A DEMOCRAT SAID WHAT ABOUT CHINA?

Damn, will wonders never cease? Let's hope not....

Applause to Evan Byah for acting more American than Democrat.

LINK:
http://www.kentucky.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/peninsula/12073353.htm?source=rss&channel=mercurynews_peninsula

Senator critical of China in speech
INDIANA'S BAYH WEIGHS RUN FOR PRESIDENCY
By Julie PatelMercury News

Sen. Evan Bayh slammed China for manipulating its currency to help cheapen its exports. He defended the United States for refusing to sign an international agreement to reduce greenhouse emissions. He urged American leaders to crack down on countries that are violating intellectual property rights.
What the Indiana Democrat wouldn't say at a Rotary Club of San Jose meeting Wednesday is whether he's running for president.
``I am thinking about it,'' he said. ``I haven't finally decided.''
Bayh, a two-time governor who is serving his second term in the Senate, is one of about half a dozen national leaders who are considering -- or rumored to be considering -- a run for the White House in 2008. Like most, Bayh is making the rounds of big cities and battleground states. He plans to head to Southern California today and to the key primary state of New Hampshire on Sunday.
``He's doing the practical things he needs to keep his options open,'' said Dan Pfeiffer, Bayh's communications director.
As he opened a speech to more than 300 Rotary and Commonwealth Club members, Bayh congratulated them on San Jose's recent ascension as the 10th largest U.S. city.
``You know what that means. San Francisco is the largest suburb of San Jose,'' he said, eliciting cheers and applause.
Bayh, 49, said he voted against the United States signing the Kyoto Protocol -- which requires developed member countries to significantly reduce greenhouse emissions by 2012 -- because developing countries such as China and India would not be impacted even though they are some of the world's fastest-growing economies. He said that is the same problem with China violating intellectual property rights, which is helping it become more efficient and more competitive than the United States in many areas.
He also blasted China for manipulating its currency to keep it undervalued. Doing this makes a country's exports cheaper and provides an unfair advantage.
``It's cheating,'' he said.
Bayh said the United States has less leverage holding countries such as China accountable to international trade standards as the United States spirals into debt.
``Our legacy to our children -- mine and yours -- should be more than unpaid bills,'' he said.
Bayh -- who became governor of Indiana at age 32, one of the youngest in the nation's history -- helped create 375,000 jobs in the state and amassed a budget surplus of $1.6 billion, according to the Web site of All America, his political action committee. He has more than $6 million left over from his last campaign, and the political action committee has raised money, too, Pfeiffer said.
Bayh said he's flattered by questions about whether he's running. He said he wants to focus most of his energy over the next year on his Senate job.
He said if that goes well, ``I trust the politics will work out just fine.''
A Los Gatos technology marketing director, John T. Soper, said Bayh's comments were too moderate for his taste but attributed the tone to the fact that the audience was bipartisan.
``I'm hoping to hear his thoughts more directly tonight,'' said Soper, who planned to attend a fundraiser for Bayh in Palo Alto.
Like Soper, Teka Thomas, of San Mateo, helped with Sen. John Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign. Thomas said he still supports Kerry but anything could happen between now and election time.
``I'm still shopping around,'' he said.