Corporate Democrats Sell Out, Take 864

The Senate approved CAFTA with 10 Democrats crossing party lines to vote for it. Somehow, none of these 10 (Bingaman (NM), Cantwell (WA), Carper (DE), Feinstein (CA), Lincoln (AR), Murray (WA), Nelson (FL), Nelson (NE), Pryor (AR), Wyden (OR), plus Jeffords the independent) have learned the lessons of NAFTA, that when you open trade with countries without established labor and environmental standards, you turn on the vaccuum to make Ross Perot's "giant sucking sound," and make life miserable for manufacturing workers everywhere. Union workers get their jobs taken away, lose their power in collective bargaining, and generally continue to see the industrial base in this country erode. Globally, workers are forced to endure even more hardship, with larger corporations in charge, making it even more difficult to challenge them.

The bill faces more strident opposition in the House. On this count I do see much reason to call your reporesentative. Without global labor and environmental standards we all lose.