Clinton Hosted Pro-NAFTA Briefing As First Lady

ABC's Political Punch:

One interesting event in Sen. Hillary Clinton's just-released schedules from the 1990s comes on Nov. 10 1993, when the former first lady was to serve as the closing act during a briefing on NAFTA, the trade agreement she now assails....

"It wasn't a drop-by it was organized around her participation," said one attendee. "Her remarks were totally pro-NAFTA and what a good thing it would be for the economy. There was no equivocation for her support for NAFTA at the time. Folks were pleased that she came by. If this is a still a question about what Hillary's position when she was First Lady, she was totally supportive if NAFTA.

Read the whole story: ABC's Political Punch

Comments

[truthyguy]

So Hillary lied about her position on NAFTA and about her "experience".

Tell us something we didn't know about the Bitch.

[Sloane7]

Has anyone seen the video story by Brian Ross on ABC News tonight? They are reviewing her White House papers and trying to find her "experience". They seem to be having trouble. They did, however, find her tea parties with blinis and caviar. Way to go Brian Ross, great story!!!

[lafrance]

The excuses and blindness by Hillary's supporters is a laugh. If she committed murder they would find a way to spin it and excuse her.
Talk about being a cult.

[foreffectivegovernment]

The original NAFTA bill had Environmental and Labor clauses that were stripped out and appended as ammendments. After it passed, the Republicans removed them.

Look it up.

[unsolved999]

Even if this is true, Bill Clinon still signed it. Did Hillary stop him? Did she try? What is the version she did promote of not the final version? When did it pass? before or after the Dems lost control of the House and Senate? Under the Clintons?

[mesuki]

lafrance..­.you are so right .I keep asking my husband why it is that people are still suporting this woman. Just like Bush with his 32% approval rating. Who are these twisted people? I just can't figure it out,so the only thing I can think of to make sense of it is that satan has blinded them ( and believe me I'm no religious fanatic),but I can't find any other explanation for it.

[MikeMidCity]

For God's sake, Hillary sat on the board of Wal-Mart. + Then a few years later she helps pass NAFTA, with her charm, her husband and a Republican Congress. = friend of the working people, not.

[NoGoodNamesLeft]

There is nothing inconsistent in what she has said and this NAFTA meeting. She has told you that she "personally" didn't support NAFTA at the time. In fact the article quotes David Gergen saying just that. But, as First Lady and part of the administration, she was required to support the Administration's official position whether she personally agreed with it or not.

She has also said that since becoming a senator she has said in public that NAFTA has been good for some and bad for others and that it needs to be renegotiated.

What's your issue here?

[SCG]

-"she was required to support the Administration's official position whether she personally agreed with it or not."

She could have remained silent, or offer no opinion. If she didn't want to contradict her husband in public.

In essence, she carried water for an idea she claims she didn't support.

[MikeMidCity]

Well isn't that as consistent as her vote for the authorization for the use of force in Iraq then saying she was misled?

[NoGoodNamesLeft]

if the boss tells you to hold a meetig, you hold a meeting

[Sloane7]

Good grief, how many sides of her mouth are you suggesting she talk out of? "I was for NAFTA until I was against NAFTA, but I didn't tell Bill while I pushed NAFTA and when we got it through, I told him I secretly was against NAFTA?" Sounds like her war vote.

[TheRealMacDaddy]

If she didn't agree with it, why does her official schedule show she had at a minimum of 5 different meetings to include meetings with Congressional Leaders in support of the issue? Not counting her closed door meeting with the 120 Business Women cited above.

As I said that's just the 5 that have been gleaned so far from the 11,000 documents released yesterday.

As far as David Gergen goes...wha­t would you expect him to say? He was a member of Bill Clinton's Administration and now works for CNN, you know the Clinton News Network.

[unsolved999]

She just sounds like a good lawyer. Her client, Bill, asked her to defend his policy, NAFTA. It's not her job to agree or disagree with the policy, it's her job to advocate for her client, Bill. Of course like any good lawyer, or spouse, she could have said, no, in which case another lawyer, or advocate, would have taken the case. Instead she showed how competent she was as a professional and did her best to sell something she totally (or somewhat) disagreed with.

Elliott Spitzer and his friends would understand completely.

[fyddlestyx]

So, serving as First Lady "forced" HRC to abandon her personal principles to support a policy she didn't believe in? Where was her famous fighting spirit then?

[FogBelter]

A. Why am I NOT surprised at this?


B.Why am I NOT surprised the voters of Ohio bought Hillary's NAFTA deception?

[SCG]

If you follow the stories Ohio has voting problems only rivaled by Florida. Who knows under a Republican admin. the vote was accurate this time? It's in the repub's interest to have Hillary to go up against in the fall

[Miket53]

Hillary's records need to be released from the '90's. Today we saw some "schedules". But we need to see more. If Hillary wants to claim "experienc­e"....then lets see it. Let's see the history behind your claim. But we can't because Bill and Hillary have them sealed. SO...the history must have some baggage attached to it. Like...wha­t she really did during her original "National Healthcare" bid. Did Bill take donations for his library from people that would be embarrassing today...li­ke Saudi Arabs?
The last secretive issue is the tax returns...­.why hide them? Must be something there. Can't wait to see how this "secretive" issue develops.
http://mtaricani.blogspot.com/
Mike

[NoGoodNamesLeft]

And, Obama needs to release all ofhis records from the senate and the ILL state senate. He always uses his ILL state senate office to claim he has more elected experience than Clinton. So, we need to see his tax records from all those years as well as his US senate years. He has only released his taxes for 2006. We need to see all his records from ILL and all his earmarks from ILL as well.

[Sloane7]

Exactly. EIGHT years worth of tax returns and you know those are all done. They just don't want to reveal them and if they don't want to reveal them, there must be a reason. And if there's not a reason, reveal them to address voter concerns.

[AreYouFibbing]

And then she passed NAFTA all by herself? Sitting here at my computer lmao at the "straw grasping"
going on. She has said it needs to be renegotiated and it is something the next president will have to do.

[Impeachthechimp]

Well...now we know why they were pushing for the docs. They wanted ammo to smear her.

[MarineBugler]

If they had released them earlier, then there would be nothing to smear with now. It would have been a known factor already and would have blown it's course already.

Oh well. In any event, it seems to me that the more this campaign goes on, it's not the candidates who I am worried about. It's EVERYONE else.

Everyone needs to calm down, breath, and relax. It does not bode well for us all in November. No matter who you support.

[MichelleB]

The blue collars are too busy to find time to be educated on issues, that is why Hillary is manipulating them.

[SCG]

What is sad is they are living with the conquences of NAFTA 16 years later, yet they supported her in the primaries. Clinton's are pros at pulling the wool over your eyes...

[ChrisS13]

LOL, for month Obama Kool Aid drinkers have been screaming for these papers. Now all they got to argue about is a "DROP BY" on a NAFTA meeting. I wish you could hear me laughing my ass at how silly you all look. NOw you'll all scream for her tax returns. I myself cannot wait until April 15th, as a matter of fact, I"d like to know where the Obama Cult meets, so I can be there live to see the dissapointed looks on your faces. THere is no "there" There. Yet, you'll keep digging just like Ken Starr and you'll continue to spread OBamas message of HATE ......I mean Change, and you'll keep your ear muffs on until he loses the GE. So continue this BS backdoor attacks against HRC, while keeping up this facade of CHANGE>

[BrooklynLager]

From the article:

"It WASN'T A *DROP BY*, it was organized around her participation," said one attendee. "Her remarks were totally pro-NAFTA and what a good thing it would be for the economy. There was no equivocation for her support for NAFTA at the time. Folks were pleased that she came by. If this is a still a question about what Hillary's position when she was First Lady, she was totally supportive if NAFTA."

[KaAp]

ChrisS13
Even if you were presented with facts you would find a way to refute them ... gravity? Nah, that doesn't exist ... Does the sun spin around the earth and is the earth the center of the solar system and is pluto a planet ... oh my ... my my

I am too smart to drink Kool-Aid I would never put something filled with sugar in my mouth ... too many empty calories ... sort of like too many empty Clintonian promises where if you look at history they can be easily refuted ...

She was for NAFTA: read what the attendees at the meeting said instead of dismissing it.
People have a short sense of history, and yes MichelleB blue collar workers are too busy and the media pundits (posing as the fourth estate) play off these spins to advance their particular ideological agenda ... and that is a shame ...

Is it any wonder why worldwide the word American has sent shudders down people's spines

[TxWonderWoman]

What are you all going to say when the Public Policy Institute comes out with its report that says the records show that Hillary had a "co Presidency" during those years? Cause that's what they're saying. LOL. So will you keep saying that all she did was host teas???

[JavaCityGal]

So this means that what Obama has said all along was accurate and Hillary has been LYING to the American people, over and over? SHAME ON YOU HILLARY!

[KDH]

At least she didn't tell Canada NAFTA was a good deal, like Obama tried to sneakily do in secret

[cowman]

Funny story, she actually did that first.

[estreya]

Actually, she did just that. It was Clinton who contacted Canada, not Obama. Check your facts.

[Susan1968]

You're wrong.

The Canadian givernment confirmed that no one from the Clinton camp called them.

However, there is that memo that confirms Obama's guy met with them.

[ariadne1]

ah, but yes she did... it was her campaign NOT obamas that gave the wink and nos.

[NoGoodNamesLeft]

the canadian govt has denied that either campaign did that. why do you only believe HALF of what the canadian govt tells you?

[butchie65]

You must do more reading ! KDH

[SCG]

First you don't know exactly what was said . Second the economist wasn't speaking in an offical capacity for Obama, but rather on his own accord.

Obama did publicly reiterate that he wanted to amend labor & enviroment aspects of NAFTA . Which in reality, would most likely affect Mexico not Canada which has simular wage and enviromental standards,­....perhap­s higher than ours judging by recent events.

[unsolved999]

This is precisely why The Clintons should never release their tax returns and Clinton Library donations. You want the truth? You can't handle the truth!

[NuttyProf]

It doesnt seem to be about NAFTA anymore, or health care not sure what the issue is this week, oh yeah the war this week, or was it race this week i forget, short attention span