Quote:
Originally posted by Spanky
More stuff on free trade
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God help me, I'm going to try one more time. Then I will say no more about it.
Let's think of it in terms of a hypothetical. Let's assume that there is a "perfect" (defined as "including everything that Spanky wants, and nothing else") draft free trade agreement between the US and Hypoistan. Hypoistan is a Third World country that is (outside of South Carolina) the only source of Hypoicide, a chemical essential to the USAF's new B-3 Really, Really Invisible Bomber, as well as the active ingredient in a very tasty new Frito-Lay product called HypoChips. They also provide call center services for Microsoft, and make very fashionable leather bags.
Let's assume that there is a group of Spankists in Congress who agree with President Spanky, but not enough of them to pass or ratify the "perfect" agreement.
Let's assume that just to the left of the Spankists are a group who like free trade, but who think that the "perfect" agreement needs to require Hypoistan to enforce its laws on child labor so that 5 year olds actually stop spending 18 hours a day in the dangerously unsafe Hypoicide factories, and enforce the environmental laws on pumping sludge into the water. This group thinks that this non-enforcement makes Hypoistan's products cheaper than they would otherwise be, since there are significant cost savings associated with using child labor and in freely pumping sludge. They, added to the core Spankists, will equal enough votes for passage.
Let's assume that just to the right of the Spankists are a group who like free trade, but who (a) are from South Carolina, and are worried that the influx of foreign Hypoicide will cripple their local factories, or (b) are national defense hawks, and are very concerned about what will happen after cheap Hypoicide floods the market, putting US companies out of business, and forcing the DoD to rely upon a foreign source for this essential chemical. The rightists also add enough votes to the core Spankists to get a deal passed.
President Spanky (after trying to crack a few heads) is pissed to discover that he can't get a "perfect" agreement passed, so he grumbles a bit, and decides to cobble together an unpure, imperfect deal. Since the rightists are members of his political party, he goes to them for the votes. He assures the rightists that the DoD will give no-bid contracts to domestic Hypoicide producers, ensuring that South Carolina will keep its factories and that the US will not have to rely on a bunch of commies for this vital part of the national defense. The treaty, as modified into a no longer "perfect" or pure free trade agreement, is approved.
Given all that, how, exactly, are those who would vote for a free trade bill with Hypositan if it had the labor/environmental provisions any less partisan than the president who caved on pure free trade to appease his party? Or the ones who only voted for it when the subsidy was added for their benefit?
