[CTC] Bill Clinton on Trade Policies: "It has not worked. It was a mistake"

[Andrew Gussert]

Rob Portman Gets Blasted for Free Trade Record 

by Dustin Ensinger <http://www.economyincrisis.org/users/dustin-ensinger>
on March 19, 2010 - 11:08am

http://www.economyincrisis.org/
<http://www.economyincrisis.org/content/rob-portman-gets-blasted-free-trade-
record>  

 

Labor leaders and fair trade advocates began their assault Wednesday on Rob
Portman, the leading U.S. Senate candidate in the Republican primary,
highlighting his past support for job-killing free trade agreements,
according to The Youngstown Business Journal Daily.

 

On a conference call derisively said to be a "celebration" of the five-year
anniversary of Portman's nomination to become George W. Bush's U.S. Trade
Representative, participants laid out the case against Portman, who will
likely face off against Lieutenant Governor Lee Fisher in the general
election in November.
    
 <http://www.biocrawler.com/w/images/7/7d/Rob_portman_with_bush.jpg> 

"George Bush chose him for a reason. His votes in the House betrayed Ohio
workers time and time again," Doug Sizemore, executive secretary-treasurer
of the Cincinnati AFL-CIO, said, according to The Youngstown Business
Journal Daily.

 

Indeed when President Bush plucked Portman out of the U.S. House of
Representatives after a 12-year run in the lower chamber, he referred to
Portman as "a great record as a champion of free and fair trade."  His
record backs up the "free part" at least.

 

As a member of the Ohio House delegation, Portman supported free trade pacts
with Central America, Australia, Singapore and Chile.  He voted against
withdrawing from the World Trade Organization and in favor of providing the
president with even greater power to negotiate free trade agreements.  He
steadfastly opposed extending aid to those displaced because of free trade
policies.

 

According to Sizemore, Portman is also a supporter of the failed North
American Free Trade Agreement, believing that it has created jobs.
   
"I can tell you there are 50,000 Ohio workers who would disagree with him on
that," Sizemore said, according to The Youngstown Business Journal Daily.

 

The Ohio Conference on Fair Trade said that during the Portman-era as U.S.
Trade Rep., 17,000 Ohio jobs were outsourced while the trade deficit rose
6.5 percent.  Portman also allowed the U.S. trade deficit with China to
swell to over $200 billion for the first time in history.

 

Participants also disputed Portman's claim that he helped to create millions
of jobs through his time in public service, a notion that seems almost
laughable given his record on trade.
 
"Why do we have 35 out of 50 states that their unemployment funds are
bankrupt?" Donnie Blatt, rapid response coordinator for the United Steel
Workers of America, said, according to The Youngstown Business Journal
Daily.  "I can only assume that those millions of jobs were created in
China, Mexico and India."

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