Trans-Pacific Partnership: “NAFTA on Steroids”
I haven’t followed this issue at all, but MSNBC host Ed Schultz is warning everyone about President Obama’s intent to enter the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Then again, I also wasn’t paying much attention when Bill Clinton got us into NAFTA, which has been a disaster. And CAFTA (Central American Free Trade Agreement) was even worse. It was rammed through Congress during Dumbya’s presidency, with absolutely zero coverage from the “media.”
The Trans-Pacific Partnership includes Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the U.S. and Vietnam. This agreement will jeopardize workplace safety and international copyright law, among other issues. Obama wants to fast-track this agreement through Congress so there’ll be less scrutiny.
Describing the Trans-Pacific Partnership, Ed Schultz said:
“This isn’t about being against President Obama. This is about being for American workers. There is no way the Democrats can go around this country and claim that they are supporting the middle class and let this go untouched.”
He also said Democrats and Tea Party Republicans should work together on this issue:
“I find it very interesting how the Tea Party is so silent about the national sovereignty issue. This might even qualify for a march. Where are all these radical right-wing talkers who claim that they’re for America? ‘Oh, this is free markets’? No.”
Labor unions have been publicly opposing the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Schultz said:
“Labor carried President Obama to two terms in the White House. And I think you can make the case that if it weren’t for labor, President Obama might not even be in the White House.”
OK, we’ve been warned.
Labels: CAFTA, NAFTA, Trans-Pacific Partnership
posted by Tom Harper @ 1:52 PM
6 Comments:
Someone please educate my ignorant ass...what is the supposed point of this act? What do we get out of it?
Jadedj -
http://tinyurl.com/3kngmq5
That's the President's trade rep's site. From that site: "It will feature new cross-cutting issues not previously included in trade agreements, such as making the regulatory systems of TPP countries more compatible so U.S. companies can operate more seamlessly in TPP markets and helping small- and medium-sized enterprises, which are a key source of innovation and job creation, participate more actively in international trade."
Looks like they are hammering out the details. Will mean more US companies making things we don't need in other places on the cheap, but at much better wages than subsistence farming pays, with fewer regulations, etc., in exchange for FEWER REGULATIONS!!! (thank you RR and everyone who voted for him, you can't take it back! - nor can we take back the extra billion people we have because the right wing has been targeting family planning for thirty years while snuggling up with China - HYPOCRITES - but now we need the labor, market, go figure...)
NAFTA wasn't that bad, if you like your FUCKING NEIGHBORS THAT IS...and at least Clinton got to do it, not Raygun. Mexico has the fifth largest economy in the world now, 60% of them are rich or in the middle class, and Texas is full of teabaggers and is uninhabitable, especially in the summer. All those cars and appliances being built in north Mexico could have been built in Canada, Tennessee, or Vietnam. Does not affect Texas (the white wing in Texas) never would, never did, never could. That's where the anti-NAFTA rhetoric came from, teabaggers in Texas jealous of the new wealth of Mexicans and Mexican Americans.
Basically, what you get, is the leaders we pay are working for their money, making sure the economy grows, and stays strong for future generations.
Is there any way we can join the world community without selling out our workers?
Erik
jadedj: I'm ignorant too. Check out PE$O's comment, the one after yours. That's about the extent of my knowledge.
PE$O: Thanks for the link. Interesting info. Interesting about Mexico's economy. All those late night comedians joking about Americans trying to sneak into Mexico, instead of the other way around -- maybe they aren't joking after all.
Erik: Apparently not.
Bill Moyers is covering it this weekend
Erik
Erik: Thanks for the info. I'm glad this is getting more coverage.
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