Bloomberg's Amithy Shales reports that Clinton may be breaking traditional family economic standards by suggesting that too much free trade is a bad thing. Clinton said, "we can too easily be held hostage to the economic policies that are being made, not in Washington and not in the markets of New York, but in Beijing, Shanghai, Tokyo and elsewhere." LINK
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601039&refer=columnist_shlaes&sid=aH9jcjNfyxd4Hillary Clinton Creates Reason for Market Concern: Amity Shlaes
By Amity Shlaes
March 7 (Bloomberg) -- Democrats made a deal with themselves long ago. When it came to economics, they would back less government involvement abroad and more of it at home. They would push for freer trade, as Bill Clinton did for Nafta, even as they worked for higher taxes, with his decision to lift the cap on the Medicare levy. The two positions go together, just as opposing the estate tax and undermining abortion rights unite Republicans. <snip>
Being for free trade is like putting on a Brooks Brothers blazer when you go to a meeting. It makes you seem reasonable -- a little humble, maybe, but definitely reasonable. And if the Democrats seem reasonable, they have more authority to argue for arrogant, unreasonable domestic policies such as raising taxes, opening union balloting on the factory floor, or a costly universal health-care program.
Now Hillary Clinton is casting off the blazer. This past week, the Democratic candidate for president told her colleagues in the Senate
http://clinton.senate.gov/issues/economy/ http://clinton.senate.gov/news/statements/details.cfm?id=233855that too much free trade is bad -- more specifically, too much free trade of currency.... Without a new policy, the New York senator warned, ``we can too easily be held hostage to the economic policies that are being made, not in Washington and not in the markets of New York, but in Beijing, Shanghai, Tokyo and elsewhere.'' ...Clinton also sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, saying it is ``undeniable that the exponential growth of foreign debt in the last six years has undermined our economic standing.'' She is concerned about an ``erosion of U.S. sovereignty.'' Clinton asked Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to consider creating an alarm bell that would ring when foreign-owned debt crossed 25 percent of U.S. gross domestic product, or when the trade deficit crosses 5 percent of GDP. <snip>
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So - Would Hillary scare off foreign investment? She is already on record wanting labor/econ/eco conditions in future treaties. Could she get hammered by the GOP for being against pure free trade. She is only rated 17% by CATO - the pro-free traders, indicating a pro-fair trade voting record.
Hillary Quotes:
Globalization should not substitute for humanization
As with any sweeping change in history, there are those who are great proponents of globalization,
there are others who are great opponents. The real challenge is not to engage in an argument, but to try better to understand the forces that are at work and to harness those forces on behalf of society. To ensure that globalization, however one defines it, is never a substitute for humanization, never a force for marginalization, and not an enemy of the values that have long shaped our society.
Source: Remarks at The Sorbonne, Paris, France Jun 17, 1999
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.”
Source: Dean Murphy, NY Times Oct 20, 2000
(But she voted YES on free trade agreement with Oman - but the labor standards in the Oman bill - having labor standards make it a fair trade, not a free trade, bill - are the same as those in the treaty with Jordan - and )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, because Jordanian labor laws preclude protections for foreign workers (which is why AFL/CIO want actual term ILO standards written into new bills).
Voted NO on implementing CAFTA for Central America free-trade.
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 NO on extending free trade to Andean nations.
HR3009 Fast Track Trade Authority bill: To extend the Andean Trade Preference Act, to grant additional trade benefits under that Act, and for other purposes. Vote to pass a bill that would enlarge duty-free status to particular products from Colombia, Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador, renew the president's fast-track authority and reauthorize and increase a program to make accessible retraining and relocation assistance to U.S. workers hurt by trade agreements. It would also approve a five-year extension of Generalized System of Preferences and produce a refundable 70 percent tax credit for health insurance costs for displaced workers.
Reference: Bill HR.3009 ; vote number 2002-130 on May 23, 2002
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