History has been made in Seattle, as the allegedly irresistible forces of corporate economic globalization were stopped in their tracks.

By acquiring Costa Rican gaming operations, giant European firms now have a platform from which to launch attacks on federal, state and local gambling restrictions in an effort to secure an even greater share of the diverse and lucrative U.S. gambling market. This is a threat that was brought to the attention of all three Utah congressmen.

It's a model that's very useful for a very narrow set of U.S. interests.

None of Congressman Fitzpatrick's statements about why he voted to support CAFTA make sense. His constituents deserve a straight answer even if it is an admission that he does not have the backbone to stand up to what everyone knows was extreme pressure by the Republican leadership to do as they ordered rather than what Fitzpatrick believed or promised.

What people in Washington are saying is that Fitzpatrick simply could not stand up to the pressure of the Republican leadership when they demanded that he vote with them, meaning that on such a vital vote for his district, he prioritized the Republican Party marching orders over the interests of his own constituents and his own principles. People in Pennsylvania's 8th district have to worry that if Fitzpatrick caved in to GOP leadership pressure on CAFTA, what might he do on a whole host of other issues on which he has committed to his voters but which are not in line with the Republican leaders' positions.

It didn't have any of the actively anti-environmental provisions of this [CAFTA] agreement.