Bill Clinton: Pushing Free Trade On Haiti Was A 'Mistake' That Contributed To Hunger
As I've noted before, Haiti's earthquake recovery problems were exacerbated by the economic and trade policies pushed on them by the United States. Now Bill Clinton has admitted as much:
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- The earthquake not only smashed markets, collapsed warehouses and left more than 2.5 million people without enough to eat. It may also have shaken up the way the developing world gets food.
Decades of inexpensive imports - especially rice from the U.S. - punctuated with abundant aid in various crises have destroyed local agriculture and left impoverished countries such as Haiti unable to feed themselves.
While those policies have been criticized for years in aid worker circles, world leaders focused on fixing Haiti are admitting for the first time that loosening trade barriers has only exacerbated hunger in Haiti and elsewhere.
They're led by former U.S. President Bill Clinton - now U.N. special envoy to Haiti - who publicly apologized this month for championing policies that destroyed Haiti's rice production. Clinton in the mid-1990s encouraged the impoverished country to dramatically cut tariffs on imported U.S. rice.
"It may have been good for some of my farmers in Arkansas, but it has not worked. It was a mistake," Clinton told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on March 10. "I had to live everyday with the consequences of the loss of capacity to produce a rice crop in Haiti to feed those people because of what I did; nobody else."
Clinton and former President George W. Bush, who are spearheading U.S. fundraising for Haiti, arrive Monday in Port-au-Prince. Then comes a key Haiti donors' conference on March 31 at the United Nations in New York.
Those opportunities present the country with its best chance in decades to build long-term food production, and could provide a model for other developing countries struggling to feed themselves.
"A combination of food aid, but also cheap imports have ... resulted in a lack of investment in Haitian farming, and that has to be reversed," U.N. humanitarian chief John Holmes told The Associated Press. "That's a global phenomenon, but Haiti's a prime example. I think this is where we should start."
Why is that Agribusiness giants always seem to be "farmers"?
Corruption favors the wealthy.
Food should not be transported anywhere when it can be grown locally. I'm not saying all food can, but it is absurd to import iceberg lettuce from Texas to California. And really pretty silly to import grapes from Chile to California in the middle of winter. But I bought some anyway because they had an earthquake
I am not kidding. I saw some corporate shill on TV trying to justify this process. He said that he knows it sounds ridiculous, but it is cost effective.
Oops. Someone made a 'dawful mess.
Cool he's admitting it, but is Haiti the only country adversely effected by corporate globalization? What is he advocating for fixing it? Does the secretary of state have any say on trade policy? Maybe Clinton could poke her a little.
can't touch that one without getting censored!
;)
"Courtesy is owed. Respect is earned. Love is given." --Unknown author, found in Guide to Texas Etiquette by Kinky Friedman
where a million small farmers were driven off their land because of NAFTA and the dumping of cheap (genetically engineered) corn onto the country that gave the world corn. That corn tainted the heirloom stocks of seed corn in Mexico. Now Mexico, which used to grow its own corn (one of their traditional foods) no longer does, and the small farmers are now economic/trade policy refugees coming over the border looking for some way to survive.
I cannot help wondering if Clinton has any income from Monsanto. I would like to think neither Clinton has ever received money from them, but I'm not that naive.
A truly great former President admits when he made a mistake. My opinion of Clinton just went up a few notches.
Wouldn't it be nice to hear Dubya say, "Ya know, I thought there were WMDs in Iraq and that's why I went in. Turns out I was wrong, and have to live every day with the deaths of thousands and thousands on my hands. My mistake should act as a clear warning to future politicians hell-bent on using U.S. forces for anything but self-defense."
take a psychic to see that Haiti's farmers would be harmed. Admitting his wrong is decent, but not great. As for Bush, an admission would simply help the prosecutors, as far as I'm concerned. Admitting to murder doesn't absolve you.
A Democrat will admit publicly when he or she has made a mistake. I hope Clinton works to rectify it, for the good of Haiti. I don't expect Bush or Cheney to apologize for anything because I think they know they could face charges if they do.
At least Bill had the humility to admit he was complicit in the problem, since his comrade GWB and his gang of GOP fools are little more than sociopathic parasites that use and discard others for their selfish ambition, don't look for them to publically apologize for anything they did--ever.
"We will find fulfillment not in the goods that we have, but in the good we can do for each other."
Robert F. Kennedy
They've been apologizing for the abolition of slavery since Nixon.
Corruption favors the wealthy.
could never admit that "EVERY JOB HE'S HAD, HE WAS A FAILURE."
The problem is NOT "free trade". The problem is the LACK of free trade that occurs when the US government steps in to give free handouts to corporations.
until thet get fair trade. Put tariffs on products that want to compete in all local markets.
Free trade certainly does not guarantee equity for both parties, fair trade levels the playing field.
"We will find fulfillment not in the goods that we have, but in the good we can do for each other."
Robert F. Kennedy
Trade is troubling when it depletes self sufficiency like this example. people see it as an economic opportunity but when you get down to it, we shouldn't be sending stuff all over the planet, and neither should they. the whole US economic model is based on industrializing the rest of the world to have the same consumption levels as the US. Not going to happen but they will ruin everything trying to do it.
I'm hoping everyone is reflecting on those Archer Daniels Midland corporation propaganda commercials that ran incessantly on Sunday morning TV shows. They would brag about how their research and technology would bring food to people who needed it. Then they were busted for price fixing of corn syrup and other foods. And they are responsible for the BS distribution of overly medicated, genetically altered crops we have today. All the while food becomes increasingly expensive.
being ddestroyed in Florida because they did such a good job of saving their crops during the freeze, it drove prices down and they can't get as much as they wanted for a pound of them.
I don't understand why they didn't open the fields to the public and let people who wanted them pick them. Why destroy them like that?
Say what you mean. Mean what you say. But don't say it mean.
A large grower near Plant City said that his liability insurance did not allow members of the public to enter the fields. He was concerned about being sued if a picker got injured.
I told him he could have people sign a release-but he refused.
A really stupid waste of good fruit was preferable.
I pledge allegiance to the Constitution of the United States of America, and to the republic which it established, one nation from many peoples, promising liberty and justice for all
"Courtesy is owed. Respect is earned. Love is given." --Unknown author, found in Guide to Texas Etiquette by Kinky Friedman
Deportee
...that the problem is neither recent nor local.
Grow your own food, even if all you have is a few pots on your porch with strawberries.
"Courtesy is owed. Respect is earned. Love is given." --Unknown author, found in Guide to Texas Etiquette by Kinky Friedman
Powerful reading.
Consider that ADM (Archer Daniels Midland) was formed by buying up and consolidating all the family farms that were forced under by financial manipulations back in the Reagan years.
Not only put millions out of business and stole their farms but also have done immeasurable damage to the farmland by industrializing agriculture on a scale never known before.
When I first heard their ads on NPR (back in the 90s, or 80s?) I knew it was all over for NPR. Bought by the corporations.
Democracy is too important to be entrusted to politicians.
Rise Up!
Protest!
HA!
We on the left have known this for a LONG damn time. Just as we know that the so-called, "Green Revolution," was also about generating profits and guaranteeing patents for agribusiness.
Next he's going to share with us the amazing revelation that Western colonial powers forced indigenous people to abandon small scale food farming in favour of cash crops like tobacco, cotton, and sugar cane.
It angers me to no end that we give Bill Clinton so much credit for knowing better but doing the wrong, pro-corporate thing for the eight years of his Presidency. It's not enough to know the difference between right & wrong - it has to be embodied.
"For what does it profit a man to gain the world..." The Democratic Party sold its soul & Clinton is Exhibit A.
you didn't push "free" trade clinton, you pushed neoliberal reforms that were one-sided and devastating to haiti.
although i commend you for admitting this one mistake you made (of many), it certainly doesn't make up for the harm you helped unleash.
how many countries do we have to see the deleterious effects of 'structural adjustments' and 'austerity programs' forced on to nations before people demand change?
Now he can come clean on...
1. Ignoring East Timor and Rwanda
2. Bombing Serbs and Sudanese innocents
3. The 1996 Telecom Bill
4. The repeal of the Glass Steagal Act
5. His personal friendship with the Bush boys and Rupert Murdoch
6. His wife's membership on the Walmart Board during the 80s
7. His sexual abuse of an Intern (YES, by definition that act was abuse because the disparity of power levels between the "most powerful man on Earth and an 22 year old intern the relationship COULD NOT be consensual)
8. His complicity in the criminal acts in Waco TX (murdering psycho fundies is bad...I know it hurts to say it)
9. His work against Obama
10. His links to internationalist organizations that formulate policy but are not elected and have no accountability
No conspiracy theory here, no concern trolling, just obvious FACTS modern Democrats refuse to face.
Or is that subsumed in the reference to HRC's "work" with WalMart?
Corruption favors the wealthy.
NAFTA is implied in the parent post...but I did forget China trade
a quote from Oct 2000
"Trade with China will not only extend our nation's unprecedented economic growth, it offers us a chance to help shape the future of the world's most prosperous nation and to reaffirm our own global leadership for peace and prosperity."
Trade with China will extend China's unprecedented growth and put millions of Americans out of a job is what he should have said . Perot ( sp? ) was 100 % right on about NAFTA and what it would do to this country , ah but it made the rich richer and the Wall Street fat cats fatter didn't it Bill ? That was the whole point really wasn't it ?
With you on everyone of them. except if he worked against Obama, doesn't matter. Those two are peas in a pod. Barry's building his list as we speak.
10. His links to internationalist organizations that formulate policy
And his wife is sec of state. isn't that nifty. I'm sure there's no influence.
Don't Ask Don't Tell. Also, number 9 was just part of the ongoing ruse to make our elections appear legit. But otherwise I'm with you.
By the time East Timor and Rwanda were an issue, he had a republican congress.
He always had jets broadcasting bombing was going to commence and warned people away, but often they're government wouldn't let them,
The Sudanese had chemical plants that could both produce teflon pans and chemical weapons
Gramm/Leach/Bliley would've likely over-ridden any veto
The 1996 Telecommunications bill was when the market was expanding and there seemed no need for limits on ownership, but thanks to michael powell's FCC he allowed too many monopolies to form
People have no need to apologize who they may socially interact with
Walmart in the 80's was run by Sam Walton, who prided himself in supporting American goods, not Chinese, and any apology would be due from Hillery herself, not her husband, because she's not just the little woman
Screw power-levels in sexual abuse cases, concentrate on promised jobs/withheld jobs, since women still are essentially paid less than men, and one would have to fault all husbands as well
Camp Carmel actually committed mass suicide, and there's evidence that those that tried to escape were shot in the back by others in the compound
He never worked against Obama, merely championed his wife during the primaries, and she's now Secretary of State
He's now working for Obama in addressing Haitian needs
And if we ignore all NGO's we'd be in a world of hurt.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
Your spin is impressive.
And morally and ethically and utterly unsound.
Wtf does a Repub congress have to do with ignoring MASSIVE human rights abuses and GENOCIDE?
You skip Serbia and apologize for unilateral use of deadly force with poor intelligence...did you vote for Bush too?
Simply BS
"People have no need to apologize who they may socially interact with"...wow...all I can say is wow
Hillary was on a board that lead the WESTERN WORLD in union busting and trampling on workers rights. She was the first lady of Arkansas...if you don't see the MASSIVE issues with that...vote for Bush again! Also as governor Bill could have said, "Honey, don't sit on that board..pretty please"
"Screw power-levels in sexual abuse cases" there is is in writing C&L fans...he said it all right there. Tell the deaf kids in Wisconsin that!!
There is video evidence that the FBI used full auto weapons on those escaping...MIT professor did the work
Clinton Attacks Obama period. "When is the last time we elected a president based on one year of service in the Senate before he started running?" Please!!
The Council on Foreign relations is the architect of Globalization and the enemy of all working people everywhere.
Serbia was not skipped, that's where Clenis became known for his broadcast warnings, but whether people were allowed to evacuate or not by their authorities is another question.
Of course if bombers were after me I'd be evacuating myself.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
Deaf kids are not consenting adults...way to conflate issues like a republican...
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
Howard Zinn: Killing innocents while bombing cities is not accidental it is INEVITABLE!
Abuse is abuse..you can worm around all you want. You know we love you ysbaddaden...but you got pwned.
Stick to the funny video links.
Your conflating three different kinds of charges, consensual sex, sexual harassment, and sexual abuse into some kind of amorphous charge.
Consensual is between adults, harassment is on the job and most clear when one offers a job, a raise or a promotion, or threatens to deny them. And sexual abuse is generally rape, non-consensual, and now days often with children.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
you are going to be ther best obama apologist ever!
Cue the Kabuki....
I don't like Obama
she wanted to, as she was an adult. You are wrong on that point, but I don't think you intended to insult women. But you did.
There was a case where the CEO of Coca Cola was fucking his administrative assistant. She sued for damages and the court found that because of the disparity of power levels the relationship could not be consensual.
I did not insult women. If you think that any 22 year MALE OR FEMALE can make real informed decisions about sex while standing before the MOST POWERFUL PERSON ON EARTH you are mistaken.
You insulted me, and I am a woman. So you got at least one. I do not like being treated as if men can manipulate me because I am female.
It's not because one is a female that one can be manipulated; it's because of the disparity of power one can be manipulated. It's gender neutral.
And it's a standard basis for sexual harassment law.
Corruption favors the wealthy.
Before she ever even met him? Told her friends she was moving to D.C. with her "presidential kneepads" on?
People make stupid decisions about sex all the time. Doesn't make it criminal.
A former award-winning journalist and lifelong class warrior, keeping a jaundiced eye on the Washington elite.
This is how our sexual harassment laws are structured. Inequality of power relationships leading to pressure, whether stated or implied, to engage in sexual conduct.
When the so-called Lewinsky Affair happened, both Democrats & Republicans were hypocritical and full of it. Many of us on the left had no love for Clinton for all the reasons listed above, but we defended him against GOP hypocrisy because we judged that it was a smoke screen as well as a greater threat to the republic than Democratic hypocrisy. The problem is that Democrats only remember/acknowledge Republican hypocrisy, so you assume everyone on the left agrees with you.
All except the most gullible (and/or religious), knew that the GOP was disingenuously using Monica Lewinsky to discredit Democratic policies. However, we also knew that the federal sexual harassment laws that Democratic politicians championed & passed were, in part, intended to address the sort of behavior that Clinton engaged in. This is why modern law makes a distinction between rape, abuse & harassment.
We can debate whether our sexual harassment laws are valid, but the fact is that Clinton's behavior & Democratic Party defense of it flies in the face of what they profess to believe about harassment. Was it an impeachable offense? Not if you're a radical leftist, like I am, but in the eyes of the law it was definitely behavior that could get most corporate execs fired, if discovered, and could definitely engender a valid lawsuit.
*edited for typos
The beginning I guess.
He also had the UN, the bully pulpit, and the most pewerful military in history - none of which he used.
He didn't veto it; he signed it.
The market was expanding? Or mega-media-giants wanted to expand further?
Gotta love the re-writing of the history of Sam Walton. He was a union buster who drooled at the prospect of labor markets without restrictions. While Hillary may not have been "just the little woman," the only reason she appointed a director of WalMart was because of Bill's governorship.
Huh?
Yeah, those women and children who were cooked to death committed suicide.
He merely championed his wife with every slimy trick he could think of including racism.
Right next to George W. Bush
Corruption favors the wealthy.
In the children of the Mt Carmel case of course the parents and David Koresh were blameless.
Now that I think of it, the 9-11 Commission Report said that Clenis's bombing in the Sudan destroyed the last of the Al Qaeda training camps there, that would not be replaced until the power vacuum created by boosh, chainey, rumsfield, j paul bremer's Iraqi Coalition government gave them something to fill.
And even then their numbers may've been exagerrated because booshco didn't want to blame outlawing the Taliban, and that it might be a popular uprising against us.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
That would be up to Janet Reno, Bill Clinton, and The Danforth Report.
Corruption favors the wealthy.
We pwned them fiver
Next topic!!
. . . is one foolishness in which I will not indulge.
He's had the chance to do it on me plenty of times - and he never has.
Corruption favors the wealthy.
in Arkansas didn't have anything to do with being asked to serve on corporate boards?
A former award-winning journalist and lifelong class warrior, keeping a jaundiced eye on the Washington elite.
. . . coincidentally, Bill had just been elected Governor. Partnership tracks were more than double that at the time.
She also didn't land her first paying job as a lawyer (same firm) until Bill was elected Attorney General. Then suddenly, she's offered a position with the most prestigious firm in the state.
But maybe I'm wrong, surely she can point to some extraordinary accomplishments in the legal field. But if so, she's hidden them very well.
Corruption favors the wealthy.
I just came back from swimming.
Why is it that with so many "liberals" on various sites, the only good liberal was Kennedy?
According to them:
FDR ignored the race problem and was an elitist.
Johnson inherited Vietnam and escalated it.
Carter was ineffectual
Clenis we've already discussed
Obama the jury's still out
So apparently with these "liberals" the only good Democrat is a dead Democrat.
How republican of them.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
the stud, alpha male among democratic presidents. Followed by JFK (and RFK, if only...), then Carter, who I actually liked (but I guess I'm in the minority), then Clinton who had a hugely likeable persona (but not great record) who came along after the Reagan revolution (or destruction), followed by Obama.
We've all seen the list of Obama's accomplishments, but he's hardly a democrat (old school), and if he's decided to let the war criminals go free from the previous administration I pretty much don't give a shi* what he accomplishes. It will tarnish his legacy forever.
Interesting though, what liberal sites have you been on?
And Arkansas is a "Right-To-Work-State" at the time Hillary worked on the Walmart board. There was no real Union to save or preserve. And nationwide that's been much the case since the ray gunn era.
And if the Unions couldn't challenge Walmart in it's early stages of spreading into other states, how could they later after they've already become a behemoth? So one would have to blame the Unions for not expanding their brand.
And as for gramm/leach/bliley, I thought the implication was clear, but since apparently I have to spell it out, Clenis only had two choices to sign or veto, and Congress had the numbers to over-ride the veto. So he signed, because in either case it probably would've passed with or without him making him look irrelevant.
And what was his racist comment? That Jesse Jackson also won South Carolina's primary in 84 and 88, and obviously didn't get the nomination, so those calling for Hillary's withdrawal from the race after her loss in South Carolina were essentially jumping the gun and ignoring history. But "liberals" claimed comparing the three events was racist, thus trivializing the charge.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
Some people just won't get it.
What is your conceptual, continuity?
What's interesting is people came on this site during the primaries insisting that Joe Biden was a racist for saying Obama was well spoken and clean. The well spokeness speaks for itself and clean was probably in the legal since, no baggage.
And then he becomes Obama's vice president.
And faulting Clenis for not ignoring the years of human rights abuses in Yugoslavia, and going after Slobadan Milosevic, whilst at the same time faulting him for ignoring Rwanda is a massive inconsistency.
The only conclusion one can reach is that he can do no right.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
And he never will be able to do right.
They're stuck in that mentality. oh well.
Yeah, Clenis was the all time worst prez ever..
What is your conceptual, continuity?
When NAFTA was about to become fact, I thought, ok lets give this a chance. If it helps people in poor countries, we should give it a chance. I honestly think that no one could see what was coming. I honestly don't think that they sold us out intentionally.
Like I said, 20/20.
What is your conceptual, continuity?
I remember at the time some hope it would end illegal immigration, by creating work in their home country, but by expanding job opportunities into their countries not by constricting them here. At one point I remember there was talk of including all of South America in some later agreement.
Ironically, some people hoped at the time that NAFTA would put to an end the necessity for a passport between Mexico, the US and Canada.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
I think that was the whole reason it came about.
Give them jobs there.
But big biz saw an opportunity. And they jumped at the chance.
Meanwhile, bubba takes the hit. He could have blamed Reagan and Poppy Bush. But he didn't. I just wish he would have picked a better looking skank to get his blowjob from.;)
What is your conceptual, continuity?
Overhead cuts and plans for massive executive compensation packages, especially after the conservative activist on the supreme court appointed boosh.
Even if the 90's "economic miracle" may've been due in large part to the tech bubble, at least Clenis used the money to pay down the deficit and not fritter it away in tax breaks for the top 5%, and some of it could've been due to his economic stimulus package around '93 that no republican voted for, and said would wreck the economy.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
The prison-industrial system was expanded under Clinton, in contrast to our social safety net, which was decimated. In fact, as a lesbian feminist, this bothers me far more profoundly than your #7, which I would characterize as harassment, not abuse. This isn't because I excuse his behavior toward Lewinsky & his wife, but because I think it's relative to the wide-scale abuse of women & children that he enabled & legitimized through Welfare reform.
Also, I think the so-called War On Drugs needs to be on that list. Clinton didn't create it, but he sure as hell knew better. Not to mention that the War On Drugs, together with the prison-industrial system, is perpetuating the gross inequality that has made us a nation of hypocrites in the eyes of the world.
During the eight years of the Clinton Administration, more people were incarcerated for possession of marijuana than under any previous President - so much for all the benefits from our first Baby Boomer/Hippy President.
In my view, Clinton is a liar & a hypocrite. Not only did he aid & abet the same social destruction that Reagan & Nixon endorsed, he's arguably worse because he put a compassionate face on it.
that NAFTA was/is also very BAD! And spend the rest of your days working to overturn nafta and all other pathetic "Free" trade policies! Get to work!
Cue the Kabuki....
I remember discussing it with the legal Mexican seasonal workers on the NM ranch where we lived as caretakers and cowboys when needed. Those Mexicans were smart; had been working for the landlord for as much as 20 years every summer, and were in no uncertain terms against NAFTA. That was 1983-4. Can't really hang that one on Clinton, but on the Congress elected in 1994. It took them that long.
"Courtesy is owed. Respect is earned. Love is given." --Unknown author, found in Guide to Texas Etiquette by Kinky Friedman
The House of Representatives approved NAFTA by a vote of 234 to 200. The agreement's supporters included 132 Republicans and 102 Democrats. NAFTA passed the Senate 61-38. Bill Clinton signed it into law.
From Wikipedia
Corruption favors the wealthy.
Clinton is and was a Republican
Reagan proposed NAFTA but couldn't get it passed.
Clinton signed it.
That's big part of the reason Republicans hated Clinton.
He stole their thunder.
Democracy is too important to be entrusted to politicians.
Rise Up!
Protest!
than watching c-span,before the nafta vote,and the brilliant arguements against passage of this turd.where did THOSE democrats go? the only thing that compares was the 13 million people worldwide in the streets protesting the oncoming attack on iraq,and georgie said something like"its good to see people exercising their rights....."or some such crap. George Bush,the herpes of history......
....the fools do not realize,a population that can ,..... not paticipate .............in the 'economy'...,can not keep it viable!..........."we are listening,.......and we're not blind.,......this is your life....this is your time."
Marcy Kaptur lead that fight! She appears on the last Michael Moore movie!
perfeshunal politishuns so long to discover what I knew from the start?
and their corn crops. It used to be that family plots grew the corn needed for the family and excess could be sold at market (corn tortillas being a staple food for Mexico). Now that the U.S. dumps its cheap corn on Mexico it has all but put the family out of the corn business. That pushed a big wave of immigrants to come over looking for jobs and we got what we saw this past decade: an uprisal against Mexicans who all but had no other choice than to come here looking for a way to feed themselves and their families. If Haiti had been land connected to the U.S. you bet your boots they would have done the same thing.
...using chemicals that are illegal to use here in the States, but not illegal to manufacture and sell elsewhere.
Don't eat Mexican strawberries, including jelly. They're full of poisons.
"Courtesy is owed. Respect is earned. Love is given." --Unknown author, found in Guide to Texas Etiquette by Kinky Friedman
applied to citrus fruit, especially clementines. I used to buy those grown in California because they were clean. Now, (thanks Arnie), even those have the fungicide on them. As it cannot be illegal in the US, but legal in California, the feds have to be involved.
The fungicide is called imazalil.
The upsurge in drug traffic from Mexico into the US has also been directly linked to the U.S. dumping its cheap corn on Mexico and destroying the Mexican corn farmers' income.
Democracy is too important to be entrusted to politicians.
Rise Up!
Protest!
Like Curtilingus suggested earlier---buy locally raised produce--help the local farmer profit at the expense of the mega corporations.
"We will find fulfillment not in the goods that we have, but in the good we can do for each other."
Robert F. Kennedy
When I first read this quote from Clinton:
I searched for and found video of the March 10 Senate Foreign Relations Committee meeting.
I editted the URL of the video so it begins where Clinton addresses the connection between his trade policies and Haiti's inability to feed its own people.
Click here to watch.
Democracy is too important to be entrusted to politicians.
Rise Up!
Protest!
"I'm sooooo sorry I screwed millions of people and led to multiple deaths all for a couple of votes"
viva la democracy!
go make another speech for 1,000,000 in Dubai.
After Ted Kennedy's death Senate chairs were shuffled and Sen Lincoln became Chair of Agriculture.
Blanche Lincoln, friend of Arkansas rice farmers.
Democracy is too important to be entrusted to politicians.
Rise Up!
Protest!
Yes MM and Clinton is supporting her.
The people of privilege will always risk their complete destruction rather than surrender any material part of their advantage." J.K. Galbraith
Before the hurricane season starts, why not ship Chinese shipping containers to Haiti to give the people a safe, dry place to live in during this hurricane season?
I know they won't want to live in them forever but these containers have got to be safer and dryer than a tent on the ground or a cardboard roof over their heads.
America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves. ~ Abraham Lincoln
because we no longer ship anything manufactured from here. They would be a better shelter for them and are of no use to us. Most of the container ships leaving the US are empty.
but we still receive them. It seems we could afford to send some their way.
America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves. ~ Abraham Lincoln
there is less vessel traffic and less (loss) of overhead. For example, a line like Hyundai used to have several vessels a week, now they've cut down to bi-weekly or monthly (depending on the routes) and will ship containers from OOCL (or someone else, even two or more SSLs) so the ships going out aren't empty.
But I'm nitpicking, the end result is stacked up empty containers most everywhere.
But about 8 years ago,the number one export of the u.s. was,are you ready?..........waste paper,yea.to make the boxes,that holds the crap from china,to be shipped to america,and the world. alot of their shit should be off loaded from the ship and go directly to the dump.
....the fools do not realize,a population that can ,..... not paticipate .............in the 'economy'...,can not keep it viable!..........."we are listening,.......and we're not blind.,......this is your life....this is your time."
We ship to China as we have contracts with a few large recyclers who actually take our material and make it into stuff to sell back here.
By the way, China has a law that prohibits the export of raw materials. Just adding.
While your at it , you can take and shove NAFTA back up your butt too .
Faulting NAFTA for republicans turning it away from creating demand for American goods in Mexico, to being the destination for our out-sourced manufactury base is tantamount to blaming freed slaves being constitutionally guaranteed citizenship for boosh being appointed president in 2000.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjcozyoYoFU&fe...
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
That is pretty much what Bill is confessing to. If you don't know what I am talking about you have to read Perkin's book (http://www.economichitman.com/)
Yeah - you've got a lot to answer for bub.
*
Yeah, let's get that bastard, Clenis
He's worse than boosh, chainey, rumsfield et al.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
But he did stop prosecutions that could have prevented them from resuming power or at least could have exposed them for the criminals there were.
Corruption favors the wealthy.
Who's he, Clenis or Obama?
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
Haiti, hell, "free" trade ain't been much of a picnic here in the US either.
Haiti wouldn't have been damaged at all. They would have benefited. It was, in fact, an unfree market where export subsidized agricultural products were dumped on the Haiti and just about everyone else by both the US and Europe that killed Haitian agriculture. Along with deforestation and various agricultural practices that were completely unsustainable in the face of Haiti's population growth, of course.
Hasa Diga Eebowai
Free trade has collapsed markets across the globe, in developed countries but even more profoundly in developing countries like Haiti. Good to hear a former president admit that unlimited free trade/free markets (in many cases forced open in developing countries) and the WTO were and are bad ideas. Tariffs need to be reintroduced and enforced so as to protect a nation's (America's included) home industry and until such time as they are the rich will get richer, the poor poorer, and the middle class will continue to disappear.
He's a big enough person to admit he made a mistake. Clearly not his only one while in office. Still, I don't really see that from other former presidents.
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That's a fairly major mea culpa from the big dawg. I know we had two terms of him but finally I think he might be good presidential material.
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