Council on Foreign Relations

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Toyota heads to Hill with team of lobbyists - Washington Post- msnbc.com

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council on foreign relations - Bing News

http://www.vancouversun.com/entertai...195/story.html
"U.S. economy is a shambles, with no improvement in sight
President Obama's claim that a second depression isn't possible doesn't square with the relevant numbers"

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The Chosun Ilbo (English Edition): Daily News from Korea - China Vows Sanctions Against U.S. Companies Will Go Forward

"China Vows Sanctions Against U.S. Companies Will Go ForwardThe rift between China and the United States looks far from healing as Beijing reiterates its plan to punish U.S. companies following disagreements between the two countries.

Beijing's anger at Washington over a range of issues from arms sales to Taiwan and the U.S. president's meeting with Tibet's exiled leader the Dalai Lama, showed no signs of abating Tuesday.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang reaffirmed punitive sanctions against American companies would go ahead, because of U.S. arms sales to Taiwan. In addition, China is angry over U.S. positions on a number of issues, including trade, human rights and allegations of Chinese cyber-attacks on U.S. organizations.

He says it is up to the United States to heal relations.

Qin says that China demands that the U.S. seriously regard China's position and take credible measures to undo the damage done. And, he says, sanctions against U.S. companies will go ahead. Qin refused, however, to say when sanctions would come into effect.

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council on foreign relations - Bing News

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Report: U.S. should 'marginalize religious extremists, not religion' - CNN.com

'Washington (CNN) -- Religion is a growing factor in world affairs, but the U.S. government tends to view it through the lens of counterterrorism. That's the conclusion of a two-year study by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.

The success of American diplomacy in the next decade "will be measured by its ability to connect with the hundreds of millions of people throughout the world whose identity is defined by religion," the report says.

"The challenge before us is to marginalize religious extremists, not religion," it concludes.

The report, "Engaging Religious Communities Abroad: A New Imperative for U.S. Foreign Policy," finds the key challenge for America internationally is to "understand the role of religion in world affairs and to constructively engage with religious communities around the world."
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The New Nation - Internet Edition
US attack on Iran may lead to US collapse: Russian Gen

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Free Trade with South Korea, Columbia, and Panama in the works and the unions are looked at as the bad guy ...again. Ya gotta watch 'em. If this ain't an article putting the pressure on to do the wrong thing I don't know what is. It totally acts as if freetrade is the only "right" thing to do...It has done nothing for our jobs. Nothing. Quit f'N lying to us.......freetrade deals that need wrapping up???!!!! With no jobs e can buy nothing...the slaves in them countries always leave making out while we lose with deficits and jobs. they can't afford to buy anything we make. We can't even afford it.....one day this greedy BS has got to stop. I absolutely hate the way they look at things.

Barack Obama needs to take on labour allies in trade fight | Albert Hunt
"Continued inaction will doom those hopes. "It would be very hard to achieve this without these trade agreements," says Charlene Barshefsky, who was US trade representative in the Clinton administration.

Obama says he wants to push ahead with the Korean, Colombian and Panamanian trade accords as soon as a few "glitches" or "kinks" are resolved.

The real "glitches" are US unions, major Obama political supporters. The new AFL-CIO president, Rich Trumka, is more protectionist than his predecessor, John Sweeney. Other influential labor leaders, such as Jim Hoffa of the Teamsters, are as adamant



"The "kinks" are congressional Democrats; Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada likes to boast he never supports free-trade deals, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has let the White House know that after the wrenching health-care battle she doesn't want to put her members through other tough votes.

There are consequences to inaction.

Over the past eight years, there have been few leaders as supportive of the US as outgoing Colombian President Alvaro Uribe; he has courageously taken on the drug gangs and leftist terrorists. The country is far safer and more stable for its citizens and investors.

Obama's National Security Council considers Colombia an important strategic counterforce to Hugo Chavez, the leader of neighboring Venezuela and an American nemesis who harbors some of the Colombian FARC terrorists. Most experts agree the Colombian agreement would result in more US exports than imports.

Opponents say labor leaders are still getting bumped off in Colombia. Although violence hasn't disappeared, it is far less severe than in the past because of the courage of Uribe, who the courts stopped from running for a third term. For the Obama administration to continue to sit on this agreement before the Colombia presidential elections next month is a slap in the face to an important American friend.
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Here's more from the brainwashing BS article...freetrade will not make our homes or land any cheaper. We,the american workers, will not benefit from this kind of trade with countries where killing off the unions with violence and having third-worlders work for slave rates is the norm.....word to the pushers....GET LOST PUNKS!...Find your slaves elsewhere and quit pushing us closer to it..

"The Korean considerations are geopolitical and economic. South Korea has the fourth-largest economy in Asia. The European Union has signed a trade agreement with Korea. The International Monetary Fund projects that more than half the global economic growth in the next dozen years or so will come from the Asian Pacific region.

If the US wants China to dominate the region then stiffing trade agreements with Korea and others is good strategy. That's not the Obama objective.

The auto and steel industries, and unions, complain about Korean import barriers in opposing the agreement. Yet overall Korean tariffs that would be affected by the deal are about three times greater than the US tariffs


"Ambassador Kirk, who believes the US can't "sit on the sidelines as others lower tariffs and conclude trade deals," nevertheless says the political climate has to improve.

"We're not going to be able to move forward if we have a poisoned political environment in Washington in which every issue that comes up becomes the next health care," he said in an interview April 2. "We don't want that for trade."

While the dynamics will be different -- support and opposition will be bipartisan -- a non-poisonous, Kumbaya epiphany on trade isn't on the horizon

Beyond the economics there even are some political reasons the White House should seize the moment and seek approval of these treaties. A month ago the labor movement was demoralized, denied legislative victories and appointments. Over the last few weeks, health care, a labor priority, was passed and Obama tapped union counsel Craig Becker to the National Labor Relations Board, reversing years of an anti-union tilt on the panel, and infuriating much of the business community. With these victories, will labor really wage a war with Obama and other Democrats in this fall's elections over trade?

One more point: The Obama team loves to contrast their leader and his willingness to take on tough battles with the last Democratic president -- remember Bill Clinton's triangulation? (The tension between top Obama and top Clinton advisers is as raw as ever.)

Seventeen years ago, over the opposition of labor and reservations from Capitol Hill Democrats, President Clinton rallied support to pass the North American Free Trade Agreement. Is Obama not up to the same?....................I hope not.********!
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I think we only have freetrade with Canada and Mexico....yet we are at a deficit with both...we are at a surplus with Panama...We can't have that now, can we?

p Ten Countries with which the U.S. has a Trade Deficit
For the month of January 2010

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Year To Date
Deficit in Deficit in
Millions Millions
Country Name of U.S. $ of U.S. $

China -18,296.34 -18,296.34
Mexico -4,621.95 -4,621.95
Canada -3,902.02 -3,902.02
Japan -3,349.24 -3,349.24
Nigeria -2,068.81 -2,068.81
Ireland -1,637.67 -1,637.67
Venezuela -1,599.54 -1,599.54
Russia -1,384.97 -1,384.97
Algeria -1,227.14 -1,227.14
Saudi Arabia -1,225.61 -1,225.61

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Lets see for ourselves the surpluses and deficits.
FTD - Statistcs - Country Data - Top Trading Partners

Well I checked it out. Supposedly our recession started in the middle of 2006. I checked these deficit lists from then till the last listed which is January 2010. We are at a constant trade deficit with the only countries we have freetrade agreement with, Canada and Mexico. Canada was not on the top-ten list in May 2009 only. Otherwise they hold constant #2-5 spots behind China.............that's the truth on how freetrade NAFTA helps us....we cannot carry the world. Quit lying to us freetrade pushers. Money talks Bullschnitt walks....Start walking.

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The left hand column is the month of december. The right is the whole year. DEC. 2009:
Year To Date
Deficit in Deficit in
Millions Millions
Country Name of U.S. $ of U.S. $

China -18,138.11 -226,826.09
Mexico -5,229.17 -47,539.37
Japan -4,608.91 -44,769.39
Canada -3,004.10 -20,182.66
Federal Republic of Germany -2,918.63 -27,954.46
Nigeria -2,175.06 -15,470.25
Venezuela -2,149.29 -18,734.64
Ireland -1,612.54 -20,549.54
Italy -1,285.72 -14,183.57
Algeria -1,281.97 -9,609.04


Dec 2008:

Year To Date
Deficit in Deficit in
Millions Millions
Country Name of U.S. $ of U.S. $

China -19,879.66 -266,332.71
Japan -5,271.74 -72,669.05
Mexico -4,079.76 -64,376.26
Federal Republic of Germany -3,245.38 -42,820.59
Canada -2,786.72 -74,640.91
Ireland -2,467.84 -22,914.91
Italy -1,515.45 -20,664.80
Korea, South -1,420.27 -13,268.66
Saudi Arabia -1,406.23 -42,308.21
Taiwan -1,254.97 -11,047.65


DEC 2007:
Year To Date
Deficit in Deficit in
Millions Millions
Country Name of U.S. $ of U.S. $

China -18,791.97 -256,269.48
Japan -6,592.92 -82,798.67
Mexico -6,510.78 -74,257.76
Canada -4,655.91 -64,673.72
Federal Republic of Germany -3,873.63 -44,712.47
Venezuela -3,650.68 -29,697.36
Nigeria -3,430.87 -29,983.56
Saudi Arabia -2,703.89 -25,227.20
Malaysia -1,975.91 -21,110

DEC 2006:
Year To Date
Deficit in Deficit in
Millions Millions
Country Name of U.S. $ of U.S. $

China -18,999.99 -232,548.62
Japan -7,456.24 -88,441.97
Canada -5,573.03 -73,159.45
Mexico -5,008.57 -64,091.56
Federal Republic of Germany -4,190.61 -47,753.36
Malaysia -2,229.14 -23,982.36
Nigeria -2,039.10 -25,685.64
Venezuela -1,974.24 -28,153.42
Italy -1,596.43 -20,085.55
Ireland -1,525.27 -20,124.66