Political Quotes

“a bowling ball weighs about 170 times the weight of a slice of sandwich bread. It does not take a physicist to see the mismatch between a bowling ball and a slice of bread. And it does not take a trade expert to see the economic mismatch between the United States and the nations that make up the Central American Free Trade Agreement: Honduras, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Guatemala, and El Salvador. The way that CAFTA, the Central American Free Trade Agreement, proponents talk, you would think Central America was one of the biggest economies in the Western Hemisphere. CAFTA nations are not only among the world's poorest countries, they are among its smallest economies. Think about this: this big trade agreement that President Bush wants, CAFTA, the combined purchasing power of the CAFTA nations is almost identical to the purchasing power of Columbus, Ohio. Tomorrow, the Senate will hold the first congressional hearing on CAFTA. Congress typically has voted within 55 days of President Bush signing a trade agreement. May 28 will mark the 1-year anniversary of when the President signed CAFTA. The other trade agreements were all done within only about 2 months. Because CAFTA is so unpopular and trade policy in this country is so wrong-headed, the President still has not sent CAFTA here for a vote. Clearly, there is dissension in the ranks, and for good reason.…”