NAFTA: Ross Perot and Al Gore Debate 1993

[boston bean]

Run time: 09:00 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhwhMXOxHTg   Posted on YouTube: February 24, 2008 By YouTube Member: naftafailure Views on YouTube: 87174   Posted on DU: August 14, 2011 By DU Member: boston bean Views on DU: 794

 
Part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1tHV_fztR4&feature=related

Part 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fr-aoolb7c0&feature=related

Part 4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMj5SHK6Yeg&feature=related

Part 5 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtdfZIv9lFg&feature=related

Part 6 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4d2scO1RR0&feature=related

Part 7 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnB8NxNIuCA&feature=related

Part 8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiZY94VKoyk&feature=related

[Scuba]

1. With 20/20 hindsight, I'd say Perot ate Gore's lunch. n/t

[TeamsterDem]

2. Too bad we can't repeal the f'in thing and instead we're talking about passing more FTAs. nt

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

3. corporate media loved making crazy people the focus of anti-NAFTA argument

Keeping the spotlight on nuts like Perot and Buchanan made it easy to dismiss all of the labor groups and progressives organized against it. They were able to frame it under a false narrative of backwards, anti-Mexican crazies vs. sane, reasonable people who wanted a global future.

Never mind that all it did was lead to the proliferation of sweatshop-esque jobs in Mexico and benefited neither country, and lowered standards everywhere. The real legacy of NAFTA is that it lets businesses threaten to leave if they don't get to repeal environmental and labor protections. "We have to stay competitive," they always whine when calling for deregulation.

Still, for all his weirdness, Perot was right about a lot of stuff in this debate - though maybe not completely sincere and a bit of an opportunist (he later shipped some of his own workers's jobs to Mexico) in taking up the cause. But let's not praise him too much - he did end up endorsing the chimp in 2000, after all.