Message-ID: <9711221717.AA26160@beta.tricity.wsu.edu> Date: Sat, 22 Nov 1997 09:20:53 +0000 From: Tom Hodges <mailto:thodges@tricity.wsu.edu> Subject: Re: MAI (Was: letter to Gore-AS To: mailto:DEVEL-L@AMERICAN.EDU
Actually it is quite unrealistic to expect legislatures to negotiate international trade agreements. A legislature is composed of a large number of people (~550 for the USA), each with a local agenda related to that representative's state, province, or district. A small group is needed who represent the largest number of people possible (countries and trade blocks today, the world someday?) so the number of interest groups with competing demands is minimized.Tom Hodges
On 20 Nov 97 at 22:23, kerry wrote:
> On Thu, 20 Nov 1997, Aimee Christensen,
> Special Asst. for Hemispheric Affairs, USDOE, wrote:
>
> > we engage the governments to support environmental
> > protection and open markets for renewable energy, energy efficiency,
> > and other cleaner technologies. We do this by working to change
> > policies and reduce tariffs, but without Fast Track we are
> > significantly hampered from doing so. Tariffs on these technologies
> > are a SIGNIFICANT barrier to their introduction to what could be (and
> > often still are even with the tariffs) THE most competitive
> > application especially for renewables. Free trade agreements can take
> > many of these barriers away.
> >
> The _content of a trade agreement should not depend on the _manner in
> which it is negotiated. There is nothing that a President can do or say
> that a Congress cannot also do or say in this regard. Commercial activity
> is the basis of probably 90% of an average citizen's lifestyle, and the
> function of government should reflect that; that is, it is a structure
> formed *by the people* to protect themselves, not to protect business,
> whether it is 'globalized' or not. The historical means of implementing
> that protection has been representative democracy, not secret strategies
> worked out by civil servants and lobbyists and signed off by one man.
Tom Hodges, Cropping Systems Analyst 3030 W 4th Ave, #27 Kennewick, WA 99336, USA Voice: 509-783-3792, FAX: 509-786-9370 Email: mailto:thodges@tricity.wsu.edu WWW http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Vines/4984