A Pro-Trade Party No Longer (cont'd)
Pelosi steps up & demands accountability (Sirotablog, via Houston Democrats)
Roll Call has a new report up about House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D) holding an emergency meeting of the House Democratic Steering Committee tonight to discuss formal sanctions against the 15 Democrats who sold out their party and voted for the corporate-written Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). Pelosi raised "the likelihood that defectors' committee assignments would be reviewed at tonight’s meeting of the Steering Committee." That's absolutely necessary - why should Democrats who undermine their party be given plum committee assignments over other, far more loyal and principled Democrats? Pelosi should be commended for her courage - and now she needs to back up her words with action.
The Democratic Party no longer supports free trade. There's really no way to spin it otherwise.
UPDATE (07-29-2005):
Applauding the CAFTA 15 (New York Times)
Trade votes are always cliffhangers, and Cafta was no exception. The vote, which started just after 11 p.m., took almost an hour as some Republicans, many from textile states, jockeyed over who would be allowed to vote against the bill and save face back home. But the Republicans who voted for Cafta at least did so knowing that they were ensuring for themselves the approval of their party leaders, including President Bush. Many of the Democrats who voted for the pact knew that they were practically guaranteeing themselves a primary fight come next election. Indeed, organized labor was already talking yesterday morning about extracting revenge. "Punish the Cafta 15" was a headline in Working Life, a pro-labor blog.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/28/05 21:15 | American Politics | Technorati
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Comments
Was the Democratic Party ever really free trade?
Posted by EasyE @ 00:09 on 07/29/05
I think it would be hard to make the case that the party as a whole solidly embraced it, but I'll credit Bill Clinton and at least a contingent of the party for supporting trade at one point.
I wonder if trade will actually be an issue like national security was a couple of decades ago, where some Dems (early "neocons") crossed over to the GOP largely because of more muscular foreign-policy views?
Posted by Kevin @ 10:14 on 07/29/05
I find it interesting that when a Republican "crosses the aisle" and votes with the Democrats on something, it's hailed by the Democrats as courageous. When Democrats go against their party, it's cause for a flogging.
Posted by Anne @ 11:09 on 07/29/05
Henry Cuellar from Laredo voted for CAFTA, as did two other South Texas Dems. Cuellar is in for a fight, though. He unseated the head of the Mex Amer Caucus to win his seat in a VERY close 2004 race, so it will be interesting to see what the Dems do next year to try to unseat him. Cuellar has voted with the Republicans quite a bit so far, but mostly on trade issues and South Texas (especially Laredo) is very pro-free trade.
PS Props to you, Kevin. This is one of the few blogs that I still consistently read.
Posted by el_longhorn @ 11:45 on 07/29/05
Is that the same organized labor that split in half earlier in the week? I can guess where service employees (net consumers of imports) and Teamsters (who get paid whether they haul imports or exports) ought to come down on this.
Posted by Tom Hanna @ 14:16 on 07/29/05
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