[Vision2020] Politicians Taking Heat on Trade Laws in NC
Tim Lohrmann
timlohr@yahoo.com
Mon, 25 Aug 2003 22:19:36 -0700 (PDT)
Donovan,
Those are premature predictions, bubba.
We're a year from the elections--several political
eons.
Can't carry Fla. against whom? Howard Dean? I beg
to differ.
With the whole northern part of the state freaked
about gay marriage and other social issues that the
GOP will raise and 93% of the Cuban-Americans in the
Miami area block voting for W with a huge turnout, I
believe W could win nicely. The same strategy could be
used against several possible Demo nominees.
What about a "bruising" Demo. primary season
leaving a whole heckuva lot of Demos PO'd and
unmotivated to work for the eventual nominee?
What if the Demos dis Sharpton and irritate the
heck out of a number of black leaders who in turn
advocate a black voter stay at home strategy on
election day?
What if the economy starts springing back around
just at the right time for ole W?
What if Cruz Bustamante wins the CA Gov. election
and things not only don't get better but deteriorate
out there? Then the Demos might have to invest heavily
just to carry CA, a state they're sunk
without--leaving other close states open for GOP
attack.
A bunch of "what-if's" I know, but if one of more
of them happen like they very well could, your
prediction could look pretty silly.
And those are just a few off the top of my head.
The point is anything can and will happen in 14
months. It's waaaay too early to write anyone off.
Especially not a sitting Pres.
Not when the Demos are still struggling to find anyone
who is even interested in learning the names of their
candidates.
TL
--- Donovan Arnold <donovanarnold@hotmail.com> wrote:
> Bush Jr. is only a one term president. He is gone.
> There is no way he can
> win Florida again. He can't get 270 electoral votes.
>
> Donovan J Arnold
>
> >From: Tim Lohrmann <timlohr@yahoo.com>
> >To: vision2020@moscow.com
> >Subject: [Vision2020] Politicians Taking Heat on
> Trade Laws in NC
> >Date: Mon, 25 Aug 2003 21:09:29 -0700 (PDT)
> >
> >Looks like GOP'ers and Demos alike are finally
> going
> >to face the music for this so-called "Free" trade
> >globaloney.
> >At least in the Carolinas.
> > TL
> >
> >
> >
> >CHARLOTTE OBSERVER.COM
> > > Posted on Mon, Aug. 25, 2003
> > >
> > > Politicians taking heat on trade laws
> > > Workers, execs criticize Bush, lawmakers over
> loss
> > > of factory jobs
> > > JIM MORRILL & RONNIE GLASSBERG
> > > Staff Writers
> > >
> > > Days after the collapse of Pillowtex, Republican
> > > U.S. Rep. Robin Hayes
> > > walked into a Kannapolis auditorium to meet with
> > > former workers.
> > >
> > > "Thanks for sending the jobs overseas, Robin!"
> > > shouted Brenda Miller, a
> > > longtime worker at the textile giant's Salisbury
> > > plant.
> > >
> > > Her taunt was part of a loud, growing backlash
> > > against politicians who
> > > supported trade policies largely blamed for the
> loss
> > > of more than
> > > 180,000 Carolinas manufacturing jobs since
> January
> > > 2001, when President
> > > Bush took office.
> > >
> > > As unemployment rises in both states, newly
> militant
> > > executives are
> > > criticizing Bush and planning unprecedented
> > > education and voter drives,
> > > promising to make sure workers know who's on
> their
> > > side and who's not.
> > >
> > > "We're seeing a new dynamic where the executives
> and
> > > employees are both
> > > beginning to see a real threat to their
> interests,"
> > > says Fred Reese,
> > > president of Western N.C. Industries, an
> employer
> > > association. "You're
> > > going to see people who traditionally voted
> > > Republican switch over."
> > >
> > > Jobs, or the lack of them, are an issue across
> the
> > > country. Democrats
> > > are hoping that 2004 becomes a repeat of 1992,
> when
> > > Bill Clinton's
> > > intense focus on the sour economy helped unseat
> the
> > > first President Bush.
> > >
> > > In 2000, the Carolinas were George W. Bush
> country:
> > > he won more than 56
> > > percent of the vote in each state. But mounting
> job
> > > losses have taken
> > > their toll on the president, an unabashed
> > > free-trader, and threaten
> > > other trade supporters, particularly in the
> South.
> > >
> > > Andy Warlick, CEO of Parkdale Mills in Gaston
> > > County, voted for Bush in
> > > 2000. Next year, he says, he doubts he will.
> > >
> > > "He made a lot of promises and he hasn't
> delivered
> > > on any of them,"
> > > Warlick says. "I've had some first-hand
> experience
> > > of him sending down
> > > trade and commerce officials ... but they're
> just
> > > photo ops. ... It's
> > > empty rhetoric."
> > >
> > > One of the top reasons for the dismal Carolinas
> > > economy: foreign trade.
> > >
> > > Since 1993, when Congress passed the
> Clinton-backed
> > > North American Free
> > > Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, jobs in many
> industries
> > > have fled overseas.
> > > For example, about half the textile and apparel
> jobs
> > > that existed in
> > > 1994 are gone. Critics say "fast-track" trade
> > > authority and other trade
> > > measures President Bush pushed through with
> Vietnam
> > > and other countries
> > > can potentially add to the losses.
> > >
> > > Experts say the end to quotas on Chinese
> imports,
> > > scheduled to expire at
> > > the end of 2004, could cost 127,000 more textile
> > > jobs over the next
> > > three years in the Carolinas alone.
> > >
> > > "They're sending all our jobs overseas," says
> Leslie
> > > Barrett, one of
> > > nearly 5,000 Pillowtex workers who lost their
> jobs
> > > in the state's
> > > largest layoff. "There are not enough jobs here,
> and
> > > then there are all
> > > these foreign people here."
> > >
> > > Not satisfied
> > >
> > > In December 2001 Hayes, of Concord, cast the
> > > tie-breaking vote for
> > > fast-track. At the time he said he won promises
> from
> > > the Bush
> > > administration that it would more strictly
> enforce
> > > existing trade
> > > agreements and pressure foreign countries to
> open
> > > their markets to U.S.
> > > textiles."Are we ... pleased with the way they
> > > responded? Absolutely,"
> > > says Hayes. "Are we satisfied with where we are?
> > > Absolutely not."
> > >
> > > In two years, U.S. Rep. Cass Ballenger's 10th
> > > District has lost nearly
> > > 40,000 jobs, primarily in the textile and
> furniture
> > > industries. The
> > > Hickory Republican voted for NAFTA and
> fast-track.
> > >
> > > "Certainly, there's a political cost to any
> > > controversial vote no matter
> > > which side you take," Ballenger says. "People
> are
> > > casting stones, but
> > > we're trying to pick them up and build
> something.
> > > ... I don't spend much
> > > time thinking about an election that's more than
> a
> > > year away. My focus
> > > is on helping the region recover."
> > >
> > > Hayes later voted against the final version of
> > > fast-track. He and
> > > Ballenger aren't the only ones who cast
> potentially
> > > unpopular votes.
> > >
> > > Rep. John Spratt, a York, S.C., Democrat, voted
> for
> > > NAFTA. Republican
> > > U.S. Reps. Sue Myrick of Charlotte, Richard Burr
> of
> > > Winston-Salem and
> > > Jim DeMint of Greenville, S.C., voted for
> > > fast-track. Both Burr and
> > > DeMint are running for the Senate.
> > >
> > > U.S. Sen. John Edwards, a Democrat from North
> > > Carolina, voted against
> > > fast-track in 2002 after voting for an earlier
> > > version. In 2000 he voted
> > > for permanent normal trade relations with China.
> > >
> > > Edwards, however, has since attacked Bush's
> trade
> > > policies and called
> > > for fairer trade measures. Burr recently
> threatened
> > > to introduce
> > > legislation to eliminate the office of U.S.
> trade
> > > representative. Hayes,
> > > like Ballenger, has worked hard to get services
> to
> > > displaced workers and
> > > promote more development in his district.
> > >
> > > "Though he (Hayes) voted for fast-track, he is
> > > really concerned about
> > > the workers and their conditions in the state of
> > > North Carolina," says
> > > Robert Neal, vice president of the local chapter
> of
> > > the Pillowtex
> > > workers' union.
> > >
> > > Jennifer Duffy, an analyst for the Cook
> Political
> > > Report, says
> > > "Republicans all went to the `Robin Hayes
> school' in
> > > terms of learning
> > > how to address those (trade) votes.
> > >
> > > "Republicans have kind of figured out that for
> every
> > > `bad' vote they
> > > cast there are others they would use to show
> they
> > > are fighting for the
> > > state's industries."
> > >
> > > `A North Carolina problem'
> > >
> > > But Democrats already are pouncing.
> > >
> > > "A lot of these Republican candidates -- Richard
> > > Burr in particular --
> > > owe the White House and (political adviser) Karl
> > > Rove for clearing the
> > > field for him (Burr)," says Brad Woodhouse, a
> > > spokesman for the
> > > Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. "And
> he's
> > > (Burr) going to be
> > > expected to continue to support the president."
> > >
> > > "It's unfortunate that the Democrats want to
> start
> > > early pointing
> > > fingers and starting the traditional blame
> game,"
> > > says Burr spokesman
> > > Paul Shumaker. "It's not a Democrat problem.
> It's
> > > not a Republican
> > > problem. It's a North Carolina problem."
> > >
> > > Reese, of the employers association, is
> organizing
> > > 1,500 manufacturing
> > > companies across North Carolina in an effort to
> > > leverage what he calls a
> > > new voting bloc. In South Carolina, voter drives
> are
> > > planned for the
> > > first time at Milliken & Co., which has about 30
> > > plants in the state.
> > > Mount Vernon Mills of Greenville, S.C., is
> forming a
> > > political action
> > > committee.
> > >
> > > Company President Roger Chastain, a one-time
> Bush
> > > voter, doesn't expect
> > > to support the president or Jim DeMint.
> > >
> > > "We're basically liquidating our whole middle
> class,
> > > polarizing people
> > > on the two extremes, have and have-nots," he
> says.
> > > "We'll be a Third
> > > World country." -- STAFF WRITER JAIME LEVY
> > > CONTRIBUTED.
> > >
> > > -- JIM MORRILL: (704) 358-5059;
> > > JMORRILL@CHARLOTTEOBSERVER.COM.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
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