On February 13, in Janesville, before an audience of UAW workers, Barack Obama (who voted for a free trade deal with Peru) says this:
It’s also time to look to the future and figure out how to make trade work for American workers. I won’t stand here and tell you that we can – or should – stop free trade. We can’t stop every job from going overseas. But I also won’t stand here and accept an America where we do nothing to help American workers who have lost jobs and opportunities because of these trade agreements. And that’s a position of mine that doesn’t change based on who I’m talking to or the election I’m running in.
In a February 16 column, Patrick McIlheran says this:
On manufacturing, first he'd deep-six free trade.
In the same column, McIlheran -- who curiously believes he's entitled to his own facts -- appears to blame Jimmy Carter for the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act... when that law was enacted in 1973. That'd be three years before Carter was elected.
Probably because McIlheran missed those items on his "daily walk" between Johns Hinderaker and McAdams. Give the poor guy a break, he trods a narrow universe.
Posted by: iT | February 19, 2008 at 06:26 AM
Obama said in one of the debates (I believe the one in SC) that he voted for the Peru deal because it had the labor and environmental protections that NAFTA lacks. So his vote for the Peru deal is not necessarily at odds with his opposition to NAFTA.
Posted by: Laura | February 19, 2008 at 07:34 AM
He is just playing by the right wing rule book. When the opposing position does not fit within your narrow preconceived view... just make shit up.
Posted by: 3rd way | February 19, 2008 at 09:01 AM