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Mike Gravel on Free Trade
Libertarian for President; Former Dem. Senator (AK); withdrew from Presidential primary July 2019
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No sanctions on China or Venezuela, but no trade agreements
Q: Do you support the United States imposing economic sanctions on China?A: No.
Q: Do you support the United States imposing trade sanctions on Venezuela?
A: No.
Q:
Do you support the United States involvement in free trade agreements?
A: No.
Q: Do you support the United States involvement in intergovernmental organizations dedicated to trade?
A: Yes.
Source: Presidential Election 2008 Political Courage Test
, Apr 22, 2008
CAFTA & NAFTA cause unemployment in Mexico & Central America
Our trade practices--CAFTA and NAFTA--they have caused more unemployment in Mexico and Central America than they have in this country. That is wrong. We need to change that approach. Can we? I question whether the Congress can.
I think that the answer lies with the American people. If the people in this country had the ability to make laws, to vote for policies directly, then we would begin to see some national solutions to these particular problems.
Source: 2007 Democratic primary debate on Univision in Spanish
, Sep 9, 2007
Trade agreements only benefit shareholders
Q: A lot of Americans are concerned with outsourcing of US jobs. What’s your solution?GRAVEL: Outsourcing is not the problem. What is the problem is our trade agreements that benefit the management and, of course, the shareholders, and have neglected
on either side of the issue, whether it’s in Mexico or in other countries or the United States. That’s the problem that must be addressed. So, no, it’s not outsourcing. But I would add to it, it’s the way all of these people want to finance health care,
on the backs of businesses, that make them uncompetitive in the world. That’s part of the problem. And our system of taxation is also part of the problem because it makes us uncompetitive in the world.
DODD: I disagree. I think it’s a huge issue here.
The fact of the matter is we’re exporting a lot of valuable jobs in this country and we shouldn’t be doing it.
BIDEN: The bottom line here is we’ve got to make it more attractive to have jobs here in America and for corporations to be here.
Source: 2007 Democratic Primary Debate at Howard University
, Jun 28, 2007
Tariffs on China could spur worldwide economic downturn
[In the Great Depression] the implosion of capitalism seemed to prove its many critics right. Herbert Hoover had tried to say Wall Street wasn’t responsible, as if the Depression was some kind of natural disaster. The Smoot-Hawley
Tariff Act on twenty thousand foreign goods, passed under Hoover in 1930, had made the Depression worse. Some members of Congress today are toying with the same mistake with proposed tariffs on China, which could spur a worldwide economic downturn.
Source: A Political Odyssey, by Mike Gravel, p. 74-75
, May 2, 2008
Page last updated: Dec 15, 2019