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Barack Obama
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Trade and Economics
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"I would immediately call the president of Mexico, the president of Canada to try to amend NAFTA because I think that we can get labor agreements in that agreement right now. And it should reflect the basic principle that our trade agreements should not just be good for Wall Street, it should also be good for Main Street."
2007 AFL-CIO Democratic primary forum Aug 8, 2007
"One million jobs have been lost because of NAFTA, including nearly 50,000 jobs here in Ohio. And yet, 10 years after NAFTA passed, Sen. Clinton said it was good for America. Well, I don't think NAFTA has been good for America - and I never have."
"But what we've got to make absolutely certain of is that, in that competition, we are hard bargainers. You know, I'm always struck by the Bush administration touting that this is the MBA president and they're such great businessmen, and they get taken to the cleaners in a lot of these trade agreements."
"Obama will fight for a trade policy that opens up foreign markets to support good American jobs. He will use trade agreements to spread improved labor and environmental standards around the world and stand firm against agreements like the Central Amercan Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) that fail to live up to those important standards."
Campaign website, BarackObama.com, "Resource Flyers" Aug 26, 2007
"But this raises a larger point, which is: globalization is here. And we should be trading around the world. We don't want to just be standing still while the rest of the world is out there taking the steps that it needs to in order to expand trade."
2007 AFL-CIO Democratic primary forum Aug 8, 2007
[Obama believes in] ensuring fair trade by enforcing existing trade agreements. Obama believes any trade agreement must have real, tangible benefits for U.S. business and workers and will work to enforce the trade agreements on the books.
Campaign website, ObamaForIllinois.com Jun 25, 2004
Voted YES on free trade agreement with Oman
Bill S. 3569 ; vote number 2006-190 on Jun 29, 2006
Voted NO on implementing CAFTA for Central America free-trade
Bill HR 3045 ; vote number 2005-209 on Jul 28, 2005
In 2007, voted against giving states the right to set their own minimum wage.
In 2007, voted for an increase in the minium wage.
In 2007, voted for an amended bill that would raise the federal minimum wage.
As president, Obama would further raise the minimum wage, index it to inflation and increase the EITC to make sure that full-time workers can earn a living wage that allows them to raise their families out of poverty and pay for basic needs such as food, transportation, and housing -- things so many people take for granted.
"Let's finally make the minimum wage a living wage. Let's tie it to the cost of living so we don't have to wait another 10 years to see it rise."
Take Back America 2007 Conference Jun 19, 2007
"We can raise the minimum wage. It may be true that any big jumps in the minimum wage discourage employers from hiring. But when the minimum wage has not been changed in nine years and has less purchasing power in real dollars than it did in 1955, so that someone working full-time today in a minimum wage job does not earn enough to raise out of poverty, such arguments carry less force."
The Audacity of Hope, by Barack Obama, p.180-181 Oct 1, 2006
Obama voted to increase the minimum wage to $6.50 an hour
SB600, 2003
"We need to raise the minimum wage every year."
Supports the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (also known as the 2007 U.S. Farm Bill, the Farm Bill Extension Act of 2007 or Farm, Nutrition, and Bioenergy Act of 2007, Food and Energy Security Act of 2007, H.R. 2419), a $288 billion, five-year agricultural policy bill being considered by the United States Congress as a continuation of the 2002 Farm Bill. The bill continues the United States' long history of agricultural subsidy as well as pursuing areas such as energy, conservation, nutrition, and rural development. Some specific initiatives in the bill include increases in Food Stamp benefits, increased support for the production of cellulosic ethanol, and money for the research of pests, diseases and other agricultural problems.
"Congress subsidizes these big megafarms and hurts family farmers oftentimes in the process. And we've got to cap those subsidies so that we don't have continued concentration of agriculture in the hands of a few large agribusiness interests."
2007 Democratic primary debate on "This Week"
Obama called for limiting single farm subsidy payments to $250,000 a year to ensure that small farm operators are receiving most of the benefit. Obama's campaign estimated that the limit on subsidies would save $1 billion over 10 years, which it said could be redirected to conservation and renewable energy advancements.
Obama, a U.S. senator from Illinois, said he is in favor of lowering payment limits for farm subsidies to $250,000 per year and reducing the number of multimillionaires eligible for farm subsidies. Obama said that over the past decade, the government has handed out $1.3 billion in federal farm money to people who aren’t farmers, including some Fortune 500 companies.
"China is neither our enemy nor our friend. They're competitors."
If elected president, Obama would forge a more effective regional framework in Asia.
"The United States should never hesitate to be clear and consistent with China when we disagree."
Co-sponsored a bill that would pressure China into re-valuing its currency.