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Canada gives Bush White House $450-million?
From: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Thu, 31 Aug 2006 08:04:01 -0400
Begin forwarded message: From: David Akin <jdakin () gmail com> Date: August 30, 2006 10:05:02 PM EDT To: dave () farber net Subject: Canada gives Bush White House $450-million? Hi Dave -- We don't know quite what to make of this up here but I wonder if some IPers have some thoughts about the following. I have a professional interest in this as our network is keen to explore this issue so I encourage any IPers -- Americans, in particular -- to send me a note if you have some thoughts: Here's an imaginary headline: Canadian government signs off on international trade treaty that gives Bush White House a $450-million fund that critics say could be used to bolster Republican fortunes in mid-term elections!! This hasn't yet got much press beyond some blogs. [Decent, if biased, roundup at:http://www.correntewire.com/ 450_million_slush_fund_for_bush_from_canadian_lumber_deal_just_in_time_f or_the_mid_terms]
This story starts with Elliot Freedman, a Washington-based trade lawyer with Baker & Hostetler who has been hired by some Canadian forestry interests who oppose the treaty, who told a Parliamentary Committee in Canada last week the following: "... , at the height of the Watergate scandal, [the] focus was on an illegal slush fund available to the Committee to Re-elect the President, which was thought to be tipping the balance of American politics. The fund never exceeded $20 million. One of the articles of impeachment against Richard Nixon stated that he received foreign campaign donations, perhaps as much as $50,000. Both by statute and by the United States Constitution, gifts of money to the United States must go to the Department of the Treasury and be appropriated by Congress. The lone abhorrent and still controversial exception ... has been money donated in the immediate aftermath of the emergency created by Hurricane Katrina, and the sums involved were very small. So here we have the Government of Canada requiring that Canadian private parties sign over $450 million to an escrow fund slated to be conveyed to the White House. The agreement does not mention Congress, and the Bush administration says Congress will not be involved in any way with this agreement. The Government of Canada is thus making a gift of $450 million to be spent by the President. That was more than a belt buckle, even more than a stetson, on July 6. There is only one date certain in the deal: the planned expenditure of the $450 million must be determined by September 1. Curiously, that date is traditionally the kickoff for campaigns in the United States in election years. Yes, it's an election year, and the Republican control of Congress is considered to be in trouble. The entire Republican campaign war chest has less than $300 million. Canada will add to it by 150% in funds to be expended for meritorious initiatives. It does not require much imagination to foresee the strategic places where this money will be spent. " [Feldman's quotes taken from testimony given in front of a Canadian House of Commons Standing Committee last week. Online at : http://cmte.parl.gc.ca/cmte/CommitteePublication.aspx?SourceId=150801 ] The deal Feldman is talking about is a treaty negotiated this past summer between the Bush White House and the new Conservative government of Canada, a philosophical ally of the Republican Party. The text of treaty is online here:http://www.international.gc.ca/eicb/softwood/pdfs/InitialledSLA2006- en.pdf
The two parties negotiated the deal after arguing in court and elsewhere about $5-billion worth of duties on softwood lumber that the Canadian government for a time believed were illegally collected by the American government from Canadian forestry companies. Under the terms of the deal referenced above, Canadian lumber producers will get back 80 per cent of those duties or $4-billion. Another $500-million will be split collectively among U.S. lumber producers. Another $50-million is to be spent by a bi-national council on some productivity initiatives. The rest -- $450-million -- is to be spent by the White House according to the following conditions contained in the deal (for those playing along with the actual treaty, turn to Section XIII, Part A): "By Sept. 1, 2006, the United States shall identify in consultation with Canada meritorious initiatives to receive the [$450-million in] funds ... Such meritorious initiatives shall support, in the United States: - Education and charitable causes in timber-reliant communities; - Initiatives related to low-income housing and disaster relief; and - Educational and public-interest projects addressing forest management issues that affect timber-reliant communities and the sustainability of forests as spirces of building materials, wildlife habitat, bio-energy, recreation and other values." Many critics believe that that criteria is vague and broad enough to allow Bush to funnel $450-million into all sorts of projects in Congressional districts where the Republican might need a little help this fall. Politics aside -- and perhaps more remarkably -- this amounts to what is essentially $450-million in foreign aid that Canada is directing to the so-called richest nation in the world, the United States. Again -- keen to hear some American reaction to this, on or off IP. Thanks, Dave. DAVID AKIN ----------------- Reporter | Parliamentary Bureau CTV National News ----------------- Ottawa | Ontario | CANADA ----------------- Cell: +1 613 220 7935 Full contact info: http://www.davidakin.com Blog: http://davidakin.blogware.com ------------------------------------- You are subscribed as lists-ip () insecure org To manage your subscription, go to http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/
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- Canada gives Bush White House $450-million? David Farber (Aug 31)