A nice little gift for organized labor:
Hillary Clinton today announced that she will oppose ratification of the South Korean Free Trade Agreement. Speaking at a townhall event hosted by the AFL-CIO in Detroit, Michigan, Clinton said the agreement would harm the U.S. automotive industry and put American jobs at risk. While the trade agreement gives South Korea unimpeded access to the U.S. auto market, it does not go far enough to ensure that South Korea dismantles the barriers that have long blocked American vehicles from being sold there.
PS: A small little endorsement snafu: seems that Rep. Kendrick Meeks is a little confused about whether he intended to endorse Mrs. Clinton.
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Now that Senator Clinton has had time to consult your pollsters, stick your finger in the wind, and get in front of another Labor Union group to announce this. I guess she prefers to be late to dances by phone her friends first to see who's there.
As Philgoblue at the Daily Kos pointed out, John Edwards presented his position on it too at a Michigan dinner, in which Labor was well-represented at it, but in reality, Edwards was opposed to it early on and he urged Bush to stop the stupidity of the negotiations on Feb 16 of this year:
Thousands of American autoworkers learned this week that they will lose their jobs because of ill-conceived and poorly enforced trade agreements - and what is the Bush Administration doing? It's working overtime to sign a trade agreement with a country that refuses to open its market to American cars.
Enough is enough. President Bush should shut down all trade negotiations with South Korea until they prove their willingness to open their market to American automobiles and other U.S. products and agree to trade fairly.
The huge loss of jobs announced this week by DaimlerChrysler should be a wake-up call for this president: one-sided trade agreements hurt working families.
Link to Senator Edwards'Statement
My issue with this candidate is her disingenuous nature. Her phone bankers/pollsters getting busted at the Iowa Independent blog reveals more about her and her campaign than coming out against this agreement conveniently at a Labor dinner. She waits to see what others do first.
That is not leadership.
Posted by Benny | June 11, 2007 3:03 AM