At least the Dems are actually honest about their endorsements, unlike this crowd (paging Chuck Norris, Kelsey Grammer, Adam Sandler, Dennis Miller, etc.).
Uh, no.
As Secretary of Commerce, I had the privilege to help forge new trade agreements for our country with allies in Asia and Latin America. I saw first hand the enormous challenges of building trading relationships and the enormous benefits that accrue to all sides when we succeed in opening our economies to each other’s goods and services.It’s truly hilarious that this was published on the day that Congress passed three “free” trade agreements that the Obama White House approves, since it will supposedly “put people back to work,” a piece of fact-free punditry from Jim Abrams of the AP (here), who should know better but apparently doesn’t (no room for the Obama jobs bill though, as far as those House miscreants are concerned – and in my opinion for what it’s worth, this was “snuck out the back door” in terms of corporate media reporting while the odious Joe Pitts “Let’s Let Pregnant Mothers Die Instead Of Giving Them A Life-Saving Abortion If They Need One” bill got the majority of the coverage.
But since leaving office, I have known the frustration of watching so much of America’s progress on opening markets squandered by a president who sees trade policy as either a political game or an afterthought. Unlike President Obama, Mitt Romney recognizes the importance of trade to our economic future, and I believe he has the combination of business experience, leadership, and conservative principles to put our economy back on the path of growth and job creation.
As far as the South Korea deal goes, the following should be noted from here…
…the studies by the United States International Trade Commission found that the deals would cost jobs in some industries, especially the textile industry.Turning to Panama, I give you the following here from Dylan Ratigan…
Highland Industries, a Greensboro, N.C., company that employs 680 people at two factories, manufactures a kind of fabric that is used to reinforce the roof coverings on commercial buildings like big-box stores. The massive rolls of fabric can be 12 feet wide and 5,000 yards long.
South Korean companies sell similar material at prices 15 to 20 percent below Highland’s. Bret Kelley, a Highland executive, said the company was able to compete on speed and customer service, but he said that could change if the trade agreement passed because the tariff reductions would allow South Korean companies to lower prices by another 10 percent.
“We’re quick and nimble, and we forge strong relationships, but what we’re selling is a commoditized product,” Mr. Kelley said. “Those companies will start looking away for savings of 25 and 30 percent.”
Textile industry executives are particularly incensed that for some products the deal requires the United States to end tariffs more quickly than South Korea.
The administration says there are only about two dozen such cases, and that the deal on the whole favors American companies. South Korea must eliminate tariffs immediately on 98 percent of the roughly 1,500 listed products in the textiles and apparel categories, and complete the process within five years. The United States would eliminate tariffs immediately on 87 percent of listed products, and complete the process within 10 years.
…
But many in the textile industry say the promise of a level playing field offers little comfort, because a deal between a larger economy and a smaller one inherently favors companies in the smaller country, which gain access to the larger market. South Korea’s annual consumption of goods and services is less than one-tenth the size of America’s.
“There’s not a market for our products there,” Mr. Kelley said. “We don’t have an opportunity.”
Panama is too small as an economy to really impact jobs in the United States; the real value of the FTA is strategic and has to do with American geopolitical aims. For the business community, Panama is a great place to hide their money.And as far as Columbia is concerned, Gutierrez said here about four years ago that “labor violence was no longer a problem” in the country, even though Dem Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio brought evidence in response to Gutierrez’s attention indicating that “Colombia remains the most dangerous country in the world in which to be a labor leader” (and I haven’t found any evidence showing that that situation has changed one bit).
Panama is the second largest tax haven in the world, according to a secret State Department memo released by Wikileaks. There’s a deep irony in the US relationship with Panama. The country’s cooperation in the war on drugs is considered pivotal, with the State Department arguing that Panama is more important to the US than we are to Panama (see this cable). One third of all ships are flagged in Panama, and Panama lets the US board those ships to search for drugs. But for some reason, Panama’s position as a haven for drug money is not a particular concern.
In order to move the Panama FTA, Panama decided to sign a tax information sharing treaty with the US, but most experts think this is somewhat toothless in terms of preventing tax evasion and corporate secrecy. The evidence for this are the legions of law firms that are willing to aid wealthy Americans in avoiding taxes by using the Panamanian corporate structure.
Want to know the priorities of the employers pushing for these scams (to which no Democrat should ever associate him or herself)? Check this out.
Life is short and I really don’t have the time to respond to Flowers as I should (pathetic that this woman still draws a paycheck for concocting this bilious crap). Instead, I’ll merely link to Bill Maher below, who refutes Flowers on this better than I could (courtesy of HBO).
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