Clinton's O'Reilly Flub?

[southern_belle]

During her Bill O'Reilly interview and in a press release issued earlier this week, Clinton pledged to use the WTO as a way to pressure OPEC nations on the price of oil. But the WTO explicitly exempts energy and there are some who argue that if WTO did get involved in energy, it would only benefit the major oil companies. Bottom line, it's not clear Clinton is dealing in reality on this issue since there really isn't a legal process to use the WTO to attack OPEC..

``snip``

Folks who really understand this issue expressed concern that Clinton so easily talked about this as a viable option when it is apparently not.

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/

[K Gardner]

1. "It's not clear Clinton is dealing in Reality"... n/t

[Maribelle]

2. wot?

You expect msnbc to allow an article to pass without bashing Hillary? :eyes:

[Maribelle]

3. dupe?

not used to this slow board :eyes:

[roguevalley]

10. basically, its the experience thing that she has going for her. She

can pull experience out of her behind, just like this idea.

[JanErikFl]

4. Opec is a cartel and uses modern slave labour as forign workers

WTO regulations unequivocally state that all countries must ensure the conformity of their laws, regulations and administrative procedures with WTO rules. As such, the OPEC alliance can be considered as a cartel with illegal control of market prizes.
Not to mention the awful conditions of the forign workers, in the OPEC countries. In Saudi alone, roughly five and a half million foreign workers play an important role in the Saudi economy, .

And what about the women issue and human rights ?

You should read the Saudi report by SENATOR FRANK R. LAUTENBERG

http://lautenberg.senate.gov/documents/foreign/saudi_report.pdf

[Maribelle]

5. This has already been proposed by Democrats for Bush to do, but he refused. Hillary will do it.

WTO Complaint Against OPEC

"OPEC is an illegal cartel, plain and simple. We've allowed this cartel to operate for far too long – its time to put an end to it," Senator Lautenberg said. "While OPEC and their oil company allies have seen a boon, American families are paying a high price at the pump."

The legislation would require the United States Trade Representative Robert Zoellick to initiate consultations with countries that are members of both OPEC and the WTO (Indonesia, Kuwait, Nigeria, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela). If consultations failed, the U.S. would request that the WTO convene a dispute settlement panel to adjudicate the case. If the case were decided in the U.S.'s favor, OPEC would be required to cease its operations or the U.S. would be able to impose trade remedies. In addition to the legislation, Senator Lautenberg released a report: Busting Up the Cartel: The WTO Case Against OPEC. The report provides detailed evidence of OPEC's violations of international trade laws, and the case for why and how WTO can force action to remedy the problem. The report is available on the front page of Senator Lautenberg's website. http://www.lautenberg.senate.gov

http://lautenberg.senate.gov/newsroom/record.cfm?id=254218

[dkf]

8. Anybody who wants to encourage our dependence on oil loses my vote immediately.

Have you perchance read up on peak oil? You need to. Then you would realize how stupid we are to not be transitioning our country as fast as possible to renewables.

Instead we pretend that its just the mean OPEC cartel that is screwing us.

The stupidity...it burns.

[Maribelle]

9. Perhaps we could do two things at once. No?

That OPEC is screwing us is not anything we are pretending.

[dkf]

6. It makes me wonder if she is clueless or if she is lying.

I honestly don't know.

[DAGDA56]

7. I don't think for a minute she's clueless...

...but I believe she thinks others are.

[Andy823]

11. I agree with you.

There are so many things she says that just aren't factual, but she just keeps on saying them and hoping that people won't know the truth, and that really bothers me about her. It's the same old politics of lying to get your votes that we have seen for years, and I for one am tired of it!

[invictus]

12. K & R