Did Towns receive pork barrel promises for his CAFTA vote?
Given the lasting damage that CAFTA will cause to Towns’ constituents, the CAFTA Damage Reportwill seek to unearth and reveal the promises Towns may have received from Republican House leaders for short-term funding for projects. Those leaders announced that they were going to use transportation and energy legislation to offer taxpayer-funded “goodies” in exchange for CAFTA “yes” votes. Knowing that such promises prove elusive, and even when followed through on provide only one-time “good news” to share with constituents in contrast to a bad trade agreement’s lasting damage, most Democrats did not buy into such tactics. • Why did Towns so publicly turn his back on positive aspects of his legislative record? In the only known public defense of the biggest flip-flop of the CAFTA debate, Towns’ office said that “while the treaty held no particular local interests for his Brooklyn-area district, he believed CAFTA was a ‘step forward’ for global economic interests and for Latino workers.”[9
