Legal Commentary

Hillary's Youngstown Speech and NAFTA

By Jeralyn

Since the networks cut it off, here's the text of Hillary's new speech delivered in Youngstown, Ohio last night.

It seems to me the most prominent issue in the campaigns is now NAFTA and that it will be as important in Ohio as it was in Wisconsin.

Admittedly, it's an issue I know nothing about. But the sense I get from the media is that Obama has gained an edge on the issue by bashing Hillary because Bill Clinton pushed for NAFTA.

Last night, Hillary released a four point specific plan to fix the problems of NAFTA. It's in her speech and reprinted below and my questions are, what is Obama's specific plan, how does it differ from Hillary's and do they really differ on the issue? [More...]

Let's get real about NAFTA - it simply isn't working for all Americans. I'm not just going to talk about what's wrong with NAFTA, I'm going to fix it and I have a four-point plan to do exactly that.

First we'll have the strongest possible labor and environmental standards in the core NAFTA agreement.

Second, we wont let foreign countries undermine worker protection as they do right now. These companies can challenge American regulation intended to protect American workers and the environment. That is not acceptable and I will change that.

I will strengthen NAFTA's enforcement mechanisms to remove trade barriers and better protect American jobs.

And finally, we'll review this agreement and every other trade agreement regularly. If it's not raising living standards right here in America and protecting American workers, then we're not going to have it be a race to the bottom. We will never again let fourteen years go by without updating and modernizing our trade agreements.

My opponent has taken to attacking me on NAFTA. The fact is neither of us were in the Senate at the time and I've long been a critic of the shortcomings of NAFTA.

Again, my questions are: What is Obama's specific plan, how does it differ from Hillary's and do they really differ on the issue?

Full post as published by TalkLeft on February 20, 2008 (boomark / email).