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Jeb Bush on Free Trade

Republican FL Governor; V.P. prospect

 


Strengthen Cuban embargo; talking undermines US credibility

Pres. Obama's surprising move toward normalizing relations with Cuba [was] immediately denounced as feckless, overreaching and naive [for opening] negotiations with the government of Pres. Raul Castro.

Jeb Bush had called for strengthening the embargo against Cuba as recently as two weeks ago. On his Facebook page [after Obama's announcement], Bush wrote that the administration's decision to restore diplomatic ties with Cuba is "the latest foreign policy misstep by this President, and another dramatic overreach of his executive authority. It undermines America's credibility and undermines the quest for a free and democratic Cuba."

Since a decade ago, the old ideological and economic battle lines have been fading. Even as a trade embargo has remained in place, nearly 600,000 U.S. travelers went to Cuba last year--the majority of them Cuban-Americans. Business interests have pushed for more openness, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce pledged its support for Obama's decision.

Source: Portland Press Herald, "Obama's Decision on Cuba" , Dec 18, 2014

Four visits to Taiwan to increase trade exchange

Vice President Annette Lu asked Florida Governor Jeb Bush, brother of US President George W. Bush, to convey greetings to the US president. Lu, who sat beside the governor at a national banquet given by El Salvador's new President, asked the governor to convey her appreciation to the US leader for his long-term support for Taiwan.

Knowing of Jeb Bush's friendship with Therese Shaheen, the former chairperson of the American Institute in Taiwan, Lu also asked him to convey her greetings to Shaheen.

They also talked about increasing trade exchanges between Taiwan and Florida. The governor said that he has visited Taiwan four times, with the last visit in 1991. Lu invited him to visit again, and he said he would consider this. In turn, the governor invited Lu to visit his state.

Source: Taipei Times, page 5 , Jun 3, 2004

Advocated Miami as HQ for Free Trade Area of the Americas

An international summit this month could move the Western Hemisphere toward becoming a free trade zone. Florida expects to be at the heart of the Free Trade Area of the Americas, the proposed $13 trillion market that would serve 800 million consumers in 34 countries. Local business leaders, backed by Gov. Jeb Bush, want Miami to become home to the FTAA's headquarters and reap the benefits of enhanced trade and commerce. But Florida's sugar and citrus growers fear the trade talks could lead to the elimination of tariffs, opening them up to competition from cheaper produce from Brazil and potentially dooming their industries.

Jeb Bush has aggressively courted support for the headquarters. The governor says his brother's decision on backing a U.S. city for the headquarters--either Atlanta or Miami--"will be based on the merits of the location." The eventual winner must be approved by the 34 nations that comprise the trade group.

Source: 7 News WSVN coverage of FTAA , Nov 12, 2003

Enforce trade law against subsidized Canadian lumber imports.

Bush signed the Southern Governors' Association resolution:

Source: Resolution of Southern Governor's Assn. on Lumber Subsidies 01-SGA3 on Sep 9, 2001

Bound under state commitment to CAFTA.

Bush is profiled in ALIPAC report on Governors

States' commitments under CAFTA:

Americans for Legal Immigration PAC (ALIPAC) compiled a list of the status of each of the 50 states with regards to CAFTA procurement. For states that have rescinded their commitment, we infer that the incumbent governor strongly opposes CAFTA (because the state made a commitment and then un-made it). For states that declined to commit, we infer that the incumbent governor somewhat opposes CAFTA. For states that committed, we infer that the incumbent governor supports CAFTA.

CAFTA is the Central American Free Trade Agreement. CAFTA expands NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Agreement, between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico) to five Central American nations (Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica and Nicaragua), and the Dominican Republic. It passed Congress on July 27, 2005.

Opposition to CAFTA procurement rules (by Public Citizen): Should an international trade agreement determine how we are allowed to spend our domestic tax dollars? Prior to the passage of CAFTA, the majority of state governments agreed: Subjecting decisions about how to spend state taxpayer dollars to second-guessing by foreign trade tribunals is a bad idea! As a result, a bi-partisan group of governors withdrew their initial agreement to bind their states to comply with CAFTA's procurement rules. Many other governors simply avoided binding their states to CAFTA's procurement rules in the first place. Common state economic development and environmental policies are prohibited by trade agreement procurement rules include:

Source: Americans for Legal Immigration PAC report 14_Lt_FT on Aug 7, 2005

Other governors on Free Trade: Jeb Bush on other issues:
FL Gubernatorial:
Alexander Snitker
Charlie Crist
Rick Scott
FL Senatorial:
Bill Nelson
Marco Rubio

Gubernatorial Debates 2014:
AL: Bentley(R) vs.Griffith(D)
AR: Ross(D) vs.Hutchinson(R) vs.Griffin(R,Lt.Gov.)
AZ: Ducey(R) vs.DuVal(D) vs.Mealer(AE) vs.Gilbert(L) vs.Riggs(R)
CA: Brown(D) vs.Kashkari(R)
CO: Hickenlooper(D) vs.Beauprez(R) vs.Tancredo(R) vs.Hess(L)
CT: Malloy(D) vs.Foley(R) vs.Walker(R,Lt.Gov.)
FL: Scott(R) vs.Crist(D) vs.Snitker(L,Lt.Gov.)
GA: Deal(R) vs.Carter(D) vs.Hunt(L)
HI: Ige(D) vs.Aiona(R) vs.Abercrombie(D)
IA: Branstad(R) vs.Hatch(D) vs.Hoefling(R)
MA: Coakley(D) vs.Baker(R) &Polito(R,Lt.Gov.) vs.Grossman(D) vs.Berwick(D)
ME: LePage(R) vs.Michaud(D) vs.Cutler(I)
MI: Snyder(R) vs.Schauer(D)
NM: Martinez(R) vs.King(D)
NY: Cuomo(D) &Hochul(D,Lt.Gov.) vs.Astorino(R) vs.Hawkins(G) vs.Teachout(D)
OK: Fallin(R) vs.Dorman(D)
PA: Corbett(R) vs.Wolf(D) vs.Schwartz(D,lost primary) vs.Critz(D,Lt.Gov.,lost primary)
Newly-elected 2014:
AK-I: Bill Walker
AR-R: Asa Hutchinson
AZ-R: Doug Ducey
IL-R: Bruce Rauner
MA-R: Charlie Baker
MD-R: Larry Hogan
NE-R: Pete Ricketts
PA-D: Tom Wolf
RI-D: Gina Raimondo
TX-R: Greg Abbott

Up for re-election 2014:
AK-R: Sean Parnell
AL-R: Robert Bentley
CA-D: Jerry Brown
CO-D: John Hickenlooper
CT-D: Dan Malloy
FL-R: Rick Scott
GA-R: Nathan Deal
HI-D: Neil Abercrombie
IA-R: Terry Branstad
ID-R: Butch Otter
IL-D: Pat Quinn
KS-R: Sam Brownback
ME-R: Paul LePage
MI-R: Rick Snyder
MN-D: Mark Dayton
NH-D: Maggie Hassan
NM-R: Susana Martinez
NV-R: Brian Sandoval
NY-D: Andrew Cuomo
OH-R: John Kasich
OK-R: Mary Fallin
OR-D: John Kitzhaber
PA-R: Tom Corbett
SC-R: Nikki Haley
SD-R: Dennis Daugaard
TN-R: Bill Haslam
VT-D: Peter Shumlin
WI-R: Scott Walker
WY-R: Matt Mead
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Energy/Oil
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Families/Children
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Free Trade
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Infrastructure/Technology
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Principles/Values
Social Security
Tax Reform
War/Iraq/Mideast
Welfare/Poverty

Term-Limited or Retiring 2014:
AR-D: Mike Beebe
AZ-R: Jan Brewer
MA-D: Deval Patrick
MD-D: Martin O'Malley
RI-I: Linc Chafee
TX-R: Rick Perry

 





Page last updated: Jan 19, 2015