NAFTA
John McCain hit Democratic rivals Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama hard today at a Town Hall Meeting in St. Louis for their recent protectionist talk on NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement:. McCain, in contrast to Obama and Clinton, described himself as a "free trader:"
Republican presidential candidate John McCain criticized his Democratic rivals on Tuesday for pledging to renegotiate a hemispheric trade treaty that Democrats blame for U.S. manufacturing job losses.
At a town-hall meeting in St. Louis, the Arizona senator also called for the Democratic-controlled U.S. Congress to approve a free-trade treaty with Colombia that is being stymied on Capitol Hill.
"On trade, I'm a free trader," McCain told employees at Savvis Internet company, a session dominated by questions about the ailing U.S. economy. . . .
In recent weeks, both Democratic rivals Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have increased their criticism of the North American Free Trade Agreement linking the U.S. economy with those of Canada and Mexico. read more »
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From JohnMcCain.com
In Case You Missed It: Cokie And Steven Roberts: "McCain Tells Truth About Trade"
"Even though eight of 10 Ohio voters said NAFTA cost the state jobs, McCain was courageous enough to tell a town-hall meeting in Rocky River: ... '[F]ree trade is the best thing that can happen to our nation. When we have practiced protectionism, it has had devastating consequences.' He's absolutely right. ... So far, on the trade issue, McCain is living up to his 'straight talk' reputation, while the Democrats are twisting the truth." -- Cokie Roberts and Steven RobertsExcerpts From "McCain Tells Truth About Trade"
By Cokie Roberts and Steven Roberts
United Features Syndicate
March 7, 2008Barack Obama lost the Democratic primary in Ohio, but there was another casualty during that campaign as well: the truth about trade.
Both Obama and Hillary Clinton blamed the North American Free Trade Agreement for the loss of more than 200,000 manufacturing jobs over the past 14 years. They even suggested scrapping the pact if Canada and Mexico don't agree to major revisions.
This might be good politics, but it's terrible policy. International commerce is a huge benefit to America, the world's largest exporting nation. Both Democrats know that, but they caved in to the close-minded, backward-looking voices in the labor movement who have turned trade into a five-letter curse word.
Contrast their pandering to the candor of John McCain, who repeated in Ohio the same message he used in Michigan: "Some of those manufacturing jobs are not coming back, and you know it and I know it."
Even though eight of 10 Ohio voters said NAFTA cost the state jobs, McCain was courageous enough to tell a town-hall meeting in Rocky River: "The economists that I know and trust and the history that I study ... says that free trade is the best thing that can happen to our nation. When we have practiced protectionism, it has had devastating consequences." read more »
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In a public event this morning, Senator McCain took both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama to task on trade.
"I want to tell our Canadian friends, I want to tell our friends in Mexico and other trading partners around the world that I will negotiate and conclude free trade agreements and I will not, I will not, after entering into solemn agreements, go and say that I will abrogate those agreements," McCain said at a corporate town hall meeting on the sprawling Dell campus north of Austin.
And both in his appearance before the workers and later during a press availability, McCain attempted to tie the importance of holding fast to NAFTA to keeping the support of the Canadians in the war on terrorism.
"I think it’s important to recognize that all these things are inter-connected," McCain told reporters, pointing to the Canadian troop presence in Afghanistan.
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