NAFTA Revisited

[theoakman]

From the NYT, in 1993

Mr. Perot dismisses the foreign policy implications while manhandling the economic data. In a nine-month anti-Nafta crusade that has taken him to 43 states and 91 cities, he has warned that Nafta would cause American industry and agriculture to flee south with "a giant sucking sound" toward cheaper Mexican labor, costing Americans 5.9 million jobs.

This is an absurd calculation that Mr. Perot, made giddy perhaps by his resurgent notoriety, has now taken to truly stratospheric levels of exaggeration. On Sunday in Tampa, he told a cheering, stomping audience that 85 million people could lose their jobs under Nafta, which is just about everyone in the American work force. "Eighty-five million people can elect anybody -- anybody!" he cried. "Do you hear that, White House?"

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE5DC103AF93AA35752C1A965958260&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Jesus, did the NYT and the US government fumble on this. Meanwhile, while hindsight is 20/20 Ross Perot laid it out for us as clear as daylight and no one listened. If anyone feels like listening now, check it out on YouTube. Ross Perot was a true patriot and Al Gore is a complete douche.

http://www.youtube.com/user/naftafailure