The CAFTA vote today was very important to Progressives

[Robbien]

We should have been spending every spare moment lobbying our representatives.

But instead of staying focused on the task, DU gets flooded with DLC and other distractors. The threads trying to get DUers attention to focus on the task got very little traffic because DUers were busy playing with the critters.


Anyone notice there are no such critters running around here now.

[ugarte]

1. The train has left the station

Big Money won as usual. I can't even think of the last time they lost.

[fooj]

2. Pretty quiet tonight!

:cry:

[ugarte]

4. Almost too quiet

like the old movie line.

[Erika]

3. Remember, the majority of Americans were against CAFTA

Many of them had no idea their reps haven't listened to them.

[Sapphire Blue]

6. They might have gotten an indication if they had called their rep.

Of course, they needed to contact their reps in order to give their reps the opportunity to listen.

[Sapphire Blue]

5. Lots of 'Oh, shit! CAFTA passed!' threads now, though... 100's of replies

... on numerous threads... Damn those 15 traitorous Democrats who voted for CAFTA! Wonder how many constituent calls those 15 Dems got?

... and all of the pre-CAFTA 'CAFTA' threads kept drowning.

[Robbien]

16. There is a very critial Energy Bill which needs to be lobbyied tommorrow

After a few DUers spending the last week trying to get people to pay attention to CAFTA and getting a response just a notch above tepid, it makes me very worried about the chances of killing the energy bill. It needs heavy focused lobbying. On CAFTA the entire grassroots from left to right were involved in the lobbying. On the Energy bill, only people to the left of the DLC cares.

Plus the critters will be back trying to disturb any lobbying.

I don't know.

[Mass]

7. Yes, but may be the progressives should be able to prioritize.

Those who tried to say that this debates (probably from GOP trolls) were disturbing from real issues were said to be naive (when people were polite).

So please, take that against the liberals and progressives here (or rather so-called liberals and progressives). This is maddening, I agree, but I am never sure what some people agenda is (some threads were so clearly from trolls and people could not resist).

[kevinmc]

8. Don't Forget to Talk About the CODEX part of it......

Will the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) finally force you to get a doctor's prescription just to buy vitamin C, or E, or other dietary supplements you currently pick up "over the counter" in America? Powerful special interests are banking on it.

Since 1995, Big Medicine has spent billions of dollars trying to get Washington to regulate your dietary supplements just as European governments do. So far, that effort has failed in America. But you may lose the battle for health freedom if CAFTA entangles the U.S. in Europe's infamous Codex Alimentarius (Codex).

And if you think CAFTA -- the bogus "free trade" agreement -- really has nothing to do with limiting the manufacture and distribution of dietary supplements, then why does it specifically mention Codex?

CAFTA, chapter 6, article 6.3.6(d) states: "The Committee shall provide a forum for consulting on issues, positions, and agendas for meetings of the WTO SPS Committee, the various Codex committees (including the Codex Alimentarius Commission), the International Plant Protection Convention, the International Office of Epizootics, and other international and regional fora and food safety and human, animal, and plant health."

On top of this, CAFTA is being shoved down Congress' throat under unconstitutional "fast track" trade-negotiation authority. That way, Congress isn't allowed to change even one word it. That means Congress must either accept the Codex language, or reject all of CAFTA. The special interests love it -- they are betting Congress doesn't have the courage to dump CAFTA.

You see, CAFTA, like NAFTA, isn't really about free trade. It's about managed trade where government gets to pick the winners and losers. In this case, major pharmaceuticals win, and you, the consumer, lose. The pharmaceutical companies want government to "manage" the dietary supplement industry under Codex in order to drive out competitors so only they can manufacture and distribute vitamin C and other dietary supplements. If that happens, as it already has in Europe, the supplements you now take will be available only by prescription and at a much higher cost -- if they are available at all.


This Link has the rest of the story plus other links you can look at:

http://www.fortliberty.org/forum/post-2646.html

[necso]

9. The distractions were

(and are -- in a broader context) many... and much appealing than CAFTA.

It's very easy to press our buttons... so very easy.

But there is little point in rubbing salt into the wounds... and little reason to suspect that our focus will be any better in the future.

Our hope lies primarily in agenda, not political skills.

[Sapphire Blue]

10. Fighting CAFTA wasn't very appealing, but bitching about its passing is?

The sad thing is, this vote was so close to the very end... could be that a few reps might have voted 'no' if enough constituents had contacted them.

Well, it's done, and we're screwed... both the US & Central America.

[Tux]

13. Shit

I tried to get a LTTE published but they wouldn't do it. I basically said that CAFTA is like NAFTA but on a larger scale. Even then, most people here would see that as treason since I don't agree with Republicans (the Party, 1984 style).

[Sapphire Blue]

14. As Stephanie Tubbs Jones said... "NAFTA, CAFTA, SHAFTA"

[necso]

17. "but bitching about its passing is?"

Oh yeah -- it's an opportunity for (some of) the various favored bashings (and the usual gratification, promotion, whining, venting, posturing, casting of pearls, silliness, etc).

Favorite sports here.

We lost. Let's try to collect ourselves, deal with it with a minimum of fuss and move on.

(I would suggest thinking about lessons learned -- but that's basically pointless.)

There are other battles (and losses) ahead.

[Sapphire Blue]

18. Tell it to US, DR, & CA workers affected by CAFTA

[necso]

19. Ok.

Hey workers, you're screwed. Hell, we're pretty much all screwed (except for those in control).

But there's no point in crying over spilt milk.

Exercise discipline and self control, be patient, fight on.

Payback will come in due time.

[Robbien]

20. Yep. Just kicked up the energy threads

Onward ho.

[fooj]

11. They are throwing shit at us from every direction.

I have never worked so hard to send e-mails and call my reps...I'm always doing something to help a little...

I'm totally not complaining. I'm just trying to say that these rat bastards never sleep. I know that I can always do more and it looks like I may have to. These SOB's play for keeps. It's hard to know where the next "Fuck you" is coming from.

Peace.

[Carolab]

12. I tried last night to prompt some last-minute action to no avail.

I had to self-kick the post.

As you noted, the DLC debate was raging (and I admit I joined in).

[Sapphire Blue]

15. Did the same thing for over a week

... complete w/'Kick' duty on CAFTA threads... mine & others.