This is real interesting. Everyone should take notice. Nice to see the Plain Dealer doing some real investigative reporting. In the weeks leading up to the CAFTA vote, I was happy with the fact that my representative, Steve LaTourette was planning on voting NO. But alas, the day came and he flip-flopped. Now it's beginning to look real bad for the Congressman.
Washington -- KraftMaid builds kitchen cabinets in Middlefield, and for that it needs wood.So when U.S. Rep. Steve LaTourette said he suddenly learned that the company had been socked with tariffs on Central American plywood -- and that they jeopardized the company's jobs in Ohio -- he decided to vote for a controversial trade pact to eliminate those tariffs.
"Absolutely," he said after the vote two weeks ago, confirming that his motivation was solely to protect KraftMaid jobs.
At the time, I called bullshit. One company could effect his vote? Well, I guess if it was really important.
One problem: No U.S. company has to pay tariffs on plywood from Central America, according to trade records reviewed by The Plain Dealer and interviews with industry and trade officials.Plywood, and almost every other wood product from Central America, is exempt from tariffs under arcane but long-standing trade rules.
"He's either been duped or is not being honest," Lori Wallach, a Washington trade lawyer, said of LaTourette.
Oh, snap! What a guy! And wouldn't you know it, this leads deeper into Republican politics. No, you don't say!
But in the afternoon before the final vote, LaTourette got a phone call from KraftMaid's president, Tom Chieffe.Chieffe said the tariffs on Central American plywood, used to make cabinets, was making it harder for the company to stay viable, according to an interview with LaTourette after the vote.
Chieffe is not a player in the world of Washington power politics, and LaTourette has said he didn't know him well.
But KraftMaid is owned by a larger corporation, Masco Corp., whose Michigan-based chairman is a major Republican donor. Richard Manoogian donated $115,000 to the Republican National Committee and its affiliates between 2002 and 2004, as well as $4,000 for Bush's re-election, records from PoliticalMoneyLine show. He has stayed overnight at the White House as a guest of Bush, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
You know, I shouldn't be this surprised. But on a vote with such close margins, this kind of baloney really irks me. LaTourette's on vacation, and the canned response from his office claims that no concessions were given to the Congressman. But none of it adds up. The Plain Dealer has done a great job getting to the bottom of this. Hopefully they will continue on this track well into the 2006 election cycle.
If I were in charge of his opponent's campaign, this would make for a great TV ad; to be repeated over and over and over...