[437] in libertarians
GATT legislation
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Raymie Stata)
Tue Nov 29 16:21:11 1994
To: objectivism@MIT.EDU, libertarians@MIT.EDU
From: Raymie Stata <raymie@larch.lcs.mit.edu>
Date: Tue, 29 Nov 94 16:11:59 EST
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To: CP-DISCUSS@tomahawk.welch.jhu.edu
Subject: Re: GATT Rebuttal (fwd)
More problems with GATT,
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Paul Watson, pwatson@utdallas.edu "The difference between
Purchasing Department death and taxes is death
The University of Texas at Dallas doesn't get worse every time
DISCLAIMER: MY THOUGHTS ONLY!!! Congress meets." Will Rogers
Constitutionalist Nationalist Conservative Libertarian Conservationist
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Newsgroups: misc.activism.progressive
This item appeared on the Usenet.
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Dale Wharton dale@dale.cam.org M O N T R E A L Te souviens-tu?
8<------------------------- couper ici ------------------------>8
From: Jim Cook <jcook@space.mit.edu>
GATT-WTO PROVISIONS Date: 22 Nov 1994 17:58:19 GMT
The GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) agreement is
22,000 pages long. Before it can become U.S. law, implementing
legislation must be approved by the Congress.
The GATT implementing legislation is contained in a two-volume,
4004 page document that was distributed only 48 hours prior to
the scheduled vote in the House of Representatives.
The day before the scheduled vote, however, the Administration
did not have enough votes in the House to pass the bill. Thus,
the House voted to delay action until November 29, 1994--that
is, after the election.
Although the fast-track procedures allow 20 hours of debate
on GATT, House Ways and Means Chairman Sam Gibbons of Florida
requested that the debate be curtailed. Gibbons prevailed--
the GATT debate will be limited to only four hours. Opponents,
therefore, will have only 120 minutes to make their case
against this agreement on November 29.
A number of nongermane and objectionable features exist in
the GATT legislation, including massive federal giveaways to
politically influential corporations and individuals.
Specifically,
Section 742: Taxpayer Identification Numbers Required at
Birth.
The title says it all. The GATT legislation requires that
U.S. parents report the birth of their children to the Internal
Revenue Service and get an IRA taxpayer number. This is totally
nongermane social legislation hidden away in an international
trade agreement.
Section 745: Modification of Authority to Set Terms and
Conditions for Savings Bonds
This GATT provision eliminates guaranteed minimum returns
on U.S. savings bonds, a provision enacted during the Reagan
Administration to provide a financial safety net for small
investors. Section 745 destroys that financial safety net.
By paying millions of Americans less on their U.S. savings
bonds, the Clinton Administration will raise $122 million
over five years. These moneys will be used to pay for the
tariff reductions--that is, tax cuts--for foreign companies
exporting into the U.S. market.
Section 769: Special Funding Rules for Certain Plans
The appropriate title for this GATT provision is "The TWA
Airlines-Carl Icahn Relief Act." TWA airlines pension plan
is underfunded by more than $1 billion. One of the conditions
imposed on investor Carl Icahn when he sold TWA to its employees
was that he put $200 million into the company pension fund as
a loan. If the company were able to meet the federal pension
standards and fully fund the plan over a period of time, Icahn
would get back his money. If not, the money would stay in the
plan. Section 769 of GATT legislation exempts the TWA plan from
complying with the federal pension regulations that are imposed
on other underfunded plans. As a consequence of Section 769,
Icahn is more likely to recapture his $200 million, and American
taxpayers--who guarantee the plan--are more likely to be forced
to pay instead.
Section 801: Pioneer Preferences
The provision issues next-generation cellular telephone licenses
for Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and New York City. Under
Section 801, the federal government will sell the right to use
the public airwaves to three companies for $2 billion less than
what taxpayers would receive at an open auction. The principal
beneficiaries of this federal giveaway are politically well
connected.
The Washington Post Company gets the license for the
Washington-Baltimore area. The value of the federal giveaway
to them is $218 million.
Cox Enterprises gets the license for Los Angeles. The value of
its federal windfall is $726 million.
The license to provide cellular telephone service to New York
City will go to a private company in Denver, Colorado with fewer
than 100 employees, Omnipoint Communications. One of the
principal investors in Omnipoint is Allen and Company, a New York
investment banking firm that is headed by Herbert A. Allen. USA
Today calls Allen the "dean of entertainment-industry investment
bankers." He is also one of the leading fundraisers for the
Democratic Party. Allen is a confidant of former Vice President
Walter Mondale, who currently serves as U.S. Ambassador to Japan.
Allen is a particularly strong supporter of Bob Kerrey (D-NE) and
Bill Bradley (D-NJ). In the 1994 election cycle, Allen has
provided substantial political contributions to Charles Robb,
Joseph Lieberman, Patrick Moynihan, John Glenn, Charlie Rose, and
Patrick Leahy.
Under Section 801 of the GATT legislation, Omnipoint's federal
windfall is worth $1,049 million.
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