Bush Hopes Farmers Will Support CAFTA

I just read an Associated Press article (Bush Needs Farm Support for Trade Accord, By Libby Quaid) dated April 11, 2005 that says the Bush administration is hoping farmers across the United States will help them convince congress to pass the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) in May. The first three paragraphs of the article makes it sound like they could have a pretty rough time selling CAFTA to the farmers if they all think like Mr. Alan Welp does. Welp, a sugar beet farmer is afraid that if CAFTA is passed it will wreck his industry. He says that every pound of sugar that is imported into the United States is a pound that our farmers will just store, or not grow at all. "We are already an oversupplied market," said Welp, who grows sugar, corn and wheat on 3,500 acres in northeast Colorado. "there's going to be huge job loss, and it will put a lot of farmers and processors out of business. So the negatives, in my opinion, far outweigh any of the positives." Sounds to me like Mr. Welp has read about the effects free trade agreements like NAFTA and GATT had on other industries. I hope more farmers feel the same way, and they will contact their elected officials and urge them to say NO to CAFTA. Under all of these free trade agreements the United States number one export has become United States citizens jobs.

One of my In-Laws used to work at a grain mill before he became a guard at a state prison, he had always been opposed to free trade agreements. After becoming a prison guard he told me (jokingly) that he had changed his mind, he was in favor of free trade. He said free trade agreements meant job security to him. He says a lot of people that are in prison are really good family men. They lost their jobs to NAFTA and GATT, so they turned to crime to provide for their families. I have a feeling in some cases that could be true. So, lets use an old phrase when trying to get others to oppose more job give always. "Help take a bite out of crime" say NO! to CAFTA.

I'd like to urge all United States citizens to go to http://www.house.gov/writerep/ and contact their United States Representatives (they will vote on CAFTA first) and ask them to oppose CAFTA.

God Bless America, God Save The Republic.