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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsOh, goody: US trade bills seek to halt boycotts of Israel
Let's start right the fuck off with curtailing freedom here and demanding they follow suit in the EU. Imagine if this had been around during the era of boycotting South Africa:
The United States House of Representatives on Friday approved a measure to allow a "fast track" process for a free trade agreement between the US and Europe, which includes a section obligating EU countries to refrain from any kind of boycotts on Israeli goods.
The measure requires the government to fight governments, international organizations, companies, and individuals working to boycott Israel.
The amendment to the bill also states that boycotts, divestment, and sanctions against Israel by governments, governmental bodies, and international organizations are contrary to the principle of non-discrimination enshrined in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which regulates trade agreements and lowering of tariffs.
The bill further supports an American probe into companies pushing for or surrendering to the boycott and instructs the president to report to Congress on boycott activities after 180 days since the bill's implementation, as well as describe what steps the US government is taking to encourage foreign countries and international organization to stop boycotting.
Additionally, the president will need to explain what steps the government is taking to prevent probes and filing of lawsuits by governments or international bodies against Israel.
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http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4667914,00.html
geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)cali
(114,904 posts)Recursion
(56,582 posts)geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)Recursion
(56,582 posts)It wasn't remotely enough, but we need to move more in that direction.
cali
(114,904 posts)trade agreements more than he's wanted anything else during his Presidency.
Donald Ian Rankin
(13,598 posts)Recursion
(56,582 posts)But then Obama has basically told them to f off to their face.
djean111
(14,255 posts)demand the purity that supporters of another candidate accuse them of wanting.
Donald Ian Rankin
(13,598 posts)(I'm not a supporter of any candidate - I'd be happy with Clinton, O'Malley or possibly Webb, although I don't know as much about him).
cali
(114,904 posts)(beyond your candidate preference)
djean111
(14,255 posts)Donald Ian Rankin
(13,598 posts)Sanders would make a perfectly good president, but a lousy candidate, because he has vanishingly little chance of winning a general election where Democrats are heavily dependent on the votes of those who self-identify as moderates.
Now, the reason *Chafee* is not on that list is that he is not pure enough for me.
If by a miracle Sanders wins the primary I'll be cheering him on enthusiastically, but betting against him. If by a miracle Chafee wins the primary I'll be holding my nose and betting against him (but still hoping that he wins).
djean111
(14,255 posts)Bullshit.
GoneFishin
(5,217 posts)weasel around the rules while the conservadems shrug their shoulders and make up mealy mouthed excuses about how powerless they are to stop it.
mindem
(1,580 posts)From the National Journal
"Late Tuesday evening, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin offered up an amendment to a customs bill that would "ensure that trade agreements do not require changes to U.S. law or obligate the United States with respect to global warming or climate change."
"But Ryan, the former vice-presidential candidate, is working hard to win Republican support for the trade bill. Doug Andres, a spokesman for the House Committee on Ways and Means, said that the climate-change amendment acts as an olive branch for House Republicans fearful that the president might use his trade negotiating power to take action on climate change."
Who knows what is going to get attached before it is rammed through.
GoneFishin
(5,217 posts)trade agreements do not require changes to U.S. law or obligate the United States with respect to food, pharmaceuticals, or consumer product safety".
GoneFishin
(5,217 posts)Jester Messiah
(4,711 posts)The same people who cheer for that shit abroad would work themselves into apoplexy screaming "SOSHULIZM" if the same principles were applied at home.