Hillary' has a BIG problem that hasn't gotten much attention due to the recent

[Blue_Roses]

side-show this weekend. How could she hire a chief strategist who was "secretly" working a free trade deal with Colombia and she had NO idea this was going on? How so? I mean talk about a bigger story than BitterGate, what the hell is up with this? :wtf:

What else is clinging to the legs of this story? How can anyone take what she says seriously, when her own "chief strategist" is smoozing a deal:shrug:




Clinton would fix husband's NAFTA mistakes
Says the former president is smart, but he does make mistakes
Image: Hillary Clinton
AP
updated 2 hours, 32 minutes ago

PITTSBURGH - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton told manufacturers and union workers on Monday that her husband made mistakes related to the North American Free Trade Agreement that she plans to fix.

Her comment came in response to a question by a union worker at a summit sponsored by the Alliance for American Manufacturing. The worker said President Clinton had tricked them when he championed NAFTA during his presidency.

"As smart as my husband is, he does make mistakes," Clinton said. The Democratic presidential candidate said she would fix problems that have led to job losses, or would tell Canada and Mexico the United States is pulling out of the agreement.

--snip--

Clinton has been on the defensive over what she did or didn't do as first lady to promote NAFTA. Mark Penn, Clinton's chief strategist, recently was demoted after it was revealed he met with representatives of the Colombian government to help promote a free trade agreement Clinton opposes.

Touching on familiar themes, Clinton on Monday emphasized her work as a New York senator helping manufacturers in her state. She promised to step up enforcement of trade laws and stand up to China.

more...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24110966/#storyContinued

[PoliticalAmazon]

1. It's better than that, really...Clintons called on Bush Jr to not go to...

the China Olympics because of their human and worker rights violations.

But the Clintons have profitted from supporting death-squad leaders in Colombia, who have slaughtered over 2500 union activists in 10 years. Colombia is considered THE MOST DANGEROUS country for union activism.

And none of Hillary's supporters speak out against it.

[Blue_Roses]

2. why are we not hearing more about this?

Instead it's bittergate all day and all night. I'm so tired of these trite spats when something like this is looming.

[AZBlue]

4. It's this pathetic excuse we have for a "media" in this country.

If it's not scandalous or salacious, they won't cover it. Important issues and facts get swept aside.

[Raine]

11. The media is so fucking lazy

they would have to put some work into the story about the Columbia deal but it's so easy to show sound bites on "bittergate" so that's what they do. :grr:

[nichomachus]

15. There is a saying

that if you want the political reporters to eat their vegetables, you have to make sure there is nothing else on their plate. Unfortunately, some people have been loading their plate with candy -- and the occasional whopper.

[Blue_Roses]

17. lol

:rofl:

true...

[redqueen]

7. Distraction.

Not this time...

[Blue_Roses]

16. I've been doing some research on this in the past hour and there isn't

much updated on it. It's sad that so many are in the dark (me included) about what is going on with these trade agreements. We talk about China, Walmart, blah, blah, blah, but it's these "smaller" countries that slip off the radar. Where is the reporting that needs to be done on this? :banghead:

Colombia Free Trade Agreement

The U.S. and Colombia signed a Free Trade Agreement in 2006. House Democrats announced in the summer of 2007 that Colombia would need to make concrete progress against violence against trade unionists and on impunity before Congress would consider a vote on the Colombia Free Trade Agreement. The Bush Administration and the Colombian government are lobbying vigorously for a vote in 2008 but none is expected before late spring at the earliest. In April the House voted to remove the requirement that the agreement be acted on within 90 days of submission after President Bush submitted the pact without the support of congressional leaders.

The Colombia FTA (Read the full text at the USTR website) is especially controversial because of the high level of violence against Colombian trade unionists. For years, more trade unionists have been murdered in Colombia each year than in the rest of the world combined. Virtually no one has been prosecuted for these murders. The Colombian trade union movement and large sectors of civil society are opposed to the FTA, as is USLEAP. USLEAP was opposed to even initiating negotiations until significant progress had been made on violence and impunity.

Other reasons to oppose the Colombia FTA are its projected negative impact on farmers, health care, and the environment. RECALCA, the Colombian Action Network in Opposition to Free Trade and the FTAA, gives a good summary of the key problems with the agreement from a Colombian perspective in this January 2007 letter to Congressman Rangel.

more...

http://usleap.org/node/470

Bush is trying to pull another fast one on the heels of an election year. And here we are arguing about "bittergate"...:argh:

[Life Long Dem]

3. Yeah a NAFTA Study Group with Baker

[Bensthename]

5. Her biggest problem is that she has mathematically already lost and doesnt know it,.

[redqueen]

6. Is no one going to call her on the NAFTA lies?

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0803/20/sitroom.02.html

1996: "I think everybody in is favor of free and fair trade. I think NAFTA is proving its worth."



Clinton Defends NAFTA, Heads To Costa Rica Tonight
http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1997/05/07/clinton.mexico/

1997: Hillary went to Mexico and proclaimed “NAFTA is working, working for you and working for the American people… We must accelerate the pace of these efforts, to reach more people and more communities.”



Clinton Breaks With Husband's Legacy on Nafta Pact, China Trade
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601070&sid=atUKcP4eSEvY&refer=politics

1998: Hillary went before the World Economic Forum and lauded multinational corporations for mounting “a very effective business effort in the U.S. on behalf of Nafta.”



Remarks of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton to the 2002 DLC National Conversation
http://www.ndol.org/ndol_ci.cfm?kaid=106&subid=122&contentid=250750

2002: We all know the record of the DLC, the Progressive Policy Institute and, of course, the Clinton-Gore Administration. The economic recovery plan stands first and foremost as a testament to both good ideas and political courage. National service. The Brady Bill. Family Leave. NAFTA. Investment in science and technology. New markets. Charter schools. The Earned Income Tax Credit. The welfare to work partnership. The COPS program. The SAFER program. All of these came out of some very fundamental ideas about what would work.

The results speak for themselves. Those ideas were converted into policies programs that literally changed millions of lives and, I argue, changed America. Twenty two and a half million new jobs, 7 million people out of poverty,

[EVDebs]

8. Time to outsource HRC

She's already been downsized IMHO.

[knixphan]

9. true true true

There's a debate coming up, right?

[hfojvt]

10. I am not sure if I like this.

Is it a purity test? Presumably the candidate hires a strategist because they are good at strategizing. Should what they do on their off time, or the rest of their career be considered relevant? Is Penn running for office any more than Wright or Michelle Obama are? Would Penn be Chief of Staff if Clinton wins? Does political ideology have some relevance to the job of chief of staff?

[Blue_Roses]

12. It has EVERYTHING to do with the RELEVANCE of her

campaign. How can you say that? Don't stick your head in the sand when it affects your livelihood.

--snip--

"A continuing connection to Penn, whose commitment to making money as CEO of the Burson-Marsteller influence-peddling firm is obviously greater than his commitment to the blue-workers of the United States or Colombia, ought to be a disqualifier for any Democratic contender who is promising -- as Clinton does -- to set a new course on trade policy.

Bruce Raynor, the general president of UNITE HERE! -- the merged Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union that represents 450,000 workers -- offered an especially solid assessment of the very real concerns regarding the Clinton-Penn connection.

'Today, we learned the astonishing fact that the Clinton campaign's chief strategist, Mark Penn, recently met with representatives of the Colombian Government to discuss passing the Colombia Free Trade Agreement. Further, we know that Penn's firm, Burson-Marsteller, of which Penn is the CEO, is being paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to lobby for passage of this act. That Clinton's chief strategist would be working hand in hand with the government of Columbia and the Bush Administration while candidate Clinton says she opposes the agreement is truly incredible, even by today's crazy standards.

Not only is the Colombia Free Trade Agreement a continuation of the Bush Administration's failed trade policies that have benefited multinational corporations at the expense of workers and their families, but Columbia is the most dangerous place in the world to be a trade unionist. Since 1991, there have been more than 2,300 trade unionists murdered in Colombia. In 2007, there were 39 murdered and this year 13 have been murdered (if these trends continue more will be murdered in 2008 than in 2007). Since the Uribe government took office, more trade unionists have been murdered in Colombia than in the rest of the world combined! These deadly actions represent attempts made by employers, paramilitaries, guerillas, and the government to stop dissent, silence workers, and destroy the one way workers can take control of their livelihood - through their union. It is an outrage that the Bush administration even negotiated a trade agreement with Colombia in the first place.'"

more...

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/campaignmatters?pid=306884

[nichomachus]

13. Well, Karl Rove is a good strategist -- should she hire him?

There has to be a certain amount of vetting, especially someone who is key to your campaign, or it can embarrass you terribly, as it has here.

Remember that Bill Clinton made some appointments of people who had some skeletons in their closet and that came back to bite him in the ass. You would have hoped that Hillary's experience as first lady would have taught her at least that lesson.

The failure to know -- or not caring -- that Mark Penn was taking millions from her and then taking more money to work against her really calls into question her management skills.

It's not a "purity test," as you put it. It's a direct conflict of interests. Penn was taking money from both sides. I can't imagine he was giving them both the best information possible. One side or the other was getting screwed. This is why you don't hire the same lawyer to represent both sides in a lawsuit.

[hfojvt]

18. presumably Rove would not want a Democrat to win

and could not be trusted in that regard. It's not a conflict of interest unless somehow the Colombia Free Trade Agreement is central to the campaign. Given an opening like this, the Obama campaign is probably going to make it more of a central issue, but it has certainly been well below the radar up until now.

Finally, no Democrat is against ALL trade agreements are they? Wouldn't it be possible to work for Colombia to try to create or promote a trade agreement that would be acceptable?

[nichomachus]

19. None of that erases the fact it was a colossal blunder

In politics, the perception of the public is key. And this gave a very bad impression. You can defend it all you want -- and you even may be right, but that doesn't mean it's not damaging.

Just as Bill Clinton never should have been impeached. He never should have been asked the question about Monica -- and he never should have answered it. None of that erases what eventually happened.

[hfojvt]

21. it's not colossal because it is gonna stay under the radar

It was not on the nightly news. Unless the AP writes some headline stories about it or somebody starts pounding on it on "Face the Nation" or some such Sunday talk show.

I'm not trying to defend it. It just doesn't register on my outrage meter. I am just wondering out loud "why should I care?" It's a lot like whatever the Clinton supporters are trying to drum up about Rezko.

[Blue_Roses]

24. oh, is that right?

you think THIS will stay under the radar if she comes up against McCain? The repubs will burn her ass from here back to the East coast with this beauty.

[azmouse]

14. K&R

[Texas Hill Country]

20. nice deflection... "Look at the hands!!!"

[Blue_Roses]

22. that's probably how you drive too..

looking at the hands through your review mirror.:eyes:

[Scurrilous]

23. K & R

:thumbsup:

[thoughtcrime1984]

25. Obama needs to bring this up in the debate, without question

I am curious as to why Penn was working with the Columbians, myself.