Edwards takes on trade deals and 'corporate Democrats'

[DeepModem Mom]

CNN/AP: Edwards takes on trade deals and 'corporate Democrats'

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Democrat John Edwards blamed Bill Clinton's administration Saturday for trade agreements unpopular with labor unions and warned against electing "corporate Democrats."

The Democratic presidential hopeful, speaking to union carpenters, tied rival Hillary Rodham Clinton to the business interests that unions claim were served by her husband's trade liberalization, to the detriment of workers. Edwards described the North American Free Trade Agreement as a blow to the middle class that President Clinton put in place while the first lady was failing in her mission to reform health care. "In the 1990s, we didn't get universal health care, which we needed," he said. "We got NAFTA, which we didn't need.

"I think we've been asking the wrong questions about these proposed trade deals," he added. "The question seems to have been, 'Is this trade deal good for the profits of big multinational corporations?" Edwards said his administration would ask, "Is this trade deal good for jobs and for working, middle-class America?"

The former North Carolina senator says he would renegotiate the 1993 deal that lowered trade barriers among the U.S., Canada and Mexico. New York Sen. Clinton said recently that trade agreements, including NAFTA, should be reviewed every five years to make sure "they're meeting their goals or to make adjustments if they are not."

Edwards described the stakes of the presidential race in stark terms, asking the crowd if they want to live in a country made up of "a few rich people and everybody else." He suggested his Democratic rivals would not serve the interests of workers. "Do you want to trade a crowd of corporate Republicans that are running this country now for a crowd of corporate Democrats?" he asked. "That's not us."...

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2007/10/20/edwards-takes-on-trade-deals-and-corporate-democrats/#more-2633

[MannyGoldstein]

1. How's His Hedge Fund Doing These Days?

Has it been hit by the subprime loan crisis?

[jsamuel]

3. Sounds like he hit a nerve...

[liskddksil]

5. Hedgefund

As soon as he found out the connections that the hedgefund had with the subprime mortage operations, he divested completely from it. In addition, he used his personal money, and worked with a charity to launch a rescue fund in New Orleans.

[loudsue]

6. Quit trying to spread old rumors....DUers already know he got out of it,

when he found out where his money was going. Edwards is as straight up as any candidate we could possibly ask for, and he really does try to do the right thing.

:kick:

[Dewlso]

2. He speaks Truth

At least he is addressing the fact that the middle and lower classes have lost ALOT of jobs because of NAFTA. How many jobs have been lost to Mexico? What have the other candidates suggested about fixing this trend? This IS a problem and bush expanding it to central american countries doesn't help.

I would like to see the other candidates address this problem. I want to here how they will help replace the manufacturing jobs we have lost. Are they going to help those workers who lost jobs by providing them with education assistance? What about retraining for a different job? Edwards is a good man who apparently has the pulse of the middle and lower classes.

[DeepModem Mom]

4. Thanks for your post, Dewlso -- and welcome to DU!!!

[Vidar]

7. Great post, Dewlso & welcome to DU. Kucinich is my candidate,

but Edwards looks better & better when the corporate types manage to shut Dennis down.

[MaggieSwanson]

8. Kucinich's take:

Dennis Kucinich will:


1) Double the tax refunds and credits for Americans earning $80,000 and less by shifting the tax burden to where it belongs: on the financial assets and windfall gains of those who have benefited most from our economic and legal system.

2) Deliver the only practical, proven plan to secure health care for all Americans. H.R. 676 co-authored by Dennis is endorsed by tens of thousands of doctors and nurses because they know the employer-based, for-profit system that comes between doctors and their patients must be retired alongside the Model-T.

3) Produce millions of middle class jobs with a new public works program combining the infrastructure and energy needs of our country. A Works Green Administration (WGA) will come from joining a Works Program Administration with the Environmental Protection Agency.

4) Save American jobs by withdrawing from job-killing trade deals like the North American Free Trade Area (NAFTA) and organizations like the World Trade Organization (WTO) and return to bilateral trade agreements based on securing workers’ rights and the environment.

5) Provide universal education to all Americans from pre-school through college.

6) Restore robust, effective collective bargaining by repealing the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947, rewriting the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) to remove the severely anti-labor sections and restaffing the National Labor Relations Board with pro-labor appointees.

7) Reward patriotic companies and employers who keep jobs and capital in the United States with tax incentives.

8) Pay for all these programs by eliminating waste from our bloated, inefficient military budget, shift the tax burden to those who can most afford it and saving hundreds of billions in health care costs by the money spent by the insurance industry excluding people from coverage and paying for profits and exorbitant salaries.


http://www.dennis4president.com/go/issues/survival-of-the-middle-class/

and...

Democratic Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich told audiences in California and Oregon yesterday that the United States would not be able to resolve its economic and immigration issues until it resolves its trade policies, and he renewed his promise that his first act in office will be to cancel the United States’ participation in NAFTA and the WTO.

http://www.dennis4president.com/go/newsroom/kucinich-links-economic,-immigration-problems-to-trade-issues/

[Triana]

9. YES Edwards does. As ONLY Edwards can and ONLY Edwards WILL

...which is why he gets MY vote.