In "1984", when Big Brother and the Administration say PEACE they mean WAR, 
when they say LOVE they mean HATE, and when they say FREEDOM they mean 
SLAVERY.

Today, when the Administration says Trade is FREE, they mean at a COST.
Here's a Top Ten List you'll never see on Dave Letterman:  Trade 
Doublespeak.

#10 Doublespeak:  Our Trade Deficit Actually Shows How Strong The Economy 
Is.  Yes, some people actually say this.  It's a lot like arguing that the 
more you go into debt, the richer you really are.  Warren Buffet notes the 
absurdity of this statement, adding "Americans end up owning a reduced 
portion of our country while non-Americans own a greater part.  This 
force-feeding of American wealth to the rest of the world is now proceeding 
at the rate of $1.8 Billion daily." It already happened with NAFTA. Our 
trade deficit with those countries is 12 times bigger than before NAFTA --  
it shot up from $9 billion in 1993 to $111 billion last year.  A high trade 
deficit weakens our economy.

#9 Doublespeak:  CAFTA Slows Immigration.  This same false promise was made 
under NAFTA, and we all witnessed the opposite result of increased 
immigration from Mexico.  CAFTA has back-door provisions that dictate our 
U.S. immigration laws and visa requirements may be in violation of the 
agreement, and unenforceable. CAFTA also increases legal immigration, as any 
foreign company wishing to come into the United States can also bring in 
employees from the country of origin.

#8 Doublespeak:  CAFTA Opens A Substantial Market for U.S. Goods.  Central 
America has some of the poorest countries in the world, and the aggregate 
economy of the six CAFTA nations is minuscule. "Add up the six CAFTA 
economies and you get a market the size of New Haven, Connecticut," points 
out trade analyst Alan Tonelson of the U.S. Business and Industry Council. 
Tonelson concludes that CAFTA is a "classic outsourcing agreement" - an 
arrangement in which the only significant U.S. export would be manufacturing 
jobs to poor, low-wage nations.

#7  Doublespeak:  CAFTA Helps The Working Poor Of Central America.  If you 
want to predict the future, look to the past.  Since NAFTA, real wages for 
Mexican workers have fallen.  Over 1.5 million displaced Mexican subsistence 
farmers were turned into unemployed masses.  Mexico is becoming poorer. 
Today, Forty percent of Central America's workers earn less than two dollars 
a day. Their employment rights are routinely abused, and CAFTA will require 
these countries to merely enforce their own weak and unfair labor laws. 
CAFTA is devoid of compassion and opportunity for those who need it the 
most-the 37 million Central Americans struggling in poverty.  CAFTA is about 
making corporations richer, not Central American workers.

#6  Doublespeak:  CAFTA Helps Farmers.  The poor of Central America will not 
be buying cheese from Wisconsin or corn from Iowa.  Under CAFTA, barriers to 
agricultural imports from these countries would be removed immediately, 
while barriers to U.S. exports wouldn't be lifted for anywhere from 10-20 
years - thereby crippling U.S. agricultural producers. Many state-level farm 
organizations - including several local and state Farm Bureau Chapters - 
publicly oppose CAFTA.  The National Association of State Departments of 
Agriculture passed a resolution against CAFTA because farm products aren't 
adequately protected by the agreement. CAFTA will hurt the American farmer, 
but funnel money to large agribusiness corporations who do business 
overseas.

#5 Doublespeak:  CAFTA Is Essential For National Security.  This desperate 
plea by Rumsfield and Rice is a last ditch effort by a failing 
administration to resuscitate CAFTA using fear and divisiveness.  Short of 
votes in congress, with a flawed strategy, they are attempting to scare the 
American people into support.  Nobody really thinks Al Qaeda has splinter 
cells in Costa Rica.  We won't be fooled into believing Osama Bin Laden is 
hiding out in the Dominican Republic.   Look to the past:  Our CIA 
activities during the 1984 Iran/Contra scandal in Nicaragua did little to 
bring about security, and Bush's most recent lobbying for CAFTA at the OAS 
is best characterized as a sign of weakness, not of strength.

#4 Doublespeak:  CAFTA Is A Relatively Small Trade Agreement.  CAFTA is the 
largest trade agreement before our country since NAFTA, and a critical 
steppingstone toward creation of a 34-nation Free Trade Area of the Americas 
(FTAA).  It has become a national referendum on failed trade policies of the 
past, and the outcome will set a course for our future dealings with China. 
For local and state government, CAFTA would become the highest law of the 
land, determining rules on procurement, health care, zoning and immigration.

#3  Doublespeak:  CAFTA Helps The American Worker.  Just the opposite. When 
companies in other countries are allowed to race to the basement, employment 
conditions for our American workers deteriorate.  We get less pay, fewer 
benefits and reduced health care coverage.  CAFTA is the Wal-Mart of trade 
deals.  CEO's justify actions by the need to stay competitive and keep 
prices low.  Big corporations then get all the breaks, and the profits, 
while workers rights and wages are forsaken.

#2 Doublespeak:  Trade Deals Always Pass In Congress.  So Will CAFTA. 
Repeating a statement doesn't make it true.  Right now, a majority of House 
members, including a significant number of Republicans, oppose CAFTA. 
Another sizeable bloc of GOP House members is uncommitted.  For CAFTA to 
pass, over two dozen house members will have to break commitments to vote 
against it, and every single uncommitted member will need to vote for it. 
That's not likely to happen, as polling shows opposition to outsourcing and 
CAFTA is growing.  The more Americans find out about it, the less they like 
it.

And The #1 Use Of Trade Doublespeak:  CAFTA Trade Policies Create Jobs and 
Stimulate Economic Growth.  It's The Big Lie.  When we import more, and our 
trade deficit grows, we lose jobs, and export our wealth to other countries. 
We lost an estimated 900,000 net jobs to NAFTA.  Outsourcing the American 
economy to other countries is a failing strategy for our future.

To send an alert on CAFTA, go to
http://www.capwiz.com/thenation/mail/oneclick_compose/?alertid=7805476