[Mb-civic] Countering Doublespeak---Action and info on stopping nasty trade agreement

[ean at sbcglobal.net]

This email is about CAFTA.  Before your eyes glaze over and you press the 
delete button--stop and think.  The Bush Administration and "free trade" 
supporters are trying to push a trade agreement through Congress that will 
result in increasing poverty in Central America AND in the U.S. while 
enriching and empowering multinational corporations.  YOU have the power 
to stop this nonsense.....by reading the short outline below and then emailing 
(and better yet calling) your U.S. rep and saying "CAFTA will hurt Americans 
and the people of Central America--please oppose it!"  The link for emailing 
is
http://www.capwiz.com/thenation/mail/oneclick_compose/?alertid=7805476

and you can get your Rep's name and phone # at 
http://www.congress.org


The Online Beat by John Nichols
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat?bid=1&pid=7204
Countering Doublespeak
	
The House of Representatives is moving toward a vote on the 
proposed Central American Free Trade Agreement, and the spin 
machines of the White House and the corporate special interests - 
along with their amen corner in the media - are working overtime.

These are the days when the big lies get told - as we learned more 
than a decade ago when the Clinton White House was busy working 
with congressional Republicans to win support for the North American 
Free Trade Agreement and more recently when Congress debated 
establishing permanent normal trade relations with China.

To counter the Orwellian twists of facts and figures that are sure to 
come from the White House and its political allies, fair trade 
campaigners (www.citizenstrade.org and www.wiscotrader.org) have 
come up with a top 10 list of trade doublespeak - and the facts to 
counter it:

No. 10: Our trade deficit actually shows how strong the economy 
is.That's a lot like arguing that the more you go into debt, the richer you 
really are. Here's what happened with NAFTA: Our trade deficit with 
those countries is 12 times bigger than before the pact - it shot up from 
$9 billion in 1993 to $111 billion last year. A high trade deficit weakens 
our economy.

No. 9: CAFTA slows immigration.This same false promise was made 
under NAFTA, and we all witnessed the opposite result of increased 
immigration from Mexico. CAFTA has back-door provisions that may 
make U.S. immigration laws and visa requirements in violation of the 
agreement, and unenforceable.

No. 8: CAFTA opens a substantial market for U.S.goods.Central 
America has some of the poorest countries in the world, and the 
aggregate economy of the six CAFTA nations is minuscule. "Add up 
the six CAFTA economies and you get a market the size of New 
Haven, Conn.," points out trade analyst Alan Tonelson of the U.S. 
Business and Industry Council. Tonelson concludes that CAFTA is a 
"classic outsourcing agreement" - an arrangement in which the only 
significant U.S. export would be manufacturing jobs to poor, low-wage 
nations.

No. 7: CAFTA helps the working poor of Central America.Since 
NAFTA, real wages for Mexican workers have fallen. Over 1.5 million 
displaced Mexican subsistence farmers were turned into unemployed 
masses. Mexico is becoming poorer. Today, 40 percent of Central 
America's workers earn less than $2 a day. Their employment rights 
are routinely abused, and CAFTA will require these countries to merely 
enforce their own weak and unfair labor laws. CAFTA is about making 
corporations, not Central American workers, richer.

No. 6: CAFTA helps farmers.The poor of Central America will not be 
buying cheese from Wisconsin or corn from Iowa. Under CAFTA, 
barriers to agricultural imports from these countries would be removed 
immediately, while barriers to U.S. exports wouldn't be lifted for 
anywhere from 10 to 20 years - thereby crippling U.S. agricultural 
producers. Many state-level farm organizations publicly oppose 
CAFTA. The National Association of State Departments of Agriculture 
passed a resolution against CAFTA because farm products aren't 
adequately protected by the agreement. CAFTA will hurt the American 
farmer, but funnel money to large agribusiness corporations who do 
business overseas.

No. 5: CAFTA is essential for national security.This desperate plea by 
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of State 
Condoleezza Rice is a last-ditch effort by a failing administration to 
resuscitate CAFTA using fear and divisiveness. Short of votes in 
Congress, with a flawed strategy, they are attempting to scare the 
American people into support. Nobody really thinks al-Qaida has 
splinter cells in Costa Rica. We won't be fooled into believing Osama 
bin Laden is hiding out in the Dominican Republic.

No. 4: CAFTA is a relatively small trade agreement.CAFTA is the 
largest trade agreement before our country since NAFTA, and a critical 
steppingstone toward creation of a 34-nation Free Trade Area of the 
Americas. It has become a national referendum on failed trade policies 
of the past, and the outcome will set a course for our future dealings 
with China. For local and state government, CAFTA would become the 
highest law of the land, determining rules on procurement, health care, 
zoning and immigration.

No. 3: CAFTA helps the American worker.Just the opposite. When 
companies in other countries are allowed to race to the basement, 
employment conditions for our American workers deteriorate. We get 
less pay, fewer benefits and reduced health care coverage. CAFTA is 
the Wal-Mart of trade deals. CEOs justify actions by the need to stay 
competitive and keep prices low. Big corporations then get all the 
breaks, and the profits, while workers' rights and wages are forsaken.

No. 2: Trade deals always pass in Congress; so will CAFTA.Right now, 
a majority of House members, including a significant number of 
Republicans, oppose CAFTA. Another sizable bloc of GOP House 
members is uncommitted. For CAFTA to pass, over two dozen House 
members will have to breakcommitments to vote against it, and every 
single uncommitted member will need to vote for it. That's not likely to 
happen, as polling shows opposition to outsourcing and CAFTA is 
growing. The more Americans find out about it, the less they like it.

No. 1 doublespeak: CAFTA trade policies create jobs and stimulate 
economic growth.It's the Big Lie. When we import more, and our trade 
deficit grows, we lose jobs, and export our wealth to other countries. 
We lost an estimated 900,000 net jobs to NAFTA. Outsourcing the 
American economy to other countries is a failing strategy for our future. 



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"In times of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act."
   ---   George Orwell


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