The Gainesville Sun Editorial Published July 6, 2005
CAFTA won't benefit U.S.
The Senate approved CAFTA by a vote of 54-45 on Thursday. This will be presented to the House in July and will be a close vote.
CAFTA is not a trade benefit to the U.S. but will foster the loss of more American jobs.
The entire domestic output of the CAFTA nations - Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic - is less than that of New Haven, Conn.
With half of the population earning about $2 per day, it is absurd to suggest that this would benefit the U.S.
As NAFTA has clearly demonstrated, these trade agreements are not beneficial to the U.S. They have a history of unfair regulations against the U.S. while favoring other countries. CAFTA will only serve the interests of global insiders as another stepping stone to the FTAA and hemispheric government.
As governments become larger, freedoms are reduced. Congress does not have the constitutional right to subject U.S. citizens to the authority of outside interests, but this could happen if enough Americans do not get involved immediately.
CAFTA is a threat to our independence. We will be subservient to the CAFTA free trade commission and the WTO. The NAFTA tribunal has already overruled the U.S. Supreme Court.
Please read the CAFTA agreement on www.ustr.gov or www.stopcafta.com. The CAFTA agreement, in the preamble and in chapters 10, 11 and 19, clearly reveal what this agreement is really about.
Free trade is only the bait on the hook of government tyranny. Free trade is more likely to be accomplished by less government rather than more.
Please contact Congressman Cliff Stearns' Ocala office at (800) 888-7743 and request that he vote no.
Lloyd W. Bailey Jr., Gainesville
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