Bill Clinton and NAFTA

On December 8^th, 1993 Bill Clinton signed the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Eric Foner, the compiler of these documents, mentions in the foreword that because Clinton was finishing the work of his predecessor George H.W. Bush that there was an overwhelming consensus that this so called “free trade agreement” was the right move. To insinuate that George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton represent all interests of the American political and economic is dubious at best. Those two men also supported the same policy of dropping bombs in the Middle East during their time as President. Which has become a morbid tradition since JFK that has been continued through George W. Bush and now Barack Obama; but of the last four Presidents clearly two of these men are “democrats” and the other two are “republicans.” Bill Clinton even attacked Iraq with 23 Tomahawk missiles for the alleged assassination attempt of George H.W. Bush [1], killing many innocent people on that day to “protect” a different mass murderer, Clinton would go on to bomb many thousands more during his 2 terms. Needless to say, they all read from the same script.

         
That script is written by the corporate elite who write up “trade agreements” like NAFTA in the totalitarian tiptoe towards one world government. Throughout the speech Clinton references trying to “create a world of free trade supported by institutions which would facilitate it…” The institutions Clinton is mentioning are these massive corporations which corner markets through buying politicians to stack the deck in their favor. Many large corporations pay zero taxes and their CEOs move their money off-shore and pay relatively no income tax or any other taxes. These corporations operate like cartels and many outlets tout the numbers of “created jobs” from this agreement but fail to see the underlying print; NAFTA may have “created more jobs” but corporations like Wal-Mart running small markets out of business then hiring people at minimum wage can hardly be counted among “created jobs.” Also between 2001 and 2003 when this agreement got out of its boom stage and into bust 2.4 million domestic jobs were lost with a high concentration in the manufacturing sector [2]. This agreement opened up the borders for these cartels to move seamlessly across North America which opens up the “Pandora’s box” of cheap foreign labor.

Bill Clinton would continue to boldly claim there would be “no loss of jobs” and that NAFTA was to “help out the middle class” all with a straight-face. As good as Clinton’s poker face was one thing that always gives away he’s lying…his lips are moving. Today there are over 18,000 companies with U.S investments in Mexico [3]. One of the most notorious, PepsiCo, has made a huge push into Mexico and continue now going into Central and South America [4]. As these interests slowly tiptoe their way past the border, the world is then open for them as they expand and exploit, like Apple Inc. into China at glorified sweat shops like FoxxConn [5]. Then the kicker, these huge cartels move their businesses overseas on taxpayers’ money [6]. It’s a great plan Bill, just when does this part about helping the middle class kick in?

Works Cited

Von Drehle, David, and Jeffrey Smith. "Washington Post." U.S. Strikes Iraq for Plot to Kill Bush. Washington Post Staff Writers, 27 J. Web. 27 Jul 2012. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/iraq/timeline/062793.htm>. [1]      

Scott, R. E.. "The high price of ‘free’ trade: Nafta’s failure has cost the united states jobs across the  nation." Economic policy insitute. Economic Policy Institute, 2003. Web. 27 Jul 2012.                 <http://www.epi.org/publication/briefingpapers_bp147/>. [2]

"Mexico." U.S. Department of State. Bureau Of Western Hemisphere Affairs, 2011. Web. 27 Jul 2012. <http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/35749.htm>. [3]

Bouckley, Ben. Beverage Daily. N.p., 26 Jul 2012. Web. 27 Jul 2012.                 <http://www.beveragedaily.com/Financial/PepsiCo-desperate-to-build-Mexico-cola-volumes-Coca-Cola-FEMSA>. [4]

Duhigg, C.. "How Apple Sidesteps Billions in Taxes." Wall street journal. N.p., 2012. Web. 27 Jul 2012.<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/29/business/apples-tax-strategy-aims-at-low-tax-states- and-nations.html?pagewanted=all>. [5]

Dzieza, J.. 8 ridiculous tax loopholes: How companies are avoiding the tax man. N.p., 2012. Web. 27 Jul 2012. <http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/02/25/8-ridiculous-tax-loopholes-how- companies-are-avoiding-the-tax-man.html>. [6]