If these 10 Senate Dems hadn't voted for it, it would have been defeated. I am really getting sick of this. It still maybe defeated in the House but why allow it to go that far?
This report is from Jim Nichols.
So, of course, Senate Democrats must have been united in opposition to the Bush administration's proposal to expand on the failed model of the North American Free Trade Agreement which has wreaked havoc with the economies of the U.S., Mexico and Canada to create a free trade zone that extends from the Panama Canal to the Arctic Circle.
Right?
Wrong.
When the Senate voted on CAFTA last week, a dozen Republicans abandoned the administration to vote "no." That meant that, if Democrats had been united in their opposition, the trade deal would have been easily defeated, and the president's plan to make it easier for multinational corporations to exploit workers, communities and the environment throughout the hemisphere would have been dealt a fatal blow.
Instead, 10 Democrats New Mexico's Jeff Bingaman, Washington's Maria Cantwell, Delaware's Tom Carper, California's Dianne Feinstein, Arkansas' Blanche Lincoln, Washington's Patty Murray, Florida's Bill Nelson, Nebraska's Ben Nelson, Arkansas' Mark Pryor and Oregon's Ron Wyden as well as Vermont independent Jim Jeffords, who caucuses with the Democrats, voted for the president's proposal.
As a result, CAFTA was approved on a 55-45 vote.
If it hadn't been for the 10 dems it wouldn't have passed, and that is all there is to it.