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watch the video http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-sirota/video-clinton-thinks-naf_b_72948.htmlTIME: The other thing I wanted to talk to you about was trade. You describe yourself as not a free trader or a fair trader but — CLINTON: smart, pro-American trade. TIME: But your husband was a free trader.. CLINTON: Uh-huh TIME: What's this evolution about? CLINTON: I think it's about the changing world in which we find ourselves. I believe very much in trade. Trade on balance has been very good for America.http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1584649,00.html------------------- February 1, 2007 TIME: Do you think NAFTA was the right thing to do?
CLINTON: I think NAFTA was, in principle, a good idea to try to create a better trading market between Canada and the United States and Mexico. But I think the terms that it contained, and how it was negotiated under the Bush Administration and the failure to have any tough enforcement mechanism, like pollution on our border with Mexico, for example—
TIME: That was your husband's Administration, wasn't it? Because I recall a lot of debate about it not having labor standards and environmental standards.
CLINTON: But it was inherited. NAFTA was inherited by the Clinton Administration. I believe in the general principles it represented, but what we have learned is that we have to drive a tougher bargain. Our market is the market that everybody wants to be in. We should quit giving it away so willy-nilly. I believe we need tougher enforcement of the trade agreements we already have.
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1584649,00.html
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Just last year, on Feb. 1, 2007, despite all of the evidence about the destruction of the middle class through NAFTA, Sen. Clinton said this:
"I think NAFTA was, in principle, a good idea."
Sen. Clinton went on to vote for free trade agreements with Singapore, Oman, Chile and Vietnam.
Finally, in 2000, Sen. Clinton supported "most favored nation" trade status for China despite concerns about China’s human rights record.
Of course, now that she's in the heat of a presidential race, Sen. Clinton says we need a "time-out" on trade. No one knows when this time-out will end. Maybe after the election?
Bankruptcy
With foreclosures going through the roof across America, personal bankruptcy is becoming a hot-button issue for middle-class Americans. Unfortunately, in 2001, Sen. Clinton supported reforms backed by the credit card companies making it harder for individuals to file for bankruptcy.
This was from the recent debate on MSBNC:
RUSSERT: Senator Clinton, you voted for the same 2001 bankruptcy bill that Senator Edwards just said he was wrong about. After you did that, the Consumer Federation of America said that your reversal on that bill, voting for it, was the death knell for the opponents of the bill. Do you regret that vote?
CLINTON: Sure I do, but it never became law, as you know. It got tied up. It was a bill that had some things I agreed with and other things I didn't agree with, and I was happy that it never became law.
What?!? Most people who don't support a bill vote against it. What is going on here?
Well, President Clinton vetoed this legislation in 2000 because "it was unfair to ordinary debtors and working families who fall on hard times.” Hillary Clinton supported her husband's position. So, she was against.
Then, during her US Senate campaign, Hillary Clinton received almost $210,000 in political contributions from Finance/Credit Companies, Credit Unions And Commercial Banks. Then, 2001 rolls around with these same groups pushing the bankruptcy bill and guess who votes for it?? You got it: Sen. Clinton! Here is Sen. Clinton's statement on the floor of the Senate on March 15 2001:
“Bankruptcy reform is important. I grew up with a father who worked hard to avoid having debts. In recent weeks, I have heard form many small credit unions throughout New York, hard working small lenders whose entire membership suffers when the credit union is faced with covering bankruptcy losses. <…> Reform is needed. The right kind of reform is necessary. We're on our way toward that goal, and I hope we can achieve final passage of a good bankruptcy reform bill this year.”
What were consumer groups saying about this bill?
“I’ve never seen a bill that was so one-sided,” said former senator Howard M. Metzenbaum, head of the Consumer Federation of America, a nonprofit consumer advocacy group. “The cries, claims and concerns of vulnerable Americans who have suffered a financial emergency have been drowned out by the political might of the credit card industry.”
I think I understand now. She was against it. Then for it. Then against it. Now, really against it. Sounds principled to me!
http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/1/23/152921/892
FactCheck: for NAFTA while First Lady
Supports MFN for China, despite concerns over human rights
Clinton supported most favored nation trade status despite concerns about China’s human rights record. “We have to use our our moral and material strengths in ways that serve our evolving interests,” she said. “We have to ask ourselves what hope does the global market hold for the tens of millions of victims of child labor, or for the 100 million street children without homes or families whom I’ve seen everywhere from Brazil to Mongolia who are being left to fend for themselves.”
Voted YES on establishing free trade between US & Singapore.
Vote to pass a bill that would put into effect a trade agreement between the US and Singapore. The trade agreement would reduce tariffs and trade barriers between the US and Singapore. The agreement would remove tariffs on goods and duties on textiles, and open markets for services The agreement would also establish intellectual property, environmental and labor standards.
Reference: US-Singapore Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act; Bill S.1417/HR 2739 ; vote number 2003-318 on Jul 31, 2003
Voted YES on establishing free trade between the US and Chile.
Vote to pass a bill that would put into effect a trade agreement between the US and Chile. The agreement would reduce tariffs and trade barriers between the US and Chile. The trade pact would decrease duties and tariffs on agricultural and textile products. It would also open markets for services. The trade pact would establish intellectual property safeguards and would call for enforcement of environmental and labor standards.
Reference: US-Chile Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act; Bill S.1416/HR 2738 ; vote number 2003-319 on Jul 31, 2003
Voted YES on free trade agreement with Oman.
Vote on final passage of a bill to implement the United States-Oman Free Trade Agreement.
Opponents of the bill say to vote NAY because:
International trade can confer tremendous benefits on all of its participants. Unfortunately, the Oman Free Trade Agreement fails to live up to that potential.
In 2001, the US entered into a similar trade agreement with the country of Jordan. The agreement was heralded for its progressive labor standards. However, we have recently seen in Jordan instances of foreign workers forced into slave labor, stripped of their passports, denied their wages, and compelled to work for days without rest.
These incidents have been occurring in Jordan because Jordanian labor laws preclude protections for foreign workers. My fear in Oman is that they have far weaker labor standards, and that would lend itself to even worse conditions than in Jordan.
When our trade partners are held to different, less stringent standards, no one is better off. When Omani firms can employ workers in substandard conditions, the Omani workers and American workers both lose. The playing field is not level.
Proponents of the bill say to vote YEA because:
The Oman Free Trade Agreement sends a very important message that the US strongly supports the economic development of moderate Middle Eastern nations. This is a vital message in the global war on terrorism.
Since the end of WWII, the US has accepted nonreciprocal trade concessions in order to further important Cold War and post-Cold War foreign policy objectives. Examples include offering Japan and Europe nonreciprocal access to American markets during the 1950s in order to strengthen the economies of our allies and prevent the spread of communism.
Oman is quickly running out of oil and, as a result, has launched a series of measures to reform its economy. This free-trade agreement
http://www.ontheissues.org/International/Hillary_Clinton_Free_Trade.htm
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