The subtext...to country music!
03 June, 2007
We're doing...not great at all
This was originally posted on nycpublicschoolparents.blogspot.com
Diane Ravitch: ELA scores no cause for celebration
The recent release of English Language Arts scores for grades 3-8 by the New York State Education Department was treated as a cause for celebration by the New York City Department of Education. Chancellor Joel Klein said that the scores showed that "the system is clearly moving forward."
Actually, the news was not all that positive. None of it was terrible, but the scores were mainly flat or declining. Overall, in grades 3-8, 50.8% met the state standards. This represented an increase of one-tenth of 1% over the scores in 2006, when 50.7% met the standards.
*In grade 3, the scores dropped by 5 points, from 61.5% in 2006 to 56.4% in 2007.
*In grade 4, they dropped nearly 3 points, from 58.9% in 2006 to 56.0% in 2007.
*In grade 5, they dropped by .6, about half a point, from 56.7% in 2006 to 56.1% in 2007.
*In grade 6, they increased by 1 point, from 48.6% in 2006 to 49.7% in 2007.
*In grade 7, they increased by a tad more than a point, from 44.2% in 2006 to 45.5%.
*In grade 8, they increased by 5.2 points, from 36.6% in 2006 to 41.8% in 2007.
The big news, according to the Department of Education spinmeisters, was not that scores in grades 3-7 were either declining or flat, but that scores in eighth grade were up significantly. They downplayed the curious fact that eighth grade scores were up across the state by 7.7 points, from 49.3% to 57%.Nassau County eighth grade scores jumped from 69.8% to 77.4%, nearly eight points. Suffolk County saw a gain in this grade of 9.3 points, from 61.1% to 70.4%. In the troubled Roosevelt, Long Island, district, under state control for the past five years, eighth grade scores leapt by an astonishing 22 points.
Gains of this consistency in district after district suggest to testing experts that the test for the eighth grade was decidedly easier than in years past.
The grade that is most interesting to contemplate in the latest test results is fourth grade, because the state has reported fourth grade scores continuously since 1999. (In grades other than four and eight, scores are available only for 2006 and 2007.) Furthermore, these are children who started school under the current regime of mayoral control.This is the grade that is the true testing ground of mayoral control. Recall that the Children First agenda was first implemented in the schools in September 2003. When Children First began, 52.5% of the fourth graders met state standards. As of the lateset ELA scores, 56% met state standards.
Thus, after four years of Children First, reading scores in the fourth grade are up by a total of 3.5 points. In the five years before the initiation of the Bloomberg-Klein regime, reading scores in fourth grade increased from 32.7% to 52.5%, an increase of 19.8 points.
This may explain why the Chancellor and Mayor have reorganized the schools yet again, why they are continually in search of new assessment tools, and why they are planning to offer cash and pizzas for higher test scores. In four years under their control, the schools have not shown dramatic achievement. In fact, their record does not match what was accomplished in the previous four years under Chancellor Rudy Crew and Chancellor Harold O. Levy.Unfortunately, achievement has actually stalled under the current regime.Diane Ravitch
For more on the ELA results, see this NY Sun oped by Fred Smith. He points out that while Tweed is attributing the relatively flat results to greater numbers of ELL students included this year, in 2005 they glossed over the fact that a large part of that year's gains were due to fewer ELL students being tested, as well as large numbers of low-scoring Hispanic and black 3rd graders who had been held back.(Also see the SED website for the recent test results, as well as this pdf file from DOE, including some extremely confusing charts.)
Diane Ravitch: ELA scores no cause for celebration
The recent release of English Language Arts scores for grades 3-8 by the New York State Education Department was treated as a cause for celebration by the New York City Department of Education. Chancellor Joel Klein said that the scores showed that "the system is clearly moving forward."
Actually, the news was not all that positive. None of it was terrible, but the scores were mainly flat or declining. Overall, in grades 3-8, 50.8% met the state standards. This represented an increase of one-tenth of 1% over the scores in 2006, when 50.7% met the standards.
*In grade 3, the scores dropped by 5 points, from 61.5% in 2006 to 56.4% in 2007.
*In grade 4, they dropped nearly 3 points, from 58.9% in 2006 to 56.0% in 2007.
*In grade 5, they dropped by .6, about half a point, from 56.7% in 2006 to 56.1% in 2007.
*In grade 6, they increased by 1 point, from 48.6% in 2006 to 49.7% in 2007.
*In grade 7, they increased by a tad more than a point, from 44.2% in 2006 to 45.5%.
*In grade 8, they increased by 5.2 points, from 36.6% in 2006 to 41.8% in 2007.
The big news, according to the Department of Education spinmeisters, was not that scores in grades 3-7 were either declining or flat, but that scores in eighth grade were up significantly. They downplayed the curious fact that eighth grade scores were up across the state by 7.7 points, from 49.3% to 57%.Nassau County eighth grade scores jumped from 69.8% to 77.4%, nearly eight points. Suffolk County saw a gain in this grade of 9.3 points, from 61.1% to 70.4%. In the troubled Roosevelt, Long Island, district, under state control for the past five years, eighth grade scores leapt by an astonishing 22 points.
Gains of this consistency in district after district suggest to testing experts that the test for the eighth grade was decidedly easier than in years past.
The grade that is most interesting to contemplate in the latest test results is fourth grade, because the state has reported fourth grade scores continuously since 1999. (In grades other than four and eight, scores are available only for 2006 and 2007.) Furthermore, these are children who started school under the current regime of mayoral control.This is the grade that is the true testing ground of mayoral control. Recall that the Children First agenda was first implemented in the schools in September 2003. When Children First began, 52.5% of the fourth graders met state standards. As of the lateset ELA scores, 56% met state standards.
Thus, after four years of Children First, reading scores in the fourth grade are up by a total of 3.5 points. In the five years before the initiation of the Bloomberg-Klein regime, reading scores in fourth grade increased from 32.7% to 52.5%, an increase of 19.8 points.
This may explain why the Chancellor and Mayor have reorganized the schools yet again, why they are continually in search of new assessment tools, and why they are planning to offer cash and pizzas for higher test scores. In four years under their control, the schools have not shown dramatic achievement. In fact, their record does not match what was accomplished in the previous four years under Chancellor Rudy Crew and Chancellor Harold O. Levy.Unfortunately, achievement has actually stalled under the current regime.Diane Ravitch
For more on the ELA results, see this NY Sun oped by Fred Smith. He points out that while Tweed is attributing the relatively flat results to greater numbers of ELL students included this year, in 2005 they glossed over the fact that a large part of that year's gains were due to fewer ELL students being tested, as well as large numbers of low-scoring Hispanic and black 3rd graders who had been held back.(Also see the SED website for the recent test results, as well as this pdf file from DOE, including some extremely confusing charts.)
02 June, 2007
Anyone who votes for McCain after the film below
is kidding himself/herself and endangering the country
01 June, 2007
31 May, 2007
Horror Show
This was in the BBC News. I don't know if it is in the US papers. This was passed on to me from a group of concerned educators.
'Stealth racism' stalks deep South
By Tom Mangold, Louisiana
This World investigates the rise of discrimination in America's deep south as six black youths are charged with an alleged attack on a white student, which could see them jailed for up to 50 years.
Three rope nooses hanging from a tree in the courtyard of a school in a small Southern town in Louisiana have sparked fears of a new kind of "stealth" racism spreading through America's deep south.
Although this sinister episode happened last August, the repercussions have been extensive and today the town of Jena finds itself facing the unwelcome glare of national and international publicity.
Jena has a mixed community, 85% white, 12% black.
The bad old days of the "Mississippi Burning" 60s, civil liberties and race riots, lynchings, the KKK and police with billy clubs beating up blacks might have ended.
But in the year that the first serious black candidate for the White House, Barak Obama, is helping unite the races in the north, the developments in the tiny town of Jena are disturbing.
Nooses in the playground
It all began at Jena High School last summer when a black student, Kenneth Purvis, asked the school's principal whether he was permitted to sit under the shade of the school courtyard tree, a place traditionally reserved for white students only. He was told he could sit where he liked.
The following morning, when the students arrived at school, they found three nooses dangling from the tree.
Most whites in Jena dismissed it as a tasteless prank, but the minority black community identified the gesture as something far more vicious.
"It meant the KKK, it meant 'niggers we're going to kill you, we're gonna hang you 'til you die'," said Caseptla Bailey, one of the black community leaders.
Old racial fault lines in Jena began to fracture the town. It was made worse when - despite the school head recommending the noose-hangers be expelled - the board overruled him and the three white student perpetrators merely received a slap on the wrist.
Troubled community
Billy Doughty, the local barber, has never cut a black man's hair. But he does not think there is a racism problem in Jena.
Caseptla Bailey who is 56 and a former Air Force officer, has a degree in business management, but she cannot get a job as a bank teller. She lives in an area called Ward 10, which is where the majority of blacks live in trailers or wooden shacks. She says no whites live there at all.
"We want to live better, we want better housing." she says. "The Church says we should all be brothers and sisters in Christ".
Yet Sunday morning is perhaps one of the most segregated times in all of America. In the white neighbourhood, Pastor Dominick DiCarlo has only one black member of the Church, out of 450 resident members.
Race-related fights
As racial tension grew last autumn and winter, there were race-related fights between teenagers in town. On 4 December, racial tension boiled over once more at the school when a white student, Justin Barker, was attacked by a small group of black students.
He fell to the ground and hit his head on the concrete, suffering bruising and concussion.
He was treated at the local hospital and released, and that same evening felt able to put in an appearance at a school function.
District Attorney Reed Walters, to the astonishment of the black community, has upgraded the charges of Mr Barker's alleged attackers to conspiracy to commit second degree murder and attempted second degree murder. If convicted they could be 50 before they leave prison.
Mr Walters has refused to give an on-the-record interview to the BBC about his decision on the charges.
Mr Barker has since been charged with possessing a firearm in an arms-free zone (the school grounds).
The six black students will face a hearing next month. One of them is Caseptla Bailey's son Robert, who originally had his bail set at an unaffordable $138,000 (£69,495).
She had to hire a private lawyer who managed to get Robert's bail reduced to $84,000 (£42,285) so that her family could meet it.
Michelle Jones' brother Carwyn is one of the boys charged. She is adamant that he will not get a fair trial in Jena.
"If he's tried here, the jury will pick who they want. I have no doubt that they will convict those boys of attempted second degree murder."
When they do eventually file into court, many observers believe it is the town of Jena which will really be on trial.
This World: "Race hate in Louisiana" will be broadcast on Thursday 24 May 2007 at 1900 BST on BBC Two.
'Stealth racism' stalks deep South
By Tom Mangold, Louisiana
This World investigates the rise of discrimination in America's deep south as six black youths are charged with an alleged attack on a white student, which could see them jailed for up to 50 years.
Three rope nooses hanging from a tree in the courtyard of a school in a small Southern town in Louisiana have sparked fears of a new kind of "stealth" racism spreading through America's deep south.
Although this sinister episode happened last August, the repercussions have been extensive and today the town of Jena finds itself facing the unwelcome glare of national and international publicity.
Jena has a mixed community, 85% white, 12% black.
The bad old days of the "Mississippi Burning" 60s, civil liberties and race riots, lynchings, the KKK and police with billy clubs beating up blacks might have ended.
But in the year that the first serious black candidate for the White House, Barak Obama, is helping unite the races in the north, the developments in the tiny town of Jena are disturbing.
Nooses in the playground
It all began at Jena High School last summer when a black student, Kenneth Purvis, asked the school's principal whether he was permitted to sit under the shade of the school courtyard tree, a place traditionally reserved for white students only. He was told he could sit where he liked.
The following morning, when the students arrived at school, they found three nooses dangling from the tree.
Most whites in Jena dismissed it as a tasteless prank, but the minority black community identified the gesture as something far more vicious.
"It meant the KKK, it meant 'niggers we're going to kill you, we're gonna hang you 'til you die'," said Caseptla Bailey, one of the black community leaders.
Old racial fault lines in Jena began to fracture the town. It was made worse when - despite the school head recommending the noose-hangers be expelled - the board overruled him and the three white student perpetrators merely received a slap on the wrist.
Troubled community
Billy Doughty, the local barber, has never cut a black man's hair. But he does not think there is a racism problem in Jena.
Caseptla Bailey who is 56 and a former Air Force officer, has a degree in business management, but she cannot get a job as a bank teller. She lives in an area called Ward 10, which is where the majority of blacks live in trailers or wooden shacks. She says no whites live there at all.
"We want to live better, we want better housing." she says. "The Church says we should all be brothers and sisters in Christ".
Yet Sunday morning is perhaps one of the most segregated times in all of America. In the white neighbourhood, Pastor Dominick DiCarlo has only one black member of the Church, out of 450 resident members.
Race-related fights
As racial tension grew last autumn and winter, there were race-related fights between teenagers in town. On 4 December, racial tension boiled over once more at the school when a white student, Justin Barker, was attacked by a small group of black students.
He fell to the ground and hit his head on the concrete, suffering bruising and concussion.
He was treated at the local hospital and released, and that same evening felt able to put in an appearance at a school function.
District Attorney Reed Walters, to the astonishment of the black community, has upgraded the charges of Mr Barker's alleged attackers to conspiracy to commit second degree murder and attempted second degree murder. If convicted they could be 50 before they leave prison.
Mr Walters has refused to give an on-the-record interview to the BBC about his decision on the charges.
Mr Barker has since been charged with possessing a firearm in an arms-free zone (the school grounds).
The six black students will face a hearing next month. One of them is Caseptla Bailey's son Robert, who originally had his bail set at an unaffordable $138,000 (£69,495).
She had to hire a private lawyer who managed to get Robert's bail reduced to $84,000 (£42,285) so that her family could meet it.
Michelle Jones' brother Carwyn is one of the boys charged. She is adamant that he will not get a fair trial in Jena.
"If he's tried here, the jury will pick who they want. I have no doubt that they will convict those boys of attempted second degree murder."
When they do eventually file into court, many observers believe it is the town of Jena which will really be on trial.
This World: "Race hate in Louisiana" will be broadcast on Thursday 24 May 2007 at 1900 BST on BBC Two.
29 May, 2007
On Cindy Sheehan's decision to step down from the Anti-War Movement
I was crestfallen when I read that Cindy Sheehan gave up the fight. It didn't feel like there would be any opportunity for her to heal. It felt like she had experienced yet another death and was going home to mourn.
So much of what keeps most of us from fighting, let alone speaking and acting, is economics. I don't mean that people are too tired from working to do anything, though some people are. The classes live on different planes in this country. My at-risk students listen to Rap music and work jobs that barely pay the rent. To adapt to this life, they have shut out a great deal which does not have to do with pleasure. My college friends and I listen to left-wing radio, don't go out much and feel increasingly silenced. Three of my friends are teachers and they have found, like me, that having taught for many years does not give you any more voice in education. The more we work, the more we work, the less power we have.
It's a flaw of mine to want power, to feel that if I stand in the doorway of corruption, people won't just walk around me.
No matter how powerless I feel, listening to you, Randi, Sam and a few others, keeps me from just throwing in the towel. So your work keeps some of us alive.
But if there is one thing I wish we all could do, is plan, strategic, economic protests. If the left wing (the true left, that is) could start buying property, stocks in major companies and have financial leverage, we would strengthen our voices. Maybe that's a stock answer. I remember when ACT-UP starting getting the scientists on their side because both wanted more funding for AIDS research. Who are the interested parties in the peace movement? We know who stands to make money from war. Is there anyone who stands to make money from peace?
So much of what keeps most of us from fighting, let alone speaking and acting, is economics. I don't mean that people are too tired from working to do anything, though some people are. The classes live on different planes in this country. My at-risk students listen to Rap music and work jobs that barely pay the rent. To adapt to this life, they have shut out a great deal which does not have to do with pleasure. My college friends and I listen to left-wing radio, don't go out much and feel increasingly silenced. Three of my friends are teachers and they have found, like me, that having taught for many years does not give you any more voice in education. The more we work, the more we work, the less power we have.
It's a flaw of mine to want power, to feel that if I stand in the doorway of corruption, people won't just walk around me.
No matter how powerless I feel, listening to you, Randi, Sam and a few others, keeps me from just throwing in the towel. So your work keeps some of us alive.
But if there is one thing I wish we all could do, is plan, strategic, economic protests. If the left wing (the true left, that is) could start buying property, stocks in major companies and have financial leverage, we would strengthen our voices. Maybe that's a stock answer. I remember when ACT-UP starting getting the scientists on their side because both wanted more funding for AIDS research. Who are the interested parties in the peace movement? We know who stands to make money from war. Is there anyone who stands to make money from peace?
The Yankees: Perhaps the only tribe to still eat their young
I am a Yankee fan.
But, I hate the way the Yankees are managing things these days.
A few days ago, a young and talented pitcher , pitched five innings and allowed three runs. It was considered a respectable start.
That was Jered Weaver on the LA Angels.
Matt De Salvo does much the same thing -- granted, he loaded the bases with two outs at the end. But, doesn't that make it a fairly respectable start? Does he have to be described as "on loan from Triple A"?
Tyler Clippard let on three runs in four innings against Weaver. Then our relief pitchers came on and let in a ton more. Are they on loan from Triple A, too?
It's unprofessional. And it basically says that the kid, and therefore, the team, is only half baked.
I saw most of tonight's game. The opposing pitcher DID NOT have electric stuff. The kid had an ERA of over 7 and he had very little control. What he had was a lot of confidence, which the Yankees did not have. I saw Matsui (who eventually hit the only run) swing at a pitch as high as his shoulder and strike out. Everybody was reaching.
Perhaps what Torre meant to say was the whole team needs to go back to Triple A.
There are toxic buildings. And I think there are toxic combinations of people. For a while now, I have thought that our squads have not been put together with much forethought. Individual players have been matched to positions, but not to the balance of the team. It's a squad of heavy hitters. Homerun hitters strike out a lot. It's a squad of people who strike out a lot.
We need balance -- some people who can hit singles, etc. We also need people who get along.
A-Rod said that he feels more confident when he throws now because he knows Doug Mintkiewicz can catch anything. Over in Queens, Shawn Green, close friend of Carlos Delgado was brought in, in part because they are friends as well as that he fills a need for the team.
For whatever reason, this collection of people does not mesh. Too much of the same thing, perhaps. Not enough ying and yang. And no concern for the young.
But, I hate the way the Yankees are managing things these days.
A few days ago, a young and talented pitcher , pitched five innings and allowed three runs. It was considered a respectable start.
That was Jered Weaver on the LA Angels.
Matt De Salvo does much the same thing -- granted, he loaded the bases with two outs at the end. But, doesn't that make it a fairly respectable start? Does he have to be described as "on loan from Triple A"?
Tyler Clippard let on three runs in four innings against Weaver. Then our relief pitchers came on and let in a ton more. Are they on loan from Triple A, too?
It's unprofessional. And it basically says that the kid, and therefore, the team, is only half baked.
I saw most of tonight's game. The opposing pitcher DID NOT have electric stuff. The kid had an ERA of over 7 and he had very little control. What he had was a lot of confidence, which the Yankees did not have. I saw Matsui (who eventually hit the only run) swing at a pitch as high as his shoulder and strike out. Everybody was reaching.
Perhaps what Torre meant to say was the whole team needs to go back to Triple A.
There are toxic buildings. And I think there are toxic combinations of people. For a while now, I have thought that our squads have not been put together with much forethought. Individual players have been matched to positions, but not to the balance of the team. It's a squad of heavy hitters. Homerun hitters strike out a lot. It's a squad of people who strike out a lot.
We need balance -- some people who can hit singles, etc. We also need people who get along.
A-Rod said that he feels more confident when he throws now because he knows Doug Mintkiewicz can catch anything. Over in Queens, Shawn Green, close friend of Carlos Delgado was brought in, in part because they are friends as well as that he fills a need for the team.
For whatever reason, this collection of people does not mesh. Too much of the same thing, perhaps. Not enough ying and yang. And no concern for the young.
28 May, 2007
Troubled? Send us an email...
JUST FYI, BCNHS' graduation rate was pretty high -- I think higher than 56%...so I don't get it, at all...
Troubled kids get retooled schools
BY CARRIE MELAGODAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Posted Friday, May 25th 2007, 4:00 AM
The city is revamping its schools for troubled students and axing several failing programs - including schools for pregnant girls, officials said.
Next year, the four pregnancy schools and the last seven New Beginnings centers for students with behavioral problems will be phased out because of low attendance and poor performance.
Education officials will create a hotline, an e-mail address and referral centers in each borough designed to "triage" students in danger of dropping out, Schools Chancellor Joel Klein said yesterday.
"Whatever life challenges or opportunities our students face, we have to find the individualized solutions," Klein said.
The city will create five more transfer schools - small, rigorous programs that have a 56% graduation rate for older students who are behind in credits, compared to 19% for such students at typical schools.
Yesterday's announcement comes amid a renewed focus on the city's graduation rate, which the city puts at 60% and the state calculates at 50%.
Education officials had retooled programs for problem students in 2003, when they announced the creation of 17 New Beginnings centers, one-year programs designed to boost students' performance so they can transfer back to their original school. Ten have already been shut down.
Critics of the pregnancy schools believed they were relics from a bygone era and applauded the Education Department's move.
But Giovanny Lantigua, 18, credits the Ida B. Wells school in Flushing, Queens, with keeping her on track while she was expecting.
"It was close to my home and more comfortable for me," said Lantigua, who now attends the Cascades transfer school in Manhattan and plans to graduate in January.
cmelago@nydailynews.comEnd Content Columns -->
Troubled kids get retooled schools
BY CARRIE MELAGODAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Posted Friday, May 25th 2007, 4:00 AM
The city is revamping its schools for troubled students and axing several failing programs - including schools for pregnant girls, officials said.
Next year, the four pregnancy schools and the last seven New Beginnings centers for students with behavioral problems will be phased out because of low attendance and poor performance.
Education officials will create a hotline, an e-mail address and referral centers in each borough designed to "triage" students in danger of dropping out, Schools Chancellor Joel Klein said yesterday.
"Whatever life challenges or opportunities our students face, we have to find the individualized solutions," Klein said.
The city will create five more transfer schools - small, rigorous programs that have a 56% graduation rate for older students who are behind in credits, compared to 19% for such students at typical schools.
Yesterday's announcement comes amid a renewed focus on the city's graduation rate, which the city puts at 60% and the state calculates at 50%.
Education officials had retooled programs for problem students in 2003, when they announced the creation of 17 New Beginnings centers, one-year programs designed to boost students' performance so they can transfer back to their original school. Ten have already been shut down.
Critics of the pregnancy schools believed they were relics from a bygone era and applauded the Education Department's move.
But Giovanny Lantigua, 18, credits the Ida B. Wells school in Flushing, Queens, with keeping her on track while she was expecting.
"It was close to my home and more comfortable for me," said Lantigua, who now attends the Cascades transfer school in Manhattan and plans to graduate in January.
cmelago@nydailynews.comEnd Content Columns -->
27 May, 2007
26 May, 2007
Hillary taking money from Colombians...
from David Sirota
AP: Clinton Aides Being Paid By Colombian Government to Push Trade DealBy David SirotaWell, it's a bad week, and the depressing hits just keep on coming. In a stunning new report just out on the wire from the Associated Press, we find out that the Colombian Government - the government that the Washington Post notes collaborates with paramilitary gangs to execute union leaders - is now paying top aides to Sen. Hillary Clinton hundreds of thousands of dollars in order to help get Congress to pass the U.S.-Colombian Free Trade Agreement:
"According to Justice Department filings, Colombia agreed this month to pay $300,000 to public relations firm Burson-Marsteller - whose president, Mark Penn, is a senior advisor to Sen. Clinton - to help "educate members of the U.S. Congress and other audiences" about the trade deal and secure continued U.S. funding for the $5 billion anti-narcotics program Plan Colombia.The filings also show that last month Uribe’s government put The Glover Park Group, a Washington D.C.-based lobbying firm that includes former Clinton spokesman Joe Lockhart, on a $40,000 a month retainer."
AP reports that "last month, former Vice President Al Gore backed out of an environmental conference in Miami to avoid appearing alongside Uribe, who has struggled to defend himself against charges that members of his family and government supporters collaborated with murderous right-wing militias." Yet on June 8, former President Clinton will attend a Colombian government gala in his honor. AP says that "prominent Democrats on the guest list include former Clinton strategists Dick Morris and Vernon Jordan, former Clinton Cabinet members Lawrence Summers and Madeleine Albright, and several Democratic congressmen." Morris, by the way, just penned an article referring to the scandal-plagued, paramilitary-connected Uribe as a "democratic beacon."Again, this is a government that actively colludes with paramilitary gangs to execute union organizers, and is now pushing the United States Congress to give it a gift in the form of a free trade agreement. I really have nothing more to add other than to say again that we really do live in dark times.
AP: Clinton Aides Being Paid By Colombian Government to Push Trade DealBy David SirotaWell, it's a bad week, and the depressing hits just keep on coming. In a stunning new report just out on the wire from the Associated Press, we find out that the Colombian Government - the government that the Washington Post notes collaborates with paramilitary gangs to execute union leaders - is now paying top aides to Sen. Hillary Clinton hundreds of thousands of dollars in order to help get Congress to pass the U.S.-Colombian Free Trade Agreement:
"According to Justice Department filings, Colombia agreed this month to pay $300,000 to public relations firm Burson-Marsteller - whose president, Mark Penn, is a senior advisor to Sen. Clinton - to help "educate members of the U.S. Congress and other audiences" about the trade deal and secure continued U.S. funding for the $5 billion anti-narcotics program Plan Colombia.The filings also show that last month Uribe’s government put The Glover Park Group, a Washington D.C.-based lobbying firm that includes former Clinton spokesman Joe Lockhart, on a $40,000 a month retainer."
AP reports that "last month, former Vice President Al Gore backed out of an environmental conference in Miami to avoid appearing alongside Uribe, who has struggled to defend himself against charges that members of his family and government supporters collaborated with murderous right-wing militias." Yet on June 8, former President Clinton will attend a Colombian government gala in his honor. AP says that "prominent Democrats on the guest list include former Clinton strategists Dick Morris and Vernon Jordan, former Clinton Cabinet members Lawrence Summers and Madeleine Albright, and several Democratic congressmen." Morris, by the way, just penned an article referring to the scandal-plagued, paramilitary-connected Uribe as a "democratic beacon."Again, this is a government that actively colludes with paramilitary gangs to execute union organizers, and is now pushing the United States Congress to give it a gift in the form of a free trade agreement. I really have nothing more to add other than to say again that we really do live in dark times.
25 May, 2007
Run, Al, Run!
I'll add my small, marginal voice to the list of people wanting Al Gore to run.
Gore/Edwards ...because no one else has the experience, decency or the common sense.
I imagine Gore and Edwards just letting themselves speak freely. They could have a running refrain about Bush/Hilary Clinton/Barack Obama policy (because they're all doing the same thing). They could look at the choices our government has made and just say, "What were you thinking?"
Gore/Edwards ...because no one else has the experience, decency or the common sense.
I imagine Gore and Edwards just letting themselves speak freely. They could have a running refrain about Bush/Hilary Clinton/Barack Obama policy (because they're all doing the same thing). They could look at the choices our government has made and just say, "What were you thinking?"
The way not to run a team...
Don't plan to have a solid pitching staff... If someone is only GOOD like Gil Meche or Ted Lilly...don't buy him....better to have nobody than JUST GOOD pitchers. Oh, and don't buy relievers recommended by your solid, decent players. Look for a bargain fourth starter who, himself, admits that he's no star...
Hope that next year you can buy somebody who was amazing a few years ago. Don't look at who's amazing now, though. After all, what's the chance that Santana will get injured as he gets a bit older...Take the risk. Go ahead. Wait. Just Wait. Wait till next year! (Oh yeah, that's the Cubs slogan...)
Here's just a list of few good people we refused to buy because they weren't brilliant. And who needs them? Who wants to watch someone just keep the team in the game with their smarts and not their stuff?
Gil Meche
Ted Lilly -- not enough of a star to buy back. JUST GOOD.
Jamie Moyer -- met the age requirement, but just too plain consistent.
Barry Zito -- too expensive? Do you know how much we've paid Carl Pavano?
Daisuke Matsuzaka -- Actually, he was brilliant, but we gave him up for Lent or Yom Kippur or Ramadan or something...
Hideki Okajima --recommended by Matsui. Were we afraid he would be JUST RELIABLE?
Pedro Martinez --What? Were we afraid that having both Pedro and then eventually Damon would turn us into the Red Sox? I love Damon, but we took a fielder with a decent bat and no arm instead of a pitcher with a pretty decent arm who hits batters. Clemens hits batters.
Greg Maddux -- same problem as Jamie Moyer.
Tom Glavine -- same problem as Maddux and Moyer.
And here are some inexpensive pretty reliable guys we could have had
Steve Trachsel (I know he got injured in the playoffs. But didn't Clemens get blown up in some pretty important games for us? How about Mussina? If we care so much about the playoffs, where the heck is El DUQUE? Besides we have to GET TO the playoffs...)
Mark Redman -All right, he didn't do well for the Braves this year, but how much worse has he done than our cheap fourth starter from Japan...
Jason Marquis (granted, he had a bad year last year...but he's doing fine this year)
Jeff Suppan (I hate his politics, so I wasn't so interested. But, I doubt that's why Cashman turned his nose up.)
Brian Lawrence (One of Cashman's few smart moves was buying Jon Leiber and waiting for him to heal from his Tommy John surgery. He was very consistent. That of course meant we didn't re-sign him.)
Jon Lieber
Don't get a pitching coach with a scientific method or who specializes on re-treads or anything. Just expect your pitchers to be great forever. I'm sure Guidry does his best, but I don't think he was brought in to make guys better...Stottlemyre was a guy who liked to work with veterans and I didn't hear that we were shifting gears in hiring Guidry. That's okay, after all, maybe you can get two-for-one like you did with Andy Pettite -- don't buy him when he's not perfect, let him learn to pitch somewhere else -- then come back. Yeah, that could happen again...really. All we need is a pitching coach who trusts people to just be who they are...stars. Buy stars and let them be stars. Stars don't need coaching...
But, never ever be prepared to fix someone who's not perfect/experiencing trouble. After all, who are you, Baltimore? Oh yeah, Baltimore is having a pretty good season..Oh yeah, and didn't the Cardinals win the World Series with Dave Duncan who specializes in re-treads as their pitching coach? So what if Steve Trachsel has been more reliable than Mike Mussina or the battery of starters we have burned through. There is NO POINT in working with a pitcher with problems. Who needs consistency and a low ERA? We want brilliant pitching or nothing!
Oh, and so what if Trachsel outpitched us...He's still no (Fill in the name of a pitcher we don't have but are waiting, hoping to kind of buy. ) I'd rather have no pitcher than an okay one.
Five brilliant pitchers or nothing! After all, we have great fielders and they are learning to field behind nothing! So what if people come to us and consistently get worse. It's just "New York jitters". Yeah. Some pitchers instantly lose their mechanics the closer they get to the subway. It's a magnetic thing....
Bring up young kids and expect a miracle...
Hire veterans and expect them to be young kids...
Oh and bury your young fielding talent...Melky will learn a lot on the bench. Just keep playing Abreu while he doesn't hit...don't give Melky more time...Maybe when he's, say, 35, he can
earn a full time spot. But, then he won't be perfect and we'll trade him for someone a year older.
Oh, and put together a line-up with only ONE right handed-power hitter. So what if YOUR OWN RADIO ANNOUNCER NOTICES AND WONDERS WHY? (Thanks to John Sterling for pointing that out. Sterling and Waldman have been the only highlights of some games for me.)
The Yankees are still my team. I am just speaking my mind.
Can you imagine being a young pitcher in this organization? If I don't shine every time, I'll never be seen again...
If I were a star youngster, I'd get myself traded someplace else. Like St. Louis. Or Baltimore. Or the Mets. Or Detroit. Somewhere where they can cultivate young talent and work with pitchers.
I know we shelled him, but John Maine is having an otherwise great season. But, he was a re-tread...
Oh, and AS I WRITE THIS, EL DUQUE pitched SIX INNINGS giving up NO RUNS. But, we don't work with people who aren't perfect anymore.
Unless they are
1) Completely washed out (Pavano)
2) Highly neurotic and tempermental (Mussina)
3) Over 40 and semi-retired (Clemens)
They're still my team. But, to steal from ex-Yankee David Wells, "Perfect, they're not!" (Wells is pitching well this year...of course, we only buy people over 40 who are semi-retired or in decline...)
I don't want them to be perfect.
I'd settle for good.
Hope that next year you can buy somebody who was amazing a few years ago. Don't look at who's amazing now, though. After all, what's the chance that Santana will get injured as he gets a bit older...Take the risk. Go ahead. Wait. Just Wait. Wait till next year! (Oh yeah, that's the Cubs slogan...)
Here's just a list of few good people we refused to buy because they weren't brilliant. And who needs them? Who wants to watch someone just keep the team in the game with their smarts and not their stuff?
Gil Meche
Ted Lilly -- not enough of a star to buy back. JUST GOOD.
Jamie Moyer -- met the age requirement, but just too plain consistent.
Barry Zito -- too expensive? Do you know how much we've paid Carl Pavano?
Daisuke Matsuzaka -- Actually, he was brilliant, but we gave him up for Lent or Yom Kippur or Ramadan or something...
Hideki Okajima --recommended by Matsui. Were we afraid he would be JUST RELIABLE?
Pedro Martinez --What? Were we afraid that having both Pedro and then eventually Damon would turn us into the Red Sox? I love Damon, but we took a fielder with a decent bat and no arm instead of a pitcher with a pretty decent arm who hits batters. Clemens hits batters.
Greg Maddux -- same problem as Jamie Moyer.
Tom Glavine -- same problem as Maddux and Moyer.
And here are some inexpensive pretty reliable guys we could have had
Steve Trachsel (I know he got injured in the playoffs. But didn't Clemens get blown up in some pretty important games for us? How about Mussina? If we care so much about the playoffs, where the heck is El DUQUE? Besides we have to GET TO the playoffs...)
Mark Redman -All right, he didn't do well for the Braves this year, but how much worse has he done than our cheap fourth starter from Japan...
Jason Marquis (granted, he had a bad year last year...but he's doing fine this year)
Jeff Suppan (I hate his politics, so I wasn't so interested. But, I doubt that's why Cashman turned his nose up.)
Brian Lawrence (One of Cashman's few smart moves was buying Jon Leiber and waiting for him to heal from his Tommy John surgery. He was very consistent. That of course meant we didn't re-sign him.)
Jon Lieber
Don't get a pitching coach with a scientific method or who specializes on re-treads or anything. Just expect your pitchers to be great forever. I'm sure Guidry does his best, but I don't think he was brought in to make guys better...Stottlemyre was a guy who liked to work with veterans and I didn't hear that we were shifting gears in hiring Guidry. That's okay, after all, maybe you can get two-for-one like you did with Andy Pettite -- don't buy him when he's not perfect, let him learn to pitch somewhere else -- then come back. Yeah, that could happen again...really. All we need is a pitching coach who trusts people to just be who they are...stars. Buy stars and let them be stars. Stars don't need coaching...
But, never ever be prepared to fix someone who's not perfect/experiencing trouble. After all, who are you, Baltimore? Oh yeah, Baltimore is having a pretty good season..Oh yeah, and didn't the Cardinals win the World Series with Dave Duncan who specializes in re-treads as their pitching coach? So what if Steve Trachsel has been more reliable than Mike Mussina or the battery of starters we have burned through. There is NO POINT in working with a pitcher with problems. Who needs consistency and a low ERA? We want brilliant pitching or nothing!
Oh, and so what if Trachsel outpitched us...He's still no (Fill in the name of a pitcher we don't have but are waiting, hoping to kind of buy. ) I'd rather have no pitcher than an okay one.
Five brilliant pitchers or nothing! After all, we have great fielders and they are learning to field behind nothing! So what if people come to us and consistently get worse. It's just "New York jitters". Yeah. Some pitchers instantly lose their mechanics the closer they get to the subway. It's a magnetic thing....
Bring up young kids and expect a miracle...
Hire veterans and expect them to be young kids...
Oh and bury your young fielding talent...Melky will learn a lot on the bench. Just keep playing Abreu while he doesn't hit...don't give Melky more time...Maybe when he's, say, 35, he can
earn a full time spot. But, then he won't be perfect and we'll trade him for someone a year older.
Oh, and put together a line-up with only ONE right handed-power hitter. So what if YOUR OWN RADIO ANNOUNCER NOTICES AND WONDERS WHY? (Thanks to John Sterling for pointing that out. Sterling and Waldman have been the only highlights of some games for me.)
The Yankees are still my team. I am just speaking my mind.
Can you imagine being a young pitcher in this organization? If I don't shine every time, I'll never be seen again...
If I were a star youngster, I'd get myself traded someplace else. Like St. Louis. Or Baltimore. Or the Mets. Or Detroit. Somewhere where they can cultivate young talent and work with pitchers.
I know we shelled him, but John Maine is having an otherwise great season. But, he was a re-tread...
Oh, and AS I WRITE THIS, EL DUQUE pitched SIX INNINGS giving up NO RUNS. But, we don't work with people who aren't perfect anymore.
Unless they are
1) Completely washed out (Pavano)
2) Highly neurotic and tempermental (Mussina)
3) Over 40 and semi-retired (Clemens)
They're still my team. But, to steal from ex-Yankee David Wells, "Perfect, they're not!" (Wells is pitching well this year...of course, we only buy people over 40 who are semi-retired or in decline...)
I don't want them to be perfect.
I'd settle for good.
24 May, 2007
22 May, 2007
18 May, 2007
Bill Moyers does PBS special on secret deal tonight
check www.pbs.org for your local stations' times....
17 May, 2007
16 May, 2007
Obama leary of bad business
Sirotablog
Real-world wisdom from outside the beltway.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
SECRET TRADE DEAL - DAY 6: Senator Says K Street Getting "Wink & Nod" From Bush
This is another in a series of ongoing posts following the announcement of a secret free trade deal on May 10, 2007 between a handful of senior Democrats and the Bush administration.
Six days after the press conference announcing a secret free trade deal between Democratic congressional leaders and the Bush White House, a full-scale revolt appears to be brewing on Capitol Hill. Rank-and-file Democratic lawmakers have demanded an immediate debate about the deal, and Democratic leaders have responded by rejecting such a request. A top Democratic senator says K Street is receiving a "wink and nod" from the White House that the final legislative language - which has not been made public - will allow the Bush administration to avoid enforcing any of the much-touted standards in the deal. GOP leaders, meanwhile, are signaling that the deal will not be incorporated into the core text of trade agreements at all. And, of course, almost every news outlet has refused to report that top K Street lobbyists have said they have received "assurances" that the deal's provisions on labor and the environment will be unenforceable. Here's today's full news report.
EMANUEL NIXES DEMS' DEMAND FOR OPEN DEBATE ON THE SECRET DEAL: As first reported on this website yesterday, Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel (D-IL) nixed a bid by rank-and-file Democratic lawmakers to hold a Democratic Caucus meeting to discuss the secret trade deal. The request, first made by lawmakers in a letter to Emanuel last week, was initially "rebuffed," then accepted, and then at the last minute, Emanuel pulled the plug. Emanuel was one of the key players in pushing NAFTA through Congress as an aide to President Clinton in the early 1990s. Responding to the reporting of this story, a spokeswoman for Emanuel's office this morning emailed me to say that the cancellation of the trade debate occurred because of "time constraints" and that Emanuel has now promised the caucus "we would continue with our plan to have a trade-focused caucus meeting soon." He did not set a date certain for that meeting.
GOP AND WHITE HOUSE SAY TRADE DEALS WILL NOT BE RE-WRITTEN AS PROMISED: Yesterday afternoon, industry newsletter Inside U.S. Trade reported that House Ways and Means Ranking Member Jim McCrery (R-LA) "said it is his preference and that of U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab that the new obligations for free trade agreements announced last week not lead to a reopening of the Peru free trade agreement." This follow's McCrery's claim yesterday that the secret deal can be completed "in a way that does not require Peru's political system to revisit the deal all over again." In laymans terms, the enforceability of the promised labor and environmental provisions hinge on the Peru and Panama free trade agreements being reopened so that their texts can be modified. As NAFTA has shown, so-called "side agreements" that are not written into the text of the actual trade texts have proven entirely unenforceable because they are not part of the core agreement. If the Peru and Panama deals are not, in fact, going to be reopened and renegotiated, then the highly touted promises of adding enforceable labor and environmental provisions to the core texts of trade agreements appear to be in question. This may explain why the Bush-connected head of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has told reporters he has received "assurances that the labor provisions [in the deal] cannot be read to require compliance."
KOREAN GOVERNMENT SAYS IT WILL REFUSE TO RENEGOTIATE: The Korea Herald reports that "South Korean negotiators are not going to give in to a possible request by U.S. trade negotiators for renegotiations of their recently concluded bilateral free trade agreement." The secret deal would supposedly require South Korea to add labor and environmental provisions to a previously negotiated - but not yet ratified - trade agreement with the United States. But "the Korean government firmly says renegotiations are out of the question." An official with the Korea-U.S. FTA Negotiation Division at the Korea Trade Ministray said, "The Korean government is adamant about having no renegotiations." Korea currently abides by just one of the seven ILO core provisions. Will the U.S. back down in the face of such bullying?
BROWN - K STREET IS GETTING 'WINK AND NOD' FROM WHITE HOUSE: In an exclusive interview with CNN's Lou Dobbs on Tuesday, Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown (D) said he is most concerned with the secret deal's lack of teeth, saying "I see no sign yet that [the Bush administration] wants to enforce" the labor and environmental standards supposedly included in the deal. Responding to comments by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and National Association of Manufacturers who have said the stasndards will be unenforceable, Broown said "they're kind of getting a wink and a nod" from the White House that the standards "are not going to be enforced." Brown is the author of the book "The Myths of Free Trade" and ran his successful Senate campaign against lobbyist-written trade deals. He is considered one of Congress's top leaders on trade, yet was kept in the dark about the details of the deal.
WSJ - FAIR TRADERS "LOST" IN THE DEAL: The conservative editorial board of the Wall Street Journal applauded the secret deal, saying it represents a major defeat for the progressive movement. Fair traders ""wanted the U.S. to abide by the core principles of the International Labor Organization" and "wanted third parties -- such as the AFL-CIO -- to be able to file trade complaints" but "they lost on both counts." The deal asks the White House "to abide only by...general aspirations about curtailing forced labor and the like, rather than specific legal obligations." International tribunals, which have the power to overturn U.S. local/state/federal environmental and consumer protection laws when corporations file suits, will "have no power to alter U.S. law" when similar complaints are brought up on labor concerns.
MSNBC - OBAMA "SOUNDS WARY OF THE DEAL": MSNBC reports that in public appearances this week on the presidential campaign trail, Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) "sounded wary of this deal." He said, “We haven’t actually seen the details…. I want to wait and see what exactly the language is” and make sure the union provisions are strong and enforceable.
MACHINISTS OPPOSE DEAL, SLAM SECRECY: In a press release, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) announced "it will vigorously oppose any trade deal that fails to fully incorporate internationally recognized labor standards as defined by the International Labor Organization." IAM President Tom Buffenbarger said, “The actual text of the agreement has not yet been made available and widely varying reports of its contents raise serious and troubling questions." IAM said it "is highly suspicious that the trade deal is seriously deficient" not only because of its potentially unenforceable standards, but because of other "procurement and investment issues." The Politico reports that "several unions are already mobilizing to defeat" the deal.
CITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION SIGNALS CROSS-OVER OPPOSITION TO CURRENT TRADE POLICIES: Public Citizen reports that the Hermiston, Oregon City Council unanimously passed a “Resolution to Retain Local Jobs” last night, in a vote of 7-0. The resolution calls on Congress to “oppose international trade agreements that facilitate to the offshoring of Oregon jobs” and to replace Fast Track trade promotion authority with “democratic” and “inclusive” trade policymaking procedures. Area residents, many of whom had lost jobs when the Simplot processing plant moved abroad under the North American Free Trade Agreement, testified in support of the resolution at last night’s City Council meeting. Loaded Orygun notes that "Hermiston is nestled in Umatilla County, which is a very RED area of Oregon" represented by archconservative Rep. Greg Walden (R) - "a willing participant in voting yes for these free trade agreements." Could 2008 be another year where complicity in our current trade policy proves to be a critical election issue
Real-world wisdom from outside the beltway.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
SECRET TRADE DEAL - DAY 6: Senator Says K Street Getting "Wink & Nod" From Bush
This is another in a series of ongoing posts following the announcement of a secret free trade deal on May 10, 2007 between a handful of senior Democrats and the Bush administration.
Six days after the press conference announcing a secret free trade deal between Democratic congressional leaders and the Bush White House, a full-scale revolt appears to be brewing on Capitol Hill. Rank-and-file Democratic lawmakers have demanded an immediate debate about the deal, and Democratic leaders have responded by rejecting such a request. A top Democratic senator says K Street is receiving a "wink and nod" from the White House that the final legislative language - which has not been made public - will allow the Bush administration to avoid enforcing any of the much-touted standards in the deal. GOP leaders, meanwhile, are signaling that the deal will not be incorporated into the core text of trade agreements at all. And, of course, almost every news outlet has refused to report that top K Street lobbyists have said they have received "assurances" that the deal's provisions on labor and the environment will be unenforceable. Here's today's full news report.
EMANUEL NIXES DEMS' DEMAND FOR OPEN DEBATE ON THE SECRET DEAL: As first reported on this website yesterday, Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel (D-IL) nixed a bid by rank-and-file Democratic lawmakers to hold a Democratic Caucus meeting to discuss the secret trade deal. The request, first made by lawmakers in a letter to Emanuel last week, was initially "rebuffed," then accepted, and then at the last minute, Emanuel pulled the plug. Emanuel was one of the key players in pushing NAFTA through Congress as an aide to President Clinton in the early 1990s. Responding to the reporting of this story, a spokeswoman for Emanuel's office this morning emailed me to say that the cancellation of the trade debate occurred because of "time constraints" and that Emanuel has now promised the caucus "we would continue with our plan to have a trade-focused caucus meeting soon." He did not set a date certain for that meeting.
GOP AND WHITE HOUSE SAY TRADE DEALS WILL NOT BE RE-WRITTEN AS PROMISED: Yesterday afternoon, industry newsletter Inside U.S. Trade reported that House Ways and Means Ranking Member Jim McCrery (R-LA) "said it is his preference and that of U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab that the new obligations for free trade agreements announced last week not lead to a reopening of the Peru free trade agreement." This follow's McCrery's claim yesterday that the secret deal can be completed "in a way that does not require Peru's political system to revisit the deal all over again." In laymans terms, the enforceability of the promised labor and environmental provisions hinge on the Peru and Panama free trade agreements being reopened so that their texts can be modified. As NAFTA has shown, so-called "side agreements" that are not written into the text of the actual trade texts have proven entirely unenforceable because they are not part of the core agreement. If the Peru and Panama deals are not, in fact, going to be reopened and renegotiated, then the highly touted promises of adding enforceable labor and environmental provisions to the core texts of trade agreements appear to be in question. This may explain why the Bush-connected head of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has told reporters he has received "assurances that the labor provisions [in the deal] cannot be read to require compliance."
KOREAN GOVERNMENT SAYS IT WILL REFUSE TO RENEGOTIATE: The Korea Herald reports that "South Korean negotiators are not going to give in to a possible request by U.S. trade negotiators for renegotiations of their recently concluded bilateral free trade agreement." The secret deal would supposedly require South Korea to add labor and environmental provisions to a previously negotiated - but not yet ratified - trade agreement with the United States. But "the Korean government firmly says renegotiations are out of the question." An official with the Korea-U.S. FTA Negotiation Division at the Korea Trade Ministray said, "The Korean government is adamant about having no renegotiations." Korea currently abides by just one of the seven ILO core provisions. Will the U.S. back down in the face of such bullying?
BROWN - K STREET IS GETTING 'WINK AND NOD' FROM WHITE HOUSE: In an exclusive interview with CNN's Lou Dobbs on Tuesday, Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown (D) said he is most concerned with the secret deal's lack of teeth, saying "I see no sign yet that [the Bush administration] wants to enforce" the labor and environmental standards supposedly included in the deal. Responding to comments by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and National Association of Manufacturers who have said the stasndards will be unenforceable, Broown said "they're kind of getting a wink and a nod" from the White House that the standards "are not going to be enforced." Brown is the author of the book "The Myths of Free Trade" and ran his successful Senate campaign against lobbyist-written trade deals. He is considered one of Congress's top leaders on trade, yet was kept in the dark about the details of the deal.
WSJ - FAIR TRADERS "LOST" IN THE DEAL: The conservative editorial board of the Wall Street Journal applauded the secret deal, saying it represents a major defeat for the progressive movement. Fair traders ""wanted the U.S. to abide by the core principles of the International Labor Organization" and "wanted third parties -- such as the AFL-CIO -- to be able to file trade complaints" but "they lost on both counts." The deal asks the White House "to abide only by...general aspirations about curtailing forced labor and the like, rather than specific legal obligations." International tribunals, which have the power to overturn U.S. local/state/federal environmental and consumer protection laws when corporations file suits, will "have no power to alter U.S. law" when similar complaints are brought up on labor concerns.
MSNBC - OBAMA "SOUNDS WARY OF THE DEAL": MSNBC reports that in public appearances this week on the presidential campaign trail, Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) "sounded wary of this deal." He said, “We haven’t actually seen the details…. I want to wait and see what exactly the language is” and make sure the union provisions are strong and enforceable.
MACHINISTS OPPOSE DEAL, SLAM SECRECY: In a press release, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) announced "it will vigorously oppose any trade deal that fails to fully incorporate internationally recognized labor standards as defined by the International Labor Organization." IAM President Tom Buffenbarger said, “The actual text of the agreement has not yet been made available and widely varying reports of its contents raise serious and troubling questions." IAM said it "is highly suspicious that the trade deal is seriously deficient" not only because of its potentially unenforceable standards, but because of other "procurement and investment issues." The Politico reports that "several unions are already mobilizing to defeat" the deal.
CITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION SIGNALS CROSS-OVER OPPOSITION TO CURRENT TRADE POLICIES: Public Citizen reports that the Hermiston, Oregon City Council unanimously passed a “Resolution to Retain Local Jobs” last night, in a vote of 7-0. The resolution calls on Congress to “oppose international trade agreements that facilitate to the offshoring of Oregon jobs” and to replace Fast Track trade promotion authority with “democratic” and “inclusive” trade policymaking procedures. Area residents, many of whom had lost jobs when the Simplot processing plant moved abroad under the North American Free Trade Agreement, testified in support of the resolution at last night’s City Council meeting. Loaded Orygun notes that "Hermiston is nestled in Umatilla County, which is a very RED area of Oregon" represented by archconservative Rep. Greg Walden (R) - "a willing participant in voting yes for these free trade agreements." Could 2008 be another year where complicity in our current trade policy proves to be a critical election issue
15 May, 2007
Bad Business
Sirotablog
Real-world wisdom from outside the beltway.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
THE SECRET DEAL - DAY 5: Health & Enviro Advocates Slam the Deal
This is another in a series of ongoing posts following the announcement of a secret free trade deal on May 10, 2007 between a handful of senior Democrats and the Bush administration.
It is now five days since a handful of senior Democrats joined with the Bush administration to announce a new "deal" on free trade, while refusing to release the actual legislative language of the deal. Today, environmental and health advocates have come out slamming the deal, noting like other grassroots groups that what the deal doesn't cover says as much about its potential problems as does the secrecy the deal is shrouded in. Additionally, trade experts at Public Citizen issued a backgrounder on the deal, available for download here. Here's today's update.
MCCRERY - PERU AND PANAMA WILL BE RAMMED THROUGH CONGRESS BY AUGUST: CongressDaily reports that House Ways and Means ranking member Jim McCrery (R-LA) "said last week's bipartisan agreement on a framework for trade agreements smoothes the way for trade deals with Peru and Panama to pass with strong House majorities." He said, "My hope is we will have the two on the floor before we leave for the August break, but that may be ambitious." Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) is still saying he thinks he can only attract at most less than a majority of his own caucus, even though he is pushing forward with the secret deal. Inexplicably, McCrery additionally said that the Peru trade agreement - whose text is being kept secret - would have to be changed and approved by Peru in a legally binding way, but "in a way that does not require Peru's political system to revisit the deal all over again" (so much for that thing called "democracy" when it gets in K Street's way).
NAM URGES RANGEL TO "STAND UP TO THE LEFTIES": The National Association of Manufacturers, which has long pushed for trade deals that incentivize job outsourcing, published a blog post on its website congratulating Rep. Charlie Rangel (D) for negotiating the secret deal, and specifically urging him to "stands his ground against the withering barrage he'll get from some of the lefties."
LEADING ADVOCATE FOR PATENT REFORM RAISES RED FLAGS: James Love, one of the nation's leading advocates for drug patent reform, issued a press release through his organization Knowledge Ecology International raising significant red flags about the secret deal. He said that many of the most important provisions are "unfortunately bound to a poorly drafted side letter, rather than a plain language [in the trade deals' text] that makes it clear that countries can waive or limit the exclusive right when it is necessary to protect patient interests." Additionally, he said the deal "does not address the current problem of USTR attacking countries for actually using such measures as compulsory licensing of patents" when trading partner countries (such as Thailand) face public health crises.
AIDS GROUPS DECRY SECRECY OF DEAL, DEBUNK MYTHS: A group of organizations that fight AIDS in the developing world issued a press release decrying the secretive process by which the deal was negotiated and the concealment of the trade deals' legislative language, nothing that "details and specificity are of crucial importance." The groups also note that "it is not true, as some news accounts have suggested, that the May 11 deal will limit brand-name drug companies' patent and related monopolies."
LEADING ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS SAY DEAL IS "NOT SUFFICIENT": Leading environmental groups Defenders of Wildlife, Earthjustice, Friends of the Earth, Sierra Club issued a joint statement saying that "although last week’s agreement reflects progress on environmental issues in the Peru and Panama FTAs, it is not a sufficient template for trade agreements generally or for presidential trade negotiating authority." The groups said the secret trade deal "will still provide foreign corporations the right to directly attack public health and environmental measures, and will not fully protect environmental laws from other trade challenges."
DLC ATTACKS TRADE CRITICS, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES RESPOND BY FLOCKING TO DLC CONFERENCE: The Memphis Commercial Appeal reports that the Democratic Leadership Council, which endorsed the secret deal and which has long pushed lobbyist-written trade deals like NAFTA and China PNTR, just released an op-ed attacking free trade critics. Days after the report was made public, the group announced that leading Democratic presidential contenders will be speaking at the DLC's annual conference this year in June.
Posted by David Sirota at 4:50 AM
Real-world wisdom from outside the beltway.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
THE SECRET DEAL - DAY 5: Health & Enviro Advocates Slam the Deal
This is another in a series of ongoing posts following the announcement of a secret free trade deal on May 10, 2007 between a handful of senior Democrats and the Bush administration.
It is now five days since a handful of senior Democrats joined with the Bush administration to announce a new "deal" on free trade, while refusing to release the actual legislative language of the deal. Today, environmental and health advocates have come out slamming the deal, noting like other grassroots groups that what the deal doesn't cover says as much about its potential problems as does the secrecy the deal is shrouded in. Additionally, trade experts at Public Citizen issued a backgrounder on the deal, available for download here. Here's today's update.
MCCRERY - PERU AND PANAMA WILL BE RAMMED THROUGH CONGRESS BY AUGUST: CongressDaily reports that House Ways and Means ranking member Jim McCrery (R-LA) "said last week's bipartisan agreement on a framework for trade agreements smoothes the way for trade deals with Peru and Panama to pass with strong House majorities." He said, "My hope is we will have the two on the floor before we leave for the August break, but that may be ambitious." Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) is still saying he thinks he can only attract at most less than a majority of his own caucus, even though he is pushing forward with the secret deal. Inexplicably, McCrery additionally said that the Peru trade agreement - whose text is being kept secret - would have to be changed and approved by Peru in a legally binding way, but "in a way that does not require Peru's political system to revisit the deal all over again" (so much for that thing called "democracy" when it gets in K Street's way).
NAM URGES RANGEL TO "STAND UP TO THE LEFTIES": The National Association of Manufacturers, which has long pushed for trade deals that incentivize job outsourcing, published a blog post on its website congratulating Rep. Charlie Rangel (D) for negotiating the secret deal, and specifically urging him to "stands his ground against the withering barrage he'll get from some of the lefties."
LEADING ADVOCATE FOR PATENT REFORM RAISES RED FLAGS: James Love, one of the nation's leading advocates for drug patent reform, issued a press release through his organization Knowledge Ecology International raising significant red flags about the secret deal. He said that many of the most important provisions are "unfortunately bound to a poorly drafted side letter, rather than a plain language [in the trade deals' text] that makes it clear that countries can waive or limit the exclusive right when it is necessary to protect patient interests." Additionally, he said the deal "does not address the current problem of USTR attacking countries for actually using such measures as compulsory licensing of patents" when trading partner countries (such as Thailand) face public health crises.
AIDS GROUPS DECRY SECRECY OF DEAL, DEBUNK MYTHS: A group of organizations that fight AIDS in the developing world issued a press release decrying the secretive process by which the deal was negotiated and the concealment of the trade deals' legislative language, nothing that "details and specificity are of crucial importance." The groups also note that "it is not true, as some news accounts have suggested, that the May 11 deal will limit brand-name drug companies' patent and related monopolies."
LEADING ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS SAY DEAL IS "NOT SUFFICIENT": Leading environmental groups Defenders of Wildlife, Earthjustice, Friends of the Earth, Sierra Club issued a joint statement saying that "although last week’s agreement reflects progress on environmental issues in the Peru and Panama FTAs, it is not a sufficient template for trade agreements generally or for presidential trade negotiating authority." The groups said the secret trade deal "will still provide foreign corporations the right to directly attack public health and environmental measures, and will not fully protect environmental laws from other trade challenges."
DLC ATTACKS TRADE CRITICS, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES RESPOND BY FLOCKING TO DLC CONFERENCE: The Memphis Commercial Appeal reports that the Democratic Leadership Council, which endorsed the secret deal and which has long pushed lobbyist-written trade deals like NAFTA and China PNTR, just released an op-ed attacking free trade critics. Days after the report was made public, the group announced that leading Democratic presidential contenders will be speaking at the DLC's annual conference this year in June.
Posted by David Sirota at 4:50 AM
13 May, 2007
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