My Congressman, Steve LaTourette, helped provide the CAFTA win for Bush. During the day before the vote, it was widely reported that he would end up in the NO column. But alas, after some leadership arm-twisting, he became a YES. His story is chronicled in today's Plain Dealer.
Washington - Rep. Steve LaTourette found himself in an uncomfortable position Thursday after casting a crucial vote for a controversial Central American trade pact that he previously said he would oppose."There are people that can legitimately say that I told them I was going to vote one way, and I voted another," the Concord Township Republican acknowledged in a telephone interview. "That's a bad place to be."
Hell yes, he's in a bad place.
The prominent role played by LaTourette in the 217-215 vote was unexpected. He was one of fewer than a dozen lawmakers who waited until almost the last minute to cast a vote.As recently as Wednesday morning, he woke up planning to vote against the pact, he said, but he began to have a change of heart after a telephone call that afternoon from Tom Chieffe, president of KraftMaid, a Middlefield-based company in LaTourette's district that makes kitchen cabinets.
LaTourette said Chieffe told him that the economic viability of his company was at stake in the CAFTA vote because of an 8 percent tariff on plywood it buys from Central America.
CAFTA's elimination of that tariff would make "the difference between his ability to keep making stuff in America or not," LaTourette said, noting the company recently decided to add about 1,100 jobs.
One company gave LaTourette a reason to change his mind? I call bullshit. And he's claiming that pressure or gifts from the White House didn't help sway his vote either.
The vote followed an intense lobbying effort by both parties and interest groups. LaTourette said he "absolutely" did not switch positions in exchange for favors from the Bush administration or GOP House leaders, despite a suggestion at one point from [U.S. Trade Representative Rob] Portman's office that "I should put together a list of things I wanted." [ed. Portman recently vacated OH02, the spot famously being fought for by Paul Hackett]"This wasn't about trading a vote to get stuff," LaTourette said. "I happen to think it would not have been appropriate to trade my vote for a bridge or a dam."
LaTourette said he also began to feel that much of the opposition to CAFTA "had more to do with politics than policy." He said his own opposition had been based on the general sense that the U.S. government isn't being tough enough on trading partners, particularly China.
Still more crap. It smells funny and LaTourette is going to be real vulnerable next year.
"I'm extremely disappointed. The words that came out of my mouth when I looked at the computer this morning were unprintable," said John Colm, secretary-treasurer of the steering committee of the Northeast Ohio Campaign for American Manufacturing, a group representing about 900 area companies."LaTourette comes from an area with a lot of small manufacturers who have been hard hit," said Jim Schollaert, director of industry relations for the American Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition in Washington. "This has the potential to be a very costly vote to him politically."
Whoever runs against LaTourette next year needs to put this in an ad now. In fact, Ohio Dems should begin pushing this. Any Republican tied to Ohio, state or federal, should start smelling The Taint. For a state that already has lost so many factory jobs, CAFTA isn't going to help turn things around.
The Bushies were successful at turning all of Kerry's votes against him in the last election. A lot of the claims they made were bullshit, as many Republicans voted no on the same bills. But this one is huge. LaTourette acknowledged as much.
Rep. Sherrod Brown says it best.
"The game is fixed," he said. "They lost the debate on the merits and won the vote on their typical late-night strong-arm sleazy-politics tactics."
Everyday Sherrod, everyday. We need to go all Lube Stop on their ass. It's time for a change.