Begin forwarded message:
From: David Akin <jdakin@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: August 30, 2006 10:05:02 PM EDT
To: dave@xxxxxxxxxx
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