THE TPP: IS IT REALLY A BAD TRADE DEAL FOR AMERICAN WORKERS?

…TPP Member-State Negotiators

On this free trade deal, President Obama needs to give us the details.

As I have expected, due to my writings and my left-of-center political position, there are some of my readers, especially the Independents and the Conservatives that tell me “You are very biased and you always support the president.” 

 

I agree that after living with the debacle of the Bush-Cheney years, President Obama has done a pretty good job against a group in the congress that wanted him to totally fail and to be a one-term president.  You must agree that under his leadership, the markets are back, more jobs were created in spite of the GOP’s efforts, many people now have affordable health care coverage, Osama bin Laden is gone and two Middle East wars are basically over....at least for now.

But with all of that, no I don’t support everything that the current president does.  I didn’t agree with his attitude toward same sex couples before he changed his position on that issue.  I didn’t agree with him when he originally supported the Keystone Pipeline, which fortunately, he now doesn’t support.  I also thought he should have focused more on job creation than he did over his first term and a half.

And there is one area that I may not agree with the president on, but as of now, no one knows enough about the latest free trade deal that the president is pushing for today.  That being the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade deal. 

 

For the life of me, after what this country has gone through with bad trade deals such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and the trade deals with North Korea and Mainland China, is the president just pushing for more of these deals?  And the trade deals I am mentioning here are only three examples of very bad trade agreements. 

Most Americans aren’t aware that there are currently 14 Free Trade Agreements (FTA’s) in force between the United States and other countries.  And there are 16 FTA’s that are currently being proposed, the TPP being the largest and possibly the most potentially devastating one for losing American jobs. 

Just so you understand, the TPP  as of 2014, consists of twelve countries that have participated in the negotiations with the US.  These nations include: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chili, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam.  But without knowing the details of the agreement, could it just another giant “pig in a poke”…?

Since no one has seen the details of the agreement, why is this deal being kept so secret?  I do not understand why the president is so gung-ho for getting what could be a potentially bad trade deal….? 

The president is in fact, so anxious for TPP that he is now trying to get the congress to give the deal  a “fast-track approval”.   Fast-track approval of an agreement means that the congress would not be given the normal time and the right to review the document or to make amendments or challenge the many issues or terms of the agreement.  Fast track just means that congress would get to vote yes or no without knowing all the details.  Right now, the details of how, when, where and how many jobs would be produced is up in the air.  Based on our nation’s past free trade deal history, why would anyone want to Fast-Track the TPP?

It was twenty years ago, when half of Senate Democrats and 40% of House Democrats voted in favor of the North American Free Trade Agreement.  Due to the bad taste that was left in the mouths from that NAFTA agreement, it is estimated that today, only 10 of the 46 Senate Democrats, and an even smaller percentage of House Democrats would vote to approve the TPP.

It must be noted that it’s the Democrats in Congress that are having the most trouble with this particular trade agreement.

Some key Democratic Senators and Reps. Recently took to the stage in a rally in the park across from the nation’s Capital Building.

Rep. Alan Grayson, a Florida Democrat, said “we’ve had, I hate to say this, a sellout government,” and that it doesn’t much matter “who’s in charge, Democrats or Republicans.”

“I’ve never seen a trade agreement that is more secretive than this one,” Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) told the crowd. “What are they hiding? What they’re hiding is a huge shift from democratically elected governments to corporations all over the world, and that’s why we’re fighting.”

“The administration is engaged in new transparency with this agreement — transparency — so I brought a copy,” Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) said, holding up — absolutely nothing. “Oh. It’s so transparent. You can’t see it.”

Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) protested that “we are headed for the madhouse with this agreement.” Poking the air with her index finger, she added, “I did not come to Congress to give up my constitutional authority to any administration, Democrat or Republican.”

One publication has reported that the Steelworkers Union President, Leo Gerard, was so disturbed by the TPP deal that he used some foul language during his introductions of the various speakers at the park rally. 

Even Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), the Democrats’ latest liberal star was there and she pumped her fist as she shouted into the microphone: “No more secret trade deals! Are you ready to fight? No more special deals for multinational corporations! Are you ready to fight?”  President Obama says he’s big fan of senator Warren, “but in this case she’s wrong!”  But where and why is she wrong?  No response so far to that question..

When it comes to approving free trade deals, the Democrats are now back where they belong.  They are in support of keeping American jobs in America, and most are not going to support another trade agreement until they have all the facts.

Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) called the trade pact “the bad sequel of bad sequels, the ‘Sharknado 2’ of trade.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), warned of a Congress “totally owned by billionaires and their lobbyists.”

Rep. Donna Edwards (D-MD), appeared and said, “Do I look like a rubber stamp?”

American Federation of Government Employees chief J. David Cox proposed that they “open up one gigantic can of whoop-ass” on legislators who support the deal. Cox said he felt that it stung that a Democratic president was siding with Republicans on trade and against the Democratic base.

Fred Rolando, head of the letter carriers union, addressed the US Trade Representative Michael Froman stating “… the rest of you at USTR and in the White House: We don’t trust you on this.”

Alan Grayson, one of my favorites in the House, ever since some years ago he presented the Republican’s answer for dealing with the then controversial health care bill.  Grayson said on the floor of the House, “The Republicans answer to health care in America is to… ‘Die & Die Quickly’ ”.  However, after this rally, Grayson called Obama’s position “unfortunate” and demoralizing

But, I also find this issue highly demoralizing.  That’s because the president has not fully explained in detail his reasoning for his strong support of the agreement, nor has he stated why he is treating it with so much secrecy.

So, to you nay-sayers, I do agree with all the above Democrats that spoke at the Washington park rally.  And no, I do not always agree with what the current president supports.

Copyright G.Ater  2015