Another Vote Bites the Dust

Local blog m-pyre has the scoop on the Democratic House and Senate defectors who voted for CAFTA. Need I say more?

Oxfam explains why the lastest "free" trade treaty will be as bad, if not worse, than NAFTA. It was some spectacle as the House voted, with BushCo operatives threatening members of Congress with pork cuts and offering generous pork helpings to those who consented to have their arms (and souls) twisted to vote aye. Two votes made the difference.

Perhaps most amazing was Bush's hard sell of the treaty on the basis of -- get this -- homeland security! Uh huh. It was explained that the treaty will result in such prosperity in Central America that the "terrorist" citizens there won't even think about crossing our border legally or illegally. Funny how it hasn't worked that way with NAFTA and Mexico, isn't it? Facts just have an inconvenient tendency for getting in the way of lies that way.

Cheering the loudest? Big Pharmaceuticals! CAFTA forces their expensive pills on the Central American populace in place of the cheap generics produced elsewhere. Followed closely by the cheers of Big Agricultural companies who benefit from big U.S. gov'mint subsidies. They'll get to dump rice and genetically modified foods and seeds on Central American nations while putting small farmers out of business lickety-split.