CAFTA

On the way home I heard a news story filled with the same old Republican rhetoric, this time stating that CAFTA would help boost national security by limiting immigration.

So here are your options:

A) Stay and work in your home country, no doubt for pennies an hour with no benefits at all and no workplace protection.

B) Leave your home country for America, where the jobs pay better and you aren't worried about unpaid overtime (unless you work at Wal-Mart)

Of course, if the American companies all relocate to Central America for the cheap labor, it's a moot point. The job losses here in America would then become the issue. But hey, cheap labor and business profits are job one, right Republicans?

Oh, and you have to love Democracy in action:

The House Rules Committee on Tuesday night approved a rule that would allow the legislation to come up for a floor vote as early as Wednesday. The rule would allow two hours of debate. The legislation can't be amended.

Republicans have also decided to block Democrats from proposing any alternative, either.

This should bring in a new era of politics, where if the Republican party that wins the most seats, they go to work and Democrats may as well stay home since they are effectively barred from doing anything. It's a good example for all this Democracy exporting we've planned on doing, no?

*UPDATE* Well, after an hour of arm twisting, Republicans have overcome the inital defeat of the bill:

When time for the vote on the Central American Free Trade Agreement expired at 11:15, the nays outnumbered the yeas by 191 to 182. But a few minutes past midnight the GOP leadership, ignoring Democratic protests that the rules were being violated, had rounded up enough votes to win by 217-215.

Find who voted how here.