The Huffington Post: on Free Trade


Arianna Huffington: CAFTA gives sweetheart provisions to drug companies

Just look at the sweetheart provisions in the new Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) that will give drug companies all kinds of patent protections in Central America while making it harder for people there to get low cost generic versions of life-saving drugs. A great many of the 275,000 Central Americans infected with HIV, for instance, will no longer be able to afford treatment. In Guatemala, AIDS patients currently pay only $216 per year for the generic version of the antiretroviral cocktail Combivir, instead of the $4,818 the name brand costs. In Costa Rica, if forced to forgo generic drugs, the country will only be able to treat 18% of the AIDS patients currently being cared for. Rep. Henry Waxman will be holding hearings on the CAFTA giveaways tomorrow.
Source: Huffington Post, "Moving the Moral Values" Jun 13, 2005

Darrell Castle: Trans Pacific Partnership is not about free trade

Q: Do you know about the Trans Pacific Partnership?

A: Yes I do. I'm very much opposed to it. I'm not necessarily opposed to free trade. I don't think the TPP is about free trade. I really don't see any need to turn the trade sovereignty, the authority of the United States over to foreign corporations. I don't like the idea of giving international corporations, never mind foreign governments, them too, but foreign corporations, the right to sue the United States and demand that it change its trade policy. I want the United States to be a free and independent country. If we want to negotiate a deal with Mexico for example that says: you let us ship our goods to Mexico without import duties and we'll do the same for you, I have no problem with that. But that's not what the TPP is about so I'm dead set against it.

Source: Huffington Post on 2016 Presidential hopefuls May 25, 2016

Darrell Castle: Repeal NAFTA

Q: You mentioned the Investor State Dispute Settlement process as part of TPP; that is also part of NAFTA--would you repeal NAFTA?

A: I do realize that, yes. Yes I would repeal NAFTA.

Source: Huffington Post on 2016 Presidential hopefuls May 25, 2016

Theresa Greenfield: Number one issue for farmers is regaining foreign markets

Greenfield worries about the pressures on farmers of a trade war that has obstructed their access to Chinese markets and the Trump administration's efforts to relax rules requiring oil refineries to use corn-based ethanol. "Rut right now, honestly, the number one thing I hear from them is, 'We need our markets back,' so they can just start turning a profit and then can go on to have some of these other fights that they want to have."
Source: Huffington Post on 2020 Iowa Senate race May 12, 2020

  • The above quotations are from Columns and news articles on the Huffington Post blog.
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2016 Presidential contenders on Free Trade:
  Republicans:
Gov.Jeb Bush(FL)
Dr.Ben Carson(MD)
Gov.Chris Christie(NJ)
Sen.Ted Cruz(TX)
Carly Fiorina(CA)
Gov.Jim Gilmore(VA)
Sen.Lindsey Graham(SC)
Gov.Mike Huckabee(AR)
Gov.Bobby Jindal(LA)
Gov.John Kasich(OH)
Gov.Sarah Palin(AK)
Gov.George Pataki(NY)
Sen.Rand Paul(KY)
Gov.Rick Perry(TX)
Sen.Rob Portman(OH)
Sen.Marco Rubio(FL)
Sen.Rick Santorum(PA)
Donald Trump(NY)
Gov.Scott Walker(WI)
Democrats:
Gov.Lincoln Chafee(RI)
Secy.Hillary Clinton(NY)
V.P.Joe Biden(DE)
Gov.Martin O`Malley(MD)
Sen.Bernie Sanders(VT)
Sen.Elizabeth Warren(MA)
Sen.Jim Webb(VA)

2016 Third Party Candidates:
Gov.Gary Johnson(L-NM)
Roseanne Barr(PF-HI)
Robert Steele(L-NY)
Dr.Jill Stein(G,MA)
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Page last updated: Aug 04, 2024