The bottom of the Op-Ed got cut off in my last email.<br>For the complete op-ed, click on the <a href="http://www.bangordailynews.com/detail/148966.html">link </a>or scroll down.<br>Apologies for the confusion.<br>-Daphne<br>
<br><div class="gmail_quote">---------- Forwarded message ----------<br>From: <b class="gmail_sendername">Daphne Loring</b> <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:daphne@mainefairtrade.org">daphne@mainefairtrade.org</a>></span><br>
Date: Wed, Jul 21, 2010 at 1:44 PM<br>Subject: Obama Op-Ed: Maine Needs Fair Trade Reform, Mr. President<br>To: <a href="mailto:ctcfield@lists.citizenstrade.org">ctcfield@lists.citizenstrade.org</a><br><br><br><div>Hi All,</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Obama was in Maine over the weekend and we placed an op-ed on trade to "welcome" him.</div>
<div><b>Please click on the link below to get the number of "views" up.</b></div>
<div>THANKS!</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Daphne </div>
<div> </div>
<div>--</div>
<div>Daphne Loring</div>
<div>Maine Fair Trade Campaign</div>
<div>238 Goddard Rd. </div>
<div>Lewiston, ME 04240</div>
<div>(207) 777-6387</div>
<div><a href="http://www.mainefairtrade.org/" target="_blank">www.mainefairtrade.org</a></div>
<div> </div>
<div> </div>
<div><a href="http://www.bangordailynews.com/detail/148966.html" target="_blank"><b>http://www.bangordailynews.com/detail/148966.html</b></a></div>
<div>
<p><b><font size="4">Maine Needs Fair Trade Reform, Mr. President</font></b></p>
<p><i>Bangor Daily News |</i> 7/16/2010 | Don Berry<br></p><span class="sub_title"></span>
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<p>Mr. President, welcome to Maine. On behalf of working men and women,
I welcome you to our fine state. As you may know, Maine is not only
revered for its lobsters and picturesque coastline, its great North
Woods and extraordinary lakes and rivers, it is also known for its
exemplary work force. Often cited as one of the most productive work
forces in the country, Maine men and women are hardworking, loyal,
dependable and efficient.</p>
<p>However, while we tout a first-rate work force, Maine families are
struggling — jobs are hemorrhaging from the state. Mr. President, you
won’t have to travel far from Mount Desert Island to see another, less
bucolic picture of Maine — one of shuttered mills and vacant Main
Streets. Our unemployment rate nears 9 percent. Month after month, the
Department of Labor certifies laid-off workers as eligible for Trade
Adjustment Assistance — their jobs lost due to outsourcing or increased
imports.</p>
<p>Over 30,000 manufacturing jobs have fled the state since the passage
of the North American Free Trade Agreement. You wouldn’t have to travel
but 50 miles west to see the closed ZF Lemforder shop in Brewer.
Lemforder recently relocated to Mexico, costing 400 workers their jobs.</p><p>Unfair
trade policy, skewed to benefit multinational corporations, and an
elite class of investors have led to off-shoring of jobs, massive
layoffs, a vast trade deficit, and unprecedented investor rights
afforded to foreign corporations.</p>
<p>Mr. President, you campaigned on trade reform. You called for
renegotiation of NAFTA and other trade deals, you pledged to reform the
egregious investment provisions and to incorporate enforceable labor
provisions. We ask you to follow through on your campaign promises.</p>
<p>Mr. President, U.S. trade policy is broken and no one knows this more
than Mainers. The lack of prudent global regulation of commerce and
massive trade and financial imbalances was a leading cause of our
current economic crisis. The only way we are going to recover from this
crisis is to also address our flawed trade policies.</p>
<p>Mr. President, trade reform does not equate to pushing more of the
same NAFTA-style trade deals through Congress. Mainers are gravely
concerned with your recent statements indicating movement to ratify the
Bush negotiated free trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia and
Panama. Such action will exacerbate the U.S. trade deficit, further
compromise our already weakening manufacturing base, and threaten a
worse global crisis in the future.</p>
<p>The Economic Policy Institute warns that the U.S. International Trade
Commission vastly underestimates the damage of a U.S.-Korea Free Trade
Agreement. EPI estimates a $16.7 billion trade deficit and a net loss of
nearly 160,000 jobs in the first seven years — clearly the last thing
this country needs as we seek to restore our economy and create jobs.</p>
<p>In addition, at a time when financial regulation is so desperately
needed to avoid another global meltdown, the Korea FTA incorporates the
most extreme financial deregulation of any FTA to date. The agreement
commits its signatory countries to refrain from limiting the size of
financial institutions, banning toxic derivatives or controlling
destabilizing capital flights and floods! While Wall-Street lobbyists
may line up behind such provisions, it spells disaster for the rest of
us.</p>
<p>The three Bush hangover deals incorporate the worst provisions of
NAFTA. They include the extraordinary investment provisions that subject
our domestic environmental, zoning, health and other public interest
laws to challenge by foreign corporations. They lack enforceable labor
standards or adequate food and product safety provisions, and put bans
on procurement policies, such as many buy-American, sweat-free and
renewable energy policies.</p>
<p>Mr. President, Maine is a leader in fair trade reform. Maine workers,
farmers, small-business owners, legislators and the congressional
delegation have been calling to end the NAFTA nightmare and fix trade
policy for years. Maine’s own Rep. Mike Michaud, who represents the very
district you’re in, has put forward a blueprint for trade reform called
the T.R.A.D.E. Act.</p>
<p>Mr. President, we are asking you to hold to your campaign promises of
real and substantive trade reform. Upon your return to Washington, we
would ask you to sit down with the T.R.A.D.E. Act and to use it as a
template for future trade deals, including the Trans Pacific Partnership
currently under negotiation. Congress should refrain from ratifying the
Bush hangover deals until we have established a sound fair trade policy
as demonstrated in the T.R.A.D.E. Act.</p>
<p>Welcome to Maine, the leader in fair trade reform. We are looking to
you to jump on board!</p>
<p><i>Don Berry of Sumner is president of the Maine AFL-CIO.</i></p> </div></div>
</div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>Daphne Loring, Coordinator<br>Maine Fair Trade Campaign<br>238 Goddard Rd.<br>Lewiston, ME 04240<br>207.777.6387 (office)<br>207.266.5895 (cell)<br><a href="http://www.mainefairtrade.org">www.mainefairtrade.org</a><br>
<br><br>**Proud members of MaineShare workplace giving <<a href="http://www.maineshare.org/">http://www.maineshare.org/</a>> - <br>Donate to MFTC through MaineShare by directing funds to the Maine Foreign Affairs Education Fund<br>
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