. You seem intent on blaming something other than the cause. If so, why not join John Kerry by blaming it on Benedict Arnold CEO's?
You assume that cutting corporate taxes will help manufacturing. It won’t as long as overseas markets remain closed to American business and as long as Japan, Europe and others are allowed to subsidize their business. It will merely help those moving job overseas. They will have to pay less for the problems they create-unemployment, health
care etc.
The growth of the U.S. government is the worst threat we face.
Every day we lose more of our freedoms and treasure.
The way the U.S. government is going is on the road to becoming a socialist state. Now any prosecutor or the IRS can prosecute an innocent man but in a few years the oppresion will increase as it is inevitable with the rapid growth of government size and power at all levels in the U.S.
Everyone knows that Capitalism = Freedom.
Capitalism is a social system based on the principle of individual rights.The term capitalism is used here in the broader philosophical political sense, and not in the narrower economic sense, i.e. a free-market.
China with its free market reforms and allowing foreign investment and private companies is going the opposite way the U.S. is going toward capitalism.
Yes the Chineese government has done evil but nothing you can say can make me believe that the growth of the U.S. government is not an evil thing as it will lead to socialism.
I am not a fan of any government.
I’m a capitalist. http://www.capitalism.org/
The war was front and center in 2004-security. This is not the case today. The economy and NAFTA are big issues. McCain will lose Ohio because of his ill advised comments in this post and will lose the election.
Capitalism does not = freedom. We trade with dictators.
Look NAFTA and all the so called capitalism/free trade will cause bigger government. People will demand government health care if they can’t get it any other way...ironically what you support will lead to a huge jump in big government.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.