http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/nafta/ en-us Tue, 23 Sep 2008 16:52:02 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2088581/posts We've all met Barack "Neville Chamberlain" Obama and Barack "Rev. God Damn America" Obama, so now let me introduce you to a third face: Barack "Herbert Hoover" Obama. Just as Sen. Obama learned nothing from Chamberlain and his talks with Hitler, and so proposes to talk without preconditions to Amadinejad, Fidel Castro, Hugo Chavez and the rest of the axis of evil, by like token, he's learned nothing from the lessons of Herbert Hoover and the Great Depression. Hoover was long the great nemesis of the Democratic Party, but that was perhaps before Sen. Obama's time. But Hoover is credited... The Bulletin http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2088581/posts#comment Tue, 23 Sep 2008 16:52:02 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2079260/posts WASHINGTON – The House overwhelmingly voted to end the disputed cross-border trucking pilot project yesterday, raising the possibility that Congress could shut down the program before year's end. In a 395-18 vote, the House approved legislation to bar the U.S. Department of Transportation from granting authority to Mexican carriers to travel into the United States beyond a narrow commercial zone along the border. To become law, the bill would need to be approved by the Senate and signed by President Bush before the end of the year. Only last month, the administration announced plans to extend the program for two... San Diego Union Trib http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2079260/posts#comment Wed, 10 Sep 2008 19:14:38 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2078873/posts WASHINGTON — Dismissing a White House veto threat, the House voted Tuesday to end a pilot program giving Mexican trucks access to U.S. highways. The Bush administration stressed that the United States is obligated, under the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement, to open up American roads to Mexican truckers, and that terminating the year-old demonstration project would have repercussions for American trucks allowed into Mexico. Passage of the House bill, it said "would pose significant and immediate risks to U.S. interests." But the pilot project, which permits up to 500 trucks from 100 Mexican companies access to U.S. roads,... AP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2078873/posts#comment Wed, 10 Sep 2008 09:22:16 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2069882/posts Denver -- Barack Obama’s foreign policy advisor for the Western Hemisphere, Frank Sanchez, said Wednesday it is natural that a new government would want to review an agreement that has been in operation several years. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama will review the NAFTA free trade agreement with Mexico and Canada to improve it, once he is elected, Sanchez said. “We need to take a close look at NAFTA and see how to improve it...” The subject of NAFTA arose here in the Democratic National Convention within the framework of the Political Platform approved unanimously this past Monday. It authorizes... Milenio http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2069882/posts#comment Thu, 28 Aug 2008 16:10:59 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2056427/posts WASHINGTON – A controversial one-year program allowing Mexican trucks to travel deep into the United States will be extended for two more years, federal officials announced Monday. John H. Hill, administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, said the extension would allow for the collection of more data to determine whether Mexican trucks can operate safely in the United States. Opponents quickly denounced the move, which some had been expecting despite their protests that the program poses a danger on U.S. highways. Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn., chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, accused U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary... San Diego Union - Tribune http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2056427/posts#comment Mon, 4 Aug 2008 21:14:48 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2053892/posts The salmonella strain linked to a nationwide outbreak has been found in irrigation water and a serrano pepper at a Mexican farm, federal health officials said Wednesday. "We have a smoking gun, it appears," said Dr. Lonnie King who directs the center for foodborne illnesses at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Fox News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2053892/posts#comment Wed, 30 Jul 2008 20:42:50 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2044712/posts McALLEN - Barack Obama's statements that he would consider renegotiating the decade-old North American Free Trade Agreement are drawing criticism from Rio Grande Valley business leaders. The treaty, which removed most trade and investment barriers among the United States, Mexico and Canada, has quickly turned into a point of contention between Obama, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, and his Republican counterpart, John McCain, whose pro-free trade stance calls for even more NAFTA-like trade blocs - specifically with Colombia and South Korea. Obama has routinely denounced the treaty as a deal that "put special interests over workers' interests," as he said... The McAllen Monitor http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2044712/posts#comment Sun, 13 Jul 2008 07:13:22 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2041008/posts NYT shocked to find a politician instead of a virgin posted at 9:11 am on July 4, 2008 by Ed Morrissey Send to a Friend | printer-friendly The New York Times editorial board went to bed with a virgin and woke up with a … well, a pro, in milder terms, or so they seem to imply in today’s unhappy missive.  The editorial castigates Obama for his replacement of just about everything he has professed from January 2007 to May 2008 with his all-new, 50%-more-”centery” agenda that rejects everything that made him attractive to the Left in the first place. ... HotAir.Com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2041008/posts#comment Sat, 5 Jul 2008 07:01:28 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2039271/posts (RTTNews) - Presidential hopeful John McCain is heading to Latin America this week to discuss a free trade, a touchy subject for many workers in the United States whose jobs have been shipped to countries with cheaper labor costs. He has said he wants to thank Latin American countries for their efforts in fighting drug trafficking, part of the reason he supports the Colombian Free Trade Agreement. "I want to go to Colombia as it is a vital ally in our struggle against the scourge of drugs, a great amount of cocaine that comes into the United States of America,... TradingMarketNews http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2039271/posts#comment Tue, 1 Jul 2008 17:14:32 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2038158/posts It is a steel and concrete corridor that will run right through the Old Pueblo, connecting Mexico City to Edmonton, Alberta. Its purpose is to facilitate trade among the three countries and minimize traffic and congestion for residents. Or is it evidence of a move afoot to intertwine the three North American countries and blur the lines of sovereignty? That's a matter of opinion. Arizona Daily Star http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2038158/posts#comment Sun, 29 Jun 2008 14:47:06 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2035440/posts Election: Going to Canada to show appreciation doesn't seem an obvious way to win a U.S. election. But based on the fury it drew from Democrats, maybe John McCain was on to something.The Republican front-runner made an unusual trip to Ottawa, Canada, on Friday to extol the benefits of free trade with our largest trading partner. It was a gutsy way to get attention — and an obvious way to show statesmanship, given that Canada sold the U.S. $560 billion in goods and services in 2007. Not everyone agrees. Canada in fact has been stunned to find itself at the... IBD Editorials http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2035440/posts#comment Tue, 24 Jun 2008 03:25:32 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2034538/posts OTTAWA -- Sen. John McCain traveled to Canada on Friday to offer a vigorous defense of the North American Free Trade Agreement, as his campaign sought to portray rival Sen. Barack Obama as inconsistent on free trade. "For all the successes of NAFTA, we have to defend it without equivocation in political debate because it is critical to the future of so many Canadian and American workers and businesses," McCain told a crowd of several hundred at the Economic Club of Canada. "Demanding unilateral changes and threatening to abrogate an agreement that has increased trade and prosperity is nothing more... Washington Post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2034538/posts#comment Sun, 22 Jun 2008 00:25:01 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2034233/posts Yesterday, I wrote about how badly the far left were disappointed over the House Democrats’ “cave” on the FISA bill (btw, the House officially voted today to pass it, and the WaPo reports that the Senate will likely follow their lead). Most lefty blogs were filled with bloggers expressing “betrayal” and “disgust” at how House Democrats “turned their backs” on them - and, supposedly, the Constitution. The big question after the initial shock for the left was, “What does our nominee think of this shameful compromise?” They got their answer earlier this afternoon after Obama had a day to consult... Sister Toldjah http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2034233/posts#comment Sat, 21 Jun 2008 06:25:31 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2034178/posts OTTAWA (Reuters) - Republican John McCain defended the North American Free Trade Agreement in Canada on Friday during an unusual foreign trip as a U.S. presidential candidate to draw a contrast with Barack Obama, his Democratic rival in the November election. McCain, an Arizona senator who has wrapped up his party's White House nomination, said the trip was not a political one and declined to mention Obama by name during remarks before a group of Canadian business leaders and policy makers. --snip-- Trade is one of several issues that has come to the forefront of the U.S. presidential campaign as... Reuters on Yahoo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2034178/posts#comment Sat, 21 Jun 2008 01:51:09 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2033672/posts American presidential hopeful Barack Obama appears to have moderated his opposition to NAFTA just ahead of Republican rival John McCain's extraordinary visit to Canada to praise the trade pact. Mr. Obama, who said in March he would renegotiate the North American free-trade agreement if he's elected, said he might have gone too far. “Sometimes during campaigns the rhetoric gets overheated and amplified,” the Democratic nominee told Fortune magazine in an interview. Were his attacks on NAFTA a product of that brand of campaign posturing? “Politicians are always guilty of that, and I don't exempt myself,” he answered.Mr.Obama said he believes... The Globe and Mail http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2033672/posts#comment Fri, 20 Jun 2008 01:50:12 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2033629/posts Obama and NAFTA-More Lies of Just Flip-Flops ? You might remember that during the ramp-up to the Ohio Primary Senator Obama said that he would renegotiate the NAFTA treaty. The controversy that caused surrounded his lack of foresight into the effects of the renegotiation (like higher oil prices), and the side conversation one of his advisers had with the Canadian Government ( "don't worry guys this is just for show") See Canada Has Documentation That Obama Lied About NAFTA So what has the "good" Senator been doing about NAFTA since Ohio? Well that kind of depends whether you think he... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2033629/posts#comment Fri, 20 Jun 2008 00:30:15 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2033267/posts Republican John McCain is a most militantly pro-free trade presidential candidate. That fact, alone, should guarantee his defeat in Ohio and other industrial states where his strategists entertain hopes of surfing a "Reagan Democrat" crossover of working-class Democratic voters to the GOP column this fall. All that is required is that Barack Obama campaign as a critic of the North American Free Trade Agreement and other deals that have battered workers, farmers, communities and the environment in the U.S. and abroad. Unfortunately, Democrat Barack Obama, who smart signals on trade issues when he was competing with Hillary Clinton for his... The Nation via Yahoo! http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2033267/posts#comment Thu, 19 Jun 2008 12:21:27 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2032995/posts The general campaign is on, independent voters are up for grabs, and Barack Obama is toning down his populist rhetoric - at least when it comes to free trade. In an interview with Fortune to be featured in the magazine's upcoming issue, the presumptive Democratic nominee backed off his harshest attacks on the free trade agreement and indicated he didn't want to unilaterally reopen negotiations on NAFTA. "Sometimes during campaigns the rhetoric gets overheated and amplified," he conceded, after I reminded him that he had called NAFTA "devastating" and "a big mistake," despite nonpartisan studies concluding that the trade zone... cnn.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2032995/posts#comment Wed, 18 Jun 2008 21:34:58 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2032734/posts A retreat from the Texas Department of Transportation's plan to build a new multi-lane toll road through East Texas is a clear victory for Angelina County and Diboll, local officials said last week. "I'm glad they went back to the original plan," Diboll Mayor Bill Brown said. Instead of a new Trans-Texas Corridor toll road paralleling U.S. 59, Tx- DOT now plans to widen 59 with a new bypass around Diboll and Lufkin. The planned 59 bypass, needed to avoid the signalized intersections in Diboll and Lufkin, provides in the original plan four exits for Diboll. That will be good... The Diboll Free Press http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2032734/posts#comment Wed, 18 Jun 2008 12:15:43 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2032173/posts CONFER: The North American Union Over the past few years a majority of Americans have been quite disappointed with what’s happening at our Southern border. Millions of Mexicans have been allowed to illegally enter our nation and assimilate into our populace. Despite considerable uproar from legal, taxpaying citizens, our federal government has done almost nothing to rectify the situation. There has been some talk of increasing border security or maybe enforcing existing laws, but this “silent invasion” continues unchecked: For every one Mexican caught trying to illegally enter our nation, more than five make it through. This begs the question,... Lockport (NY) Union Sun & Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2032173/posts#comment Tue, 17 Jun 2008 10:50:22 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2030068/posts Vice President Dick Cheney Wednesday slammed Democrats in Congress and running for president for opposing free trade agreements and leading the country down a "very destructive path" to protectionism. In a speech before the US Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, Cheney said Democratic lawmakers, by refusing to bring the Colombian free trade agreement to a vote, were dealing a "tremendous setback" to a close US ally and causing "severe damage to our nation's credibility in the region." Led by Democrats, the House of Representatives in April delayed a vote on the trade pact in a snub to the White... AFP via Breitbart http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2030068/posts#comment Thu, 12 Jun 2008 19:13:58 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2029842/posts OTTAWA - Republican presidential candidate John McCain will give a speech next week in Canada about free trade, which could pull the country into the presidential debate once again. His presence and subject matter is bound to revive the controversy over NAFTA that embarrassed his Democratic rival, Barack Obama, earlier this year. McCain, an avowed free-trader, is to speak to the Economic Club of Canada in Ottawa on June 20, the club announced Wednesday. Obama's sincerity was called into question last March after the leak of a Canadian diplomatic memo, which summarized a meeting between senior Obama adviser Austan Goulsbee... AP on Yahoo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2029842/posts#comment Thu, 12 Jun 2008 03:09:51 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2022532/posts McALLEN - While poor Mexicans cross the border to take advantage of higher wages and a social safety net, their wealthy countrymen are seizing on the slowing U.S. economy to achieve their own American corporate dream. Anyone unfamiliar with the U.S.-Mexico border region might expect that private investment only flows from north to south. The Mexican side of the border in south Texas is loaded with factories that American companies have opened since NAFTA cleared the way for them to take advantage of inexpensive labor. But between the two countries, billions of dollars are moving in both directions each year.... Brownsville Herald/AP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2022532/posts#comment Wed, 28 May 2008 17:54:33 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2020666/posts He pleads forgetfulness to it all, but an offhand comment by Prime Minister Stephen Harper's chief of staff is blamed for kickstarting a brouhaha that briefly rattled the Democratic U.S. presidential campaign. The lingering question: Did the probe into the leak drive Ian Brodie from his job as Mr. Harper's most loyal advisor? It's doubtful, but the timing of the report's release sure is suspicious. Mr. Brodie's departure was announced internally just 48 hours before the bureaucratic arm of government cleared him of a deliberate diplomatic breach. Ironically, that news was promptly leaked. The investigation's final report had been filed... National Post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2020666/posts#comment Sat, 24 May 2008 13:00:33 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2020064/posts UNION CITY — Lower corporate and capital-gains taxes and more immigration visas for skilled workers are the keys to keeping Silicon Valley and America's economy humming into the future, business leaders told Republican presidential candidate John McCain on Thursday. Flanked by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and former eBay President and CEO Meg Whitman, the Arizona senator listened to and shot questions back at high-tech executives in a global-competitiveness round-table talk on the production floor at Finelite, a maker of lighting systems for offices and schools. "I'm here to listen and learn, a lot more than I am to be talking to... InsideBayArea.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2020064/posts#comment Fri, 23 May 2008 03:04:24 GMT