VIDEO: Clinton Thinks NAFTA Is Hilarious

In the video above, you will find a very short clip I put together after tonight's Democratic presidential debate. Please forward the link on to as many folks as you can. Regardless of which candidate you support, you will likely find this video truly stunning. This was by far the most insulting comment of the evening - and likely the one that will come back and haunt Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary.

Really, what an offensive statement Clinton made to the millions of American and Mexican workers who lost their jobs and saw their wages destroyed thanks to NAFTA - a deal pushed by the Clinton administration (for some more data on NAFTA, see this report from the Economic Policy Institute). You want to talk about showing how utterly out of touch you are, that's how you do it - you laugh and say you barely remember the debate over the very trade deal that is destroying America's middle class. And then after you stop laughing, you go to the Senate floor to vote to expand NAFTA, as Clinton says she's going to in the next few weeks.

Comments

[Guitarsandmore]

David,

Now that you are in Denver, you should drive up to Boulder and see Larry Carlton and Robben Ford at the Boulder theater March 6. Should be good.

Best Regards,

G&M

[outnow]

Hillary Clinton is a follower of the laissez-faire theory where markets regulate themselves. She follows Bill Clinton's mentor, Robert Rubin, a Wall Street lawyer now CEO of the Citibank Group. Like all fundamentalist faiths, "Chicago School" economics is a closed system - high inflation or souring unemployment would signal a market that was not truly "free."

The University of Chicago's Economics Department, led by Milton Friedman, saw the economic forces of supply and demand, inflation, and unemployment in a state of perfect equilibrium. The forces of governmental regulation, trade barriers, and entrenched interests interrupt the pristine state of the sacred system.

The mantra of free markets, free prices, consumer choice and economic liberty is responsible for the global prosperity - in fact, one can just ignore international borders to avoid regulation and taxation and to amass new wealth. Much of this came from Friedrich Hayek, an austere Austrian who warned that any government involvement would lead society down the "road to serfdom."

For the heads of U.S. multinational corporations, the developing world and stronger unions at home, with the post-war boom were unsettling times. The economy was growing fast, enormous wealth being created but the working man and corporate taxes forced a redistribution of wealth under the New Deal. Friedman published Capitalism and Freedom from his lofty academic perch so the capital classes could regain their throne by beating back the "welfare state" and "big government."

Guess whose side Hillary is on? Big Business and the free flow of capital internationally. Labor doesn't "flow" so wealth accumulates in the hands of Wall Street bankers. By manufacturing abroad, the "free-traders" have cut out the middle-man, i.e., the working class in America. Free trade is not democracy - in fact, it is undemocratic.

[cynara]

Here's another slide statistic for you:

25% increase in Mexican immigration to the US since the passage of NAFTA

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/18/weekinreview/18uchitelle.html?pagewanted=print

[Opus007]

One thing I noticed about Hillary last night was the appearance of that Republican smirk. She's not a Democrat- why do you think she is being force fed to us by the corporate owned media? They want a candidate to carry out their right wing agenda.
The media covers Obama and Edwards begrudgingly and totally ignores the best candidates- Biden, Richardson, Dodd and Kucinich. We are being played people!

[Countess]

Believe me the beating down of the middle class is the last thing on her mind. She has taken so much dirty money from the her corporate masters that she will work hard for them and that includes the defense industry which also bleeds the country.

[castlerider]

This woman is a ditzy idiot who thinks she can lead with a smile. She's wrong.
I was also offended by her lack of commitment to this serious issue; mocking Ross Perot's charts.
Those charts were about a very serious issue, you twit. Those charts actually meant something.
And most importantly, ROSS PEROT WAS RIGHT!!!!!

[laurenc]

The alternative:
After growing up in Carolina mill towns, John Edwards understands the devastating impact trade can have on workers and communities. The current account deficit exceeded $850 billion in 2006, which is 6.5 percent of our economy. An estimated 5 million jobs have been sent offshore under President Bush, Even when jobs are not moved offshore, competition from cheap labor overseas holds down wages and benefits in the United States.
• Be a Tough Negotiator, Unafraid to Reject Bad Deals: The American position in trade negotiations has been formulated behind closed doors with help from corporate lobbyists. Under the "fast track" procedure, Congress could not amend the resulting deals. Not surprisingly, trade deals include special privileges for American multinational corporations but not protections for worker rights. For example, while the core NAFTA agreement failed to include any labor standards, its Chapter 11 gave corporations sweeping rights to challenge national laws in secretive tribunals, putting investor profits ahead of American sovereignty and protections for health and the environment.
o Insist on Benefits for Regular Families: Edwards believes that the true test of a trade deal is not its reception on Wall Street or contribution to the gross domestic product. Instead, his primary criterion for new trade deals will be simple: considering its impact on jobs, wages and prices, will it make most families better off? He rejects President Bush's use of trade agreements to encourage countries to support his foreign policy, rather than to strengthen our economy.

[Henry]

We can all hear this train a coming.

[EspressoAtNoon]

Good post, David.

[LittleBrother]

Gee, Dave, your crabby nitpicking is totally contradicted by this morning's corporate news message, which declared that Hillary is "back", and the uncontested "winner" in the "debate".

Damn, it's not even 9 o'clock and I've already used up my allotted ironic quotes for the day.

Worse yet, the vested interests have crammed Hillary so far down my throat that now I have to go to the emergency ward and have my stomach pumped.

[thedirtman]

And this is why I voted for Ralph Nader in 2000. Today Dems blame Nader and people like myself for the Iraq war.

The selective recollection of actions and events that were the cause of misery for others is not often examined. People don't seem to have an ability to learn from mistakes because selective memory prevents them from acknowledging and asking where they went wrong.

David, I'm all for further analysis here. This disease is all too common.

[vox populi]

Clinton has said he'd rethink NAFTA. That is where the question came from. Obviously, if Hillary isn't prepared for a question, she can't answer it. She's in full conservative mode- she's the front runner and she can only blow it by opening her mouth.

He argument that her heart is in the right place is, overall valid. On this issue, a lot of Democrats essentially see globalization as, defined by multinational corporations, as inevitable and unstoppable. That's the Big Lie, and Hillary has taken it up.

That along with an attitude on her part of "so what if the middle class suffers, we're lifting millions in India out of poverty.." combine to make her as much a losing candidate for American workers are any of the front runners. If you want justice for Mexicans, Americans and Indians, then you'd be supporting Dennis Kucinich who never swallowed the NAFTA Free Trade junk at all or perhaps Bernie Saunders or Byron Dorgan, all of whom have their head screwed on right with respect to Free Trade and Globalization.

Of course, they're not getting corporate money. When you have corporately financed elections, you get the Hillaries and Bushes of the world.

[MistahCharleyPhD]

The Who song really fits - and I agree with what I think is your implication - that the Clintons, and the DLC in general, are crypto-Republicans. Kucinich, I think we can agree, is actually a Democrat. In your opinion, were there any other "real" Democrats on the stage?

[GreedyOldPsychopaths]

David,

I was incensed by her lack of compassion, understanding, and willingness to admit that current US trade policies (NAFTA in particular) are devastating middle-class families and our economy for the enrichment of her financial supporters on Wall Street AND 'K' Street (investor class).

[nancytheragingliberal]

David Sirota, you are the best! Thanks for doing what you do. I am voting for Dennis K., as he is the only one who speaks for the average American (me). Keep up the good work.