The Bush regime's corruption and efforts to attack middle class Americans are legendary. The latest example is a slimy trade deal they have struck with the corrupt, rightist government in Columbia.

Corporate controlled trade has played a significant role in America's current economic crisis. NAFTA, the WTO, and trade normalization with China have dramatically increased our budget deficits, which has increased our foreign debt. Much of our recession is based on a lack of credit, part of which is an inevitable result of too much previous borrowing.

The tens of millions of decent paying jobs lost to corporate controlled trade deals contribute dramatically to our economic downturn while dramatically lowering the quality of lives of far too many Americans. Please take action to stop Bush's efforts to play the Columbia FTA ("Free Trade" Agreement) scam on Congress. The House must vote soon, and it is of critical importance that they vote "NO."

AFL-CIO Action Alert

The AFL-CIO also has an important point in the default text, though it is never a good idea to quote word-for-word from default text in an Action Alert since it shows little effort or involvement in the issue.

Colombia is the most dangerous country in the world for a trade unionist--well over 2,000 union leaders and members have been murdered there since 1991. And the government routinely ignores or violates internationally recognized workers' rights.

Then, they insist on certain benchmarks for Colombia before the US should accept a deal, but I think they are making a mistake there. The whole point of the deal is to ship American jobs abroad. That is a bad thing to do regardless of what palliatives are added to the agreement. There is no such thing as a good "free trade" deal.

Americans for Democratic Action is opposing the FTC as well. Here are some points they made in their Action Alert email.

This trade agreement comes at a huge cost for Americans and Colombians alike, including major job loss, the decimation of family farmers, increased immigration and destruction of the environment. This agreement is modeled off much of the same flawed language found in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). We can only expect the results of the Colombia FTA to be the same.

For Americans, it means more losses in jobs and exports, decreased living standards for middle-class families, and a weaker domestic manufacturing base. For Colombians, it means more substandard wages, the destruction of their country's biodiversity, ruined livelihoods for family farmers, and an increased pressure to emigrate.

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Trade isn't “free” when thousands are killed for standing up in the workplace, or when we destroy the most biodiverse regions on the earth. It isn't free when we lose thousands of Americans jobs so corporations can pay substandard wages across the border. These prices are simply too high.

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The Colombia FTA is modeled after much of the same flawed language found in NAFTA and CAFTA, which resulted in major job loss, environmental degradation, decimation of family farmers and increased immigration.

More Contact info from ADA:

Capitol Switchboard
(202) 224-3121
www.congress.org