Trade

From John Buell on CAFTA:

Free trade is in fact a misnomer. Business is free to relocate, but workers must accept national boundaries. Historically some unions, and many working class citizens, believe that strengthening sanctions against illegal immigrants will improve their own job prospects. Yet increased sanctions only give employers more ways to discipline discontented workers.

CAFTA must be rejected, but it needs to be replaced by a charter of rights for all who work here as well as effective guarantees for labor organizing in all nations that are party to trade pacts. When all workers within our borders enjoy a right to a decent wage and to organize collectively, it is harder for employers to ratchet wages and working standards down.

The benefits of broad collaboration over immigrant rights are more than merely economic. A century ago, Irish and Italian immigrants were subject to many of the same charges Huntington levels against Mexican immigrants. They added immensely to the culture and economy of the US.

Hardly hordes of barbarians eager to conquer us, most Mexican immigrants work hard and many intend to return home. Their concerns for family time and for their own culture can only broaden and enhance our fluid and evolving culture.

While I can honestly say that the AntiCentenarian Reps are very not-well versed when it comes to economic policy in general and CAFTA in specific, Buell strikes on something valuable: the new workers system of rights and protections.