/* Written 2:31 PM Nov 18, 1994 by kmander in igc:trade.news */ /* ---------- "GATT Alert! 11-18-94" ---------- */ GATT Alert! Friday, November 18, 1994 ____________________________________________________ HEADLINES: Growing Trade Deficit May Steer Some Away From GATT Special Deals That Have Nothing to Do With GATT Biased Reporting on Trade Issues CTC Produces Letters to Senators, Editors Against GATT ____________________________________________________ Growing Trade Deficit May Steer Some Away From GATT The Commerce Department was scheduled Friday morning to release new data revealing that the U.S. trade deficit is growing. Democratic Senator Byron Dorgan of North Dakota, a GATT opponent, said the new data could encourage some undecided lawmakers to vote against the trade pact. For more information, call Barry Piatt or Becky Fleishauer at Senator Dorgan's office. (202) 224-2551. ____________________________________________________ Special Deals That Have Nothing to Do With GATT The GATT implementing legislation contains loads of special deals designed to benefit a select group of corporate interests. A few of the deals are described below. -- Section 801 guarantees the Washington Post, the Atlanta Constitution and Omnipoint Communications special "pioneer preferences" for mobile phone licenses, at a price far below the market rate for cellular phone licenses. Their savings (and the taxpayer losses) add up to $2 billion. -- Section 769 provides Carl Icahn with a $200 million kickback. As CEO of Trans World Airlines, Icahn underfunded the company's pension plan, then TWA went bankrupt. Icahn had an arrangement to pay $200 million for his failure to fund the pensions. Section 769 exempts Icahn from providing the full funding, increasing the likelihood that taxpayers will wind up paying the bill. -- Section 766. Many pension funds in this country are severely underfunded. However, they are insured by the taxpayer-backed Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC). To avoid a repeat of the Savings and Loan bail-out, there has been a proposal to bring these plans up to full funding as soon as possible. Unfortunately, under Section 766, many of the big corporations that underfunded these plans (and jeopardized their retirees' pensions) will get a break, and a delay in bringing them to full funding. Section 766 prohibits employers undergoing bankruptcy proceedings from increasing benefits for blue collar workers entitled to fixed dollar payouts, but permits pension increases for salaried workers. And while the special interests get their "give-aways," ordinary citizens get hit with a few "take-aways": -- Section 745 removes guaranteed interest rates for U.S. savings bonds, taking $122 million from the pockets of people who trusted their government and invested in the United States. -- Section 742 requires parents to register all new-born children with the Internal Revenue Service so they can be assigned a taxpayer identification number. Regular Americans will be footing the bill for the giveaways in the GATT implementing bill. Call your Senators today at (202) 224- 3121. Tell them you are opposed to all the special deals in the implementing bill. Tell them also that you oppose raising the federal deficit by $28 billion to pay for GATT. ____________________________________________________ Biased Reporting on Trade Issues The November/December edition of EXTRA!, the magazine of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR), states: "It would be hard to imagine more inaccurate and biased economic reporting than the coverage of international trade issues." The article written by Dean Baker, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute, contends that coverage of GATT by the mainstream media has displayed an "uncritical acceptance of absurd numbers from partisan sources." Baker describes how the media rarely question the accuracy of statements by U.S. Trade Representative Mickey Kantor. Kantor claims regularly that GATT will increase U.S. economic growth by between $1 trillion and $2 trillion over the next 10 years, figures that are 10-20 times larger than estimates from even very pro-GATT sources. NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO has referred to the estimate as though it were a universally accepted figure, without even noting the source. Baker also cites a front page news story in the NEW YORK TIMES that begins: "Free trade means growth. Free trade means growth. Free trade means growth. Just say it 50 more times and all doubts will melt away." For subscription or information about FAIR/EXTRA!, call 1-800-847-3993. ____________________________________________________ CTC Produces Letters to Senators, Editors Against GATT The Citizens Trade Campaign has produced a variety of materials for individuals and organizations working to stop the lame-duck session on GATT. Among the materials are a sample letter to Senators, two sample letters to news media and two sample news releases. For more information, contact the CTC at (202) 879-4297 or fax (202) 783-0444. ____________________________________________________ GATT ALERT! is published weekly by the Fair Trade Campaign. If you have news about local activities or anything else, please send a note to the Fair Trade Campaign, Box 80066, Minneapolis, MN 55408. For information on receiving GATT ALERT!, call (612) 379- 5965. ____________________________________________________
