FSP 1.1

How to argue, (part one of many)

The Facts:

A bill passed by the Senate that would have stripped the
Northern Mariana Islands of their exemption from the United States
minimum wage and immigration laws.

The main industry in the Marianas is textiles. Inexpensive clothes
are made there, mostly by immigrant Chinese women who work
for low wages in substandard conditions, and the garments are
shipped duty-free to the United States with a "Made in the U.S.A."
label.

Pro:
With Mr. DeLay's help, Mr. Abramoff managed to get the legislation
defeated in the House, using the argument that the Marianas
represented low taxes and free enterprise and should be left alone.

Con:
Representative George Miller, a California Democrat who sponsored
the legislation in the House, is still furious about Mr. Abramoff's
action. In a recent interview, Mr. Miller said, "He spent a lot of
time, effort and money to protect a system that was a growth
industry for sex shops, prostitution, abuse of women, slavery,
illegal immigration, worker exploitation and narcotics, and he did
it all in the name of freedom."

Rebuttal:
Mr. Abramoff replied: "Congressman Miller has an agenda, and
he wants the facts to fit his thesis. No lobbyist could have
convinced Congress to support the system he describes."
[NYT].