The PD's Stephen Koff has the story:
Washington- U.S. Rep. Steve LaTourette's last-minute flip-flop on the Central American Free Trade Agreement has caused no shortage of embarrassment.
But the Lake County Republican may be getting something for his trouble.
Tonight, U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman, President Bush's chief emissary on CAFTA, will co-host a political fund- raiser for LaTourette. Donors who put up $500 to $2,500 to see Portman at the Capitol Hill Club will be benefiting LaTourette's political treasury. [...]
LaTourette, of Concord Township, voted for CAFTA in July after telling people that he was against the trade pact. He said he changed his mind after being contacted by Kraftmaid, the Geauga County-based cabinet maker, and being told that passing CAFTA was necessary to eliminate costly tariffs and preserve company jobs.
But The Plain Dealer revealed that those tariffs were already exempt under other trade rules, making it impossible for Kraftmaid's jobs to be at risk. [...]
Lori Wallach, director of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch, called the LaTourette fund-raiser "a corporate CAFTA payoff party, a block from the U.S. Capitol."
