Free Trade and Bill Clinton

This morning I would like to continue my pledge to prove that Bill Clinton is a DINO (Democrat in name only). So far I have showed how President Clinton signed and supported laws on both Extraordinary Rendition and the Defense of Marriage. Today with the WTO in full swing in Hong Kong and the hard left anti-globalization protesters doing their normal stuff, I thought it would be a good opening to give the next installment.

One of the most hated things in this country by the left when it comes to free trade other than the WTO is NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement). Conservatives in the US and Canada led by George Bush Sr. and Prime Minister Brian Mulroney initially designed the agreement with tremendous opposition from the left who feared it would hurt the environment and cost the country jobs.

Fortunately for the United State, Canada and Mexico the bill was finally passed in 1993 by a slim margin in both the House and Senate and signed by President Clinton who could have easily caved to the left and vetoed it. Further credit is also due to President Clinton because besides signing it he lobbied for it heavily which helped get enough votes for it to pass proving he really believed in the idea.

Today as usual time has shown that conservatives were correct, as NAFTA has been a tremendous success for all three signatures. The US has not lost millions of jobs with the United States actually gaining jobs since the bill was signed thanks to increased consumption do to cheaper goods. It also helped slow the tide of immigrants to the United States from Mexico since their economy soared with the introduction of Maquiladoras (the name for export assembly factories in Mexico). These Maquiladoras had an immediate benefit of creating 1.3 million jobs by 2000 in Mexico.

I continue to bring these conservative policies signed by Bill Clinton up because its part of a game that I like to play with Democrats who whenever I have a debate turns to their mighty king Bill as being the greatest President. Instead of fighting them, I agree and tell them it’s because he was a Republican. After a puzzled look they tell me I’m crazy. I then challenge them to have a contest to rattle off major policies signed by Clinton, me conservative ones them liberal. I’m usually up to my fifth or six policy while they’re still speechless unable to think of their first. Try it some time, its so much fun!