Re: get me up to speed on it...will ya?

M just tried to remove the buy american provision in the stimulus bill ,but his
amendment was voted down.RB



Has anyone else been watching the Senate tonight? They were voting on amendments just now and the last one up was a McCain amendment that would REMOVE THE BUY AMERICAN PROVISION from the 'generational theft' spending bill. Someone please tell me I heard wrong and that Senator Sessions and Senator Inhofe voted against this amendment. Because what I heard is they voted to REMOVE the Buy American provision.
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SOSADFORUS
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 04, 2009 10:12 pm Post subject: Reply with quote
Because the rest of the world is mad about it and calling us protectionist...the cowards are getting scared Evil or Very Mad
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 04, 2009 10:23 pm Post subject: Reply with quote
SOSADFORUS wrote:
Because the rest of the world is mad about it and calling us protectionist...the cowards are getting scared Evil or Very Mad


Well, I guess I'm a 'Protectionist' and a 'Nativist' and I'm PROUD OF IT! Laughing

The amendment didn't pass, but we still need to know who voted for it. I tuned in just when they began the vote process on this amendment so I didn't hear the 2 minute back and forth before the vote. My jaw was literally on the floor when I 'thought' I heard them say Sessions and Inhofe voted for it.
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 04, 2009 10:25 pm Post subject: Reply with quote
Shocked Standard operating procedures SCREW THE AMERICAN PUBLIC.
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 04, 2009 10:33 pm Post subject: Reply with quote
Ya seems we have up set Canada and the WTO, Brown from Britain would not comment...he seems to be having the same problem with the Brits they want to have a "Buy British campaign" Laughing

Globalization is not going over real big with Americans Rolling Eyes

I'll just bet it was a shock to turn it on and see them voting on that Laughing
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 04, 2009 10:48 pm Post subject: Reply with quote
Got it! Here is the vote count

U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 111th Congress - 1st Session

as compiled through Senate LIS by the Senate Bill Clerk under the direction of the Secretary of the Senate

Vote Summary

Question: On the Amendment (McCain Amdt. No. 279 )
Vote Number: 44 Vote Date: February 4, 2009, 08:27 PM
Required For Majority: 1/2 Vote Result: Amendment Rejected
Amendment Number: S.Amdt. 279 to S.Amdt. 98 to H.R. 1 (No short title on file)
Statement of Purpose: To prohibit the applicability of Buy American requirements in the Act to the utilization of funds provided by the Act.
Vote Counts: YEAs 31
NAYs 65
Not Voting 3

Grouped By Vote Position
YEAs ---31
Alexander (R-TN)
Barrasso (R-WY)
Bennett (R-UT)
Bond (R-MO)
Bunning (R-KY)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Coburn (R-OK)
Cochran (R-MS)
Corker (R-TN)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Crapo (R-ID)
DeMint (R-SC)
Ensign (R-NV)
Enzi (R-WY)
Hatch (R-UT)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Isakson (R-GA)
Johanns (R-NE)
Kyl (R-AZ)
Lieberman (ID-CT)
Lugar (R-IN)
Martinez (R-FL)
McCain (R-AZ)
McConnell (R-KY)
Murkowski (R-AK)
Risch (R-ID)
Roberts (R-KS)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Thune (R-SD)
Wicker (R-MS)
NAYs ---65
Akaka (D-HI)
Baucus (D-MT)
Bayh (D-IN)
Begich (D-AK)
Bennet (D-CO)
Bingaman (D-NM)
Boxer (D-CA)
Brown (D-OH)
Brownback (R-KS)
Burr (R-NC)
Burris (D-IL)
Byrd (D-WV)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Cardin (D-MD)
Carper (D-DE)
Casey (D-PA)
Collins (R-ME)
Conrad (D-ND)
Dodd (D-CT)
Dorgan (D-ND)
Durbin (D-IL)
Feingold (D-WI)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Gillibrand (D-NY)
Graham (R-SC)
Grassley (R-IA)
Hagan (D-NC)
Harkin (D-IA)
Hutchison (R-TX)
Inouye (D-HI)
Johnson (D-SD)
Kaufman (D-DE)
Kerry (D-MA)
Klobuchar (D-MN)
Kohl (D-WI)
Landrieu (D-LA)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Leahy (D-VT)
Levin (D-MI)
Lincoln (D-AR)
McCaskill (D-MO)
Menendez (D-NJ)
Merkley (D-OR)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Murray (D-WA)
Nelson (D-FL)
Nelson (D-NE)
Pryor (D-AR)
Reed (D-RI)
Reid (D-NV)
Rockefeller (D-WV)
Sanders (I-VT)
Schumer (D-NY)
Shaheen (D-NH)
Snowe (R-ME)
Specter (R-PA)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Tester (D-MT)
Udall (D-CO)
Udall (D-NM)
Vitter (R-LA)
Warner (D-VA)
Webb (D-VA)
Whitehouse (D-RI)
Wyden (D-OR)
Not Voting - 3
Gregg (R-NH)
Kennedy (D-MA)
Voinovich (R-OH)
Vote Summary By Senator Name By Vote Position By Home State

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?...


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PostPosted: Wed Feb 04, 2009 11:10 pm Post subject: Reply with quote
WOW thanks for posting it, I am shocked also and both of Idaho Senators voted to take it out Evil or Very Mad BUT Sessions? Crying or Very sad
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 04, 2009 11:15 pm Post subject: Reply with quote
So are we buying American or not?
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 04, 2009 11:15 pm Post subject: Reply with quote
agrneydgrl......... for now buy American still is a part of the stimulus but it's fate remains to be seen when the House-Senate Conference Committee meets to iron out differences in the bill prior to another vote in each chamber then it is submitted to Obama for his signature.



Not only Sessions but DeMint and Coburn too who usually have been staunch supporters of the American people in opposing Comprehensive Immigration Amnesty and protecting American workers. This now makes me wonder if e-verify will suffer the same fate............
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Last edited by retiredairforce on Wed Feb 04, 2009 11:22 pm; edited 2 times in total
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 04, 2009 11:17 pm Post subject: Reply with quote
This is very strange. Sessions voted to get rid of "Buy American" and Durbin voted to keep it? Do we have this right?
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 04, 2009 11:17 pm Post subject: Reply with quote
No surprise here, our favorite elected illegal hugger voted to take it out. I can not wait until Lugar comes up for election again, I will be volunteering full time for his opponent no matter who that may be.
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 04, 2009 11:26 pm Post subject: Reply with quote
You got it right disillusioned.....The GOP has always backed big business and their globalist ambitions...I think the Democrats supported buy American not out of the goodness of their hearts but for political expediency to make this crapwich more appealing to the American people....
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 04, 2009 11:27 pm Post subject: Reply with quote
agrneydgrl wrote:
So are we buying American or not?


According to the following article, the Buy American has been changed to comply with Canada and the EU.

BBC NEWS
US Senate eases 'trade war' bill

The US Senate has voted to soften a controversial "Buy American" clause in an economic recovery package, after warnings it might spark a "trade war".

The clause had sought to ensure only US iron, steel and manufactured goods were used in projects funded by the bill.

But senators approved an amendment requiring that provisions in the bill comply with international trade agreements with Canada and the EU.

Earlier President Barack Obama said the US should avoid seeming protectionist.

The BBC's Jonathan Beale in Washington says the climb-down by the US Senate follows warnings from the EU and Canada that the stimulus bill could spark a trade war.

The White House has said it supports giving preference to domestic manufacturers in public works programmes - but only if it does not violate existing trade agreements, our correspondent adds.

Retaliatory moves

European and Canadian ambassadors to Washington had already warned that the clause could provoke protectionism and trigger retaliatory moves.

The EU had said the clause in the $800bn (£567bn) US economic recovery package would send "the worst possible signal".

A European Commission spokesman said the EU would launch a complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO) if the clause remained.

Canada's ambassador to the US, Michael Wilson, had also urged the US Congress to drop the provision.

The economic rescue plan has been approved by the US House of Representatives and is under discussion this week in the Senate, which could sign it off before the weekend.

But in TV interviews on Tuesday, Mr Obama said he did not want to include measures that would signal protectionism at a time of declining world trade.

"I think we need to make sure that any provisions that are in there are not going to trigger a trade war," he told TV network ABC.

In another interview with Fox News, he said: "I think it would be a mistake though, at a time when worldwide trade is declining, for us to start sending a message that somehow we're just looking after ourselves and not concerned with world trade."

In addition to the opposition from the EU and Canada, some senior US Republicans had cautioned that the Buy American measure could start trade wars.

Mr Obama has urged the US Congress not to delay his stimulus plan over modest differences.

It is unlikely that the package will be able to pass the Senate without Republican support.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/business/7871219.stm



Published: 2009/02/05 02:57:25 GMT

© BBC MMIX

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PostPosted: Wed Feb 04, 2009 11:31 pm Post subject: Reply with quote
Smile Small victory but keep those phone calls and letters rolling.Also mention e-verify and more troops on the border to back up the border patroll.I for one am attempting to write every member of the senate to let them know their vote affects everybody not just their states.




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PostPosted: Wed Feb 04, 2009 11:33 pm Post subject: Reply with quote
Both the EU and Canada have provisions that favor domestic goods. Are they labeled 'Protectionist'? What's good for the goose is good for the gander. There is NOTHING wrong with looking out for numero uno when times are tight.
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 04, 2009 11:34 pm Post subject: Reply with quote
OK I am confused. The article I posted says that the amendmentl PASSED and that the bill now complies with Canada and the EU trade agreements. So which is it?
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 04, 2009 11:37 pm Post subject: Reply with quote
Rebelrouser wrote:
Smile Small victory but keep those phone calls and letters rolling.Also mention e-verify and more troops on the border to back up the border patroll.I for one am attempting to write every member of the senate to let them know their vote affects everybody not just their states.




STAND TALL PATRIOTS!!


Been on it all week! I am totally against this astronomical wasteful spending bill, but knowing they will pass SOMETHING to rob generations of Americans blind, we have to make sure there's a little something in it for us. Wink
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 04, 2009 11:37 pm Post subject: Reply with quote
Disillusioned wrote:
OK I am confused. The article I posted says that the amendmentl PASSED and that the bill now complies with Canada and the EU trade agreements. So which is it?


I am confused also
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 04, 2009 11:42 pm Post subject: Reply with quote
Disillusioned wrote:
OK I am confused. The article I posted says that the amendmentl PASSED and that the bill now complies with Canada and the EU trade agreements. So which is it?


The McCain amendment to take away the 'buy American' provision failed. Obama and McCain had a 'meeting' this morning or yesterday. Next thing ya know Obama has 'softened' his Buy American position and McCain brings forth this amendment this afternoon.

Could be some more backroom underhanded tricky dealings???

Fox News just reported as I was typing that the Senate just voted to 'soften' the BA provision. We need to investigate.
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 04, 2009 11:45 pm Post subject: Reply with quote
Here, this is even more confusing. Sounds like a bunch of double talk to me:

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2009/02/senators-keep-b.html



Senators Keep 'Buy American' in the Stimulus
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February 04, 2009 9:07 PM

ABC News' Z. Byron Wolf reports: Senators agreed by voice vote tonight to clarify that the "Buy American" provision in the Senate's version of the stimulus package should comply with existing treaties.

Then they rejected by a 31-65 vote a proposal by Sen. John McCain to strip the "Buy American" language from the bill. There is no such language in the House-passed stimulus.

McCain warned that the "Buy American" requirement for stimulus funds has "echoes of the disastrous Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act," which many believe exacerbated the Great Depression.

McCain asked unanimous consent that "the comments of literally ever leader in the world (including President Obama)" opposing the "Buy American" provision be entered into the record.

"We are making a very dangerous move tonight," McCain said.

Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., the chief "Buy American" cheerleader said, "Both Mr. Smoot and Mr. Hawley are dead. ... But this amendment is part of a debate that is alive on the floor of the Senate and across the country. Twenty thousand people a day are losing their jobs. Twenty thousand people a day.

"We're going to shove a lot of money out the door of this Congress as part of economic recovery," he said. "The question is, are we going to put people back to work on America's factory floors.

"I do hope that as we push this money out the door we do it in support of American jobs," Dorgan said.
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 04, 2009 11:49 pm Post subject: Reply with quote
Senate OK's softened "Buy American" plan


WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate voted on Wednesday to soften a "Buy American" plan in its $900 billion stimulus bill after President Barack Obama expressed concern the original language could trigger a trade war.

Senators, on a voice vote, approved an amendment requiring the Buy American provisions be "applied in a manner consistent with U.S. obligations under international agreements."

The change gives Canada, Mexico, the European Union and certain other major trading partners some comfort they would be exempted from a strict requirement in the bill that all public works projects funded by the stimulus package use only U.S.-made iron, steel and manufactured goods.

The House of Representatives has passed a nearly identical Buy America provision without such a guarantee.

Sen. John McCain, an Arizona Republican, urged the Senate to go further and specifically bar any Buy American provision as part of the stimulus package. But senators rejected his amendment by a vote of 65-31.

"The Buy American provisions ... have echoes of the disastrous Smoot-Hawley tariff act," McCain said, referring to 1930s legislation often blamed for prolonging the Great Depression. "It sends a message to the world that the United States is going back to protectionism."

The Emergency Committee for American Trade, an organization of U.S.-based corporations, and a coalition of more than 125 businesses and trade associations have warned the Buy American plan could trigger a string of trade restrictive measures around the world. They urged senators to kill it.

But Sen. Byron Dorgan, a North Dakota Democrat, said all supporters of the Buy American plan were trying to do was to ensure American workers benefit the most from public works projects funded by the stimulus plan.

"Twenty thousand people a day are losing their jobs. ... We're going to shovel a lot of money out the door of this Congress in support of economic recovery. The question is are we going to try to put people back to work," Dorgan said.

The United States has made commitments under the North American Free Trade Agreement and the World Trade Organization to provide trading partners such as Canada, Mexico, Japan and the EU with access to its government procurement market and has received similar commitments in exchange.

But other countries such as China, Russia, India and Brazil are not party to those pacts so would not have any protection from the language passed by the Senate on Wednesday.

Obama, asked about the Buy American provisions in television interviews on Tuesday, said the United States had to be careful not to include any provisions in the stimulus bill that could "trigger a trade war."

"I think it would be a mistake ... at a time when worldwide trade is declining, for us to start sending a message that somehow we're just looking after ourselves and not concerned with world trade," Obama said on the Fox network.

U.S. steel companies and workers who have seen demand plummet as result of the recession have pressed hard for a Buy American provision, arguing U.S. tax dollars to fund public works projects should be used to create American jobs.

The House included a Buy American provision for U.S.-made iron and steel in its $825 billion stimulus package last week, triggering an intense effort by other business groups to have it removed before the final bill reaches Obama's desk.

John Bruton, the EU ambassador to the United States, told Reuters in an interview this week that approval of the measure would damage Obama's global leadership.

Canada's ambassador to the United States, Michael Wilson, also has urged Congress to drop the provision.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Obama supported Buy American provisions already in U.S. law that give preferences to domestic manufacturers in public works projects, but wanted to avoid an expansion that violates trade commitments.

Lawmakers from steel-producing states insisted on Wednesday that the "Buy American" plan approved in the House remain part of the huge U.S. economic stimulus bill.

"If it's not in, I'm not supporting this package and I'll bring a lot of votes with me," House of Representatives Transportation Committee Chairman James Oberstar, a Minnesota Democrat, said after a Congressional Steel Caucus hearing.

(Editing by Peter Cooney and Todd Eastham)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090205/pl_nm/us_usa_stimulus_buyamerican_13


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PostPosted: Thu Feb 05, 2009 12:20 am Post subject: Reply with quote
A little protectionism is exactly what this country needs right now.
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