{"id":12544,"date":"2008-06-19T07:25:58","date_gmt":"2008-06-19T13:25:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/proteinwisdom.com\/?p=12544"},"modified":"2008-06-19T07:25:58","modified_gmt":"2008-06-19T13:25:58","slug":"barack-obama-trades-his-stance-on-nafta-karl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/proteinwisdom.com\/?p=12544","title":{"rendered":"Barack Obama trades his stance on NAFTA [Karl]"},"content":{"rendered":"

Barack Obama has now flipped<\/a> (or is it flopped) on trade, telling Fortune<\/em> magazine’s Nina Easton that NAFTA is not as bad a deal as he made it sound while campaigning in states like Ohio and Pennsylvania:<\/p>\n

“Sometimes during campaigns the rhetoric gets overheated and amplified,” he conceded, after I reminded him that he had called NAFTA “devastating” and “a big mistake,” despite nonpartisan studies concluding that the trade zone has had a mild, positive effect on the U.S. economy.<\/p>\n

Does that mean his rhetoric was overheated and amplified? “Politicians are always guilty of that, and I don’t exempt myself,” he answered.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

At the HuffPo, David Sirota<\/a> is not exempting Obama either, but still thinks\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0he could be “solid on trade” — by which Sirota means protectionist.\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0 Could he be?\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0 Obama has been double-talking<\/a> the issue for months, claiming that NAFTA was bad for the country, but saying that he would not try to repeal it.\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0 On the other hand, actions can speak louder than words — and Obama’s actions<\/a>\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0as a candidate have not been free trade:<\/p>\n

He issued a statement supportive of the agreement with Peru, but skipped the vote<\/span><\/a>.\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0 He told the Wisconsin Fair Trade Coalition<\/span><\/a> that he opposes<\/span><\/a> not only the South Korea trade agreement, but also the Colombia and Panama accords.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But the sudden return of Austan Goolsbee<\/a>, Economic Adviser of Mystery, who had been demoted when word leaked that he was reassuring the Canadians that Obama was in fact just pandering to protectionist sentiment among the bitter, clingy voters, suggests re-opening NAFTA is not something on which Obama plans to spend any political capital.<\/p>\n

Lefties like Sirota will have to accept that trade is among the increasing number of issues<\/a> where Obama will be moving more toward the middle — or to a position so muddled that no one can discern what it is, thereby avoiding scrutiny.\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0 That is Change You Can Bet On.<\/p>\n

(h\/t Memeorandum<\/a>.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Barack Obama has now flipped (or is it flopped) on trade, telling Fortune magazine’s Nina Easton that NAFTA is not as bad a deal as he made it sound while campaigning in states like Ohio and Pennsylvania: “Sometimes during campaigns the rhetoric gets overheated and amplified,” he conceded, after I reminded him that he had called NAFTA “devastating” and “a big mistake,” despite nonpartisan studies concluding that the trade zone<\/p>\n

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