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Today was all about trade in D.C., with two crucial bills that cover transcontinental trading policy hitting the floor in Congress. One passed, one didn’t. But the most important question for investors in the aftermath is this: Are multinational trade deals good or bad for America?
First, some background. Two pieces of legislation were on the table in Congress. One is designed to give President Obama and his successor “trade promotion authority.”
That’s a fancy way of saying the president can negotiate deals with foreign trading partners that Congress can’t amend, filibuster, or otherwise tinker with. All legislators would get is the opportunity to hold a straightforward “yes or no” vote.
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Trans-Pacific Partnership — think NAFTA, but in the Pacific region. |
Obama wants to use that authority to negotiate the Trans-Pacific Partnership. That compact would include rules covering intellectual property, environmental protection, investor rights, labor regulation, and more – facilitating imports and exports between the U.S. and countries like Chile, Australia and Japan. Think NAFTA, only for the Pacific region rather than the Americas.
The other piece of legislation covers “trade adjustment assistance.” It would offer things like job training, relocation help, and health care subsidies for workers whose jobs are threatened by future trade deals like TPP.
So what happened? After a day of debate and discussion, the House voted to approve the trade promotion bill, but not the trade adjustment bill. Because of the way Congress works, that means legislators in the Senate will have to wrangle over the trade bills all over again. That, in turn, increases the chance the whole thing goes down the tubes though a compromise could still be hammered out in the coming days.
Why is this whole process so contentious? Proponents of free trade deals say they promote and protect the interests of American executives and investors when companies sign import and export deals with foreign counterparts. For instance, they make it so intellectual property rights are protected when one of our corporations works hand in glove with a company overseas.
“Opponents say companies and executives get rich, while average workers get stiffed.” |
But opponents say companies and executives get rich, while average workers get stiffed. They sign deals that result in American jobs being shipped overseas, propping up profits but leaving communities hobbled with shuttered factories and jobless workers. They say that’s what happened in the wake of the 1993 NAFTA deal.
So who is right? Would a massive new trade deal help or hurt the U.S. economy overall? Is it just another development that will enrich execs at the expense of average workers? Or is that just union-driven rabble-rousing?
What about investors? Will they ultimately benefit because the companies they own will generate higher profits thanks to new trade deals with more protections? Or is that purported benefit being overstated by trade promoters?
This great New York Times story breaks a lot of those issues down. My own opinion is that globalization and increasing trade is a trend that won’t be reversed, with or without a new TPP deal. Jobs and factories won’t be re-onshored en masse unless we are globally competitive from a cost standpoint.
Frankly, the most pressing issue for U.S. companies on the global scene right now isn’t new trade legislation. It’s the value of the U.S. dollar. If it keeps rising, it’ll put serious profit pressure on U.S. multinationals – as well as put them at a massive competitive disadvantage vis-Ã -vis foreign firms.
Now, I want to hear what you have to say on this topic. So please do head over to the website and weigh in.
Our Readers Speak |
Greece, energy, and Middle East policy were all on the minds of investors like you over the past 24 hours.
With regards to Greece, Reader Howard said: “Both fear and lack of trust are the headwinds that Greece faces. They know it is rigged but fear the alternatives. The common currency gives German output an enormous market in which to sell its goods. All of this can only fall apart for Greece. The timing is less certain.”
On the energy front, Reader Shar said: “To bet against energy is to bet against progress, which the world is experiencing full throttle at this point regardless of daily headlines. There will ALWAYS be unexpected news releases to the masses concerning gas, oil, shipping, pipelines, etc. along with the exposed truths as today’s international Energy Agency projections. Only those outside of the industry will be surprised.
“The real trick, though, is the timing of stock buying. Since there are so many new factors involved I have settled back to a tried and true method of doing the homework, making the choices and buying a stock on extended lows and within 10 days into mild gains.”
Reader David added this additional perspective: “Early call on energy stocks — all the cited tickers show losing year, Y-T-D. And it looks like the rebound cited, based on demand not supply, while interesting and valid, omits the market-manipulation that has suppressed the prices of these stocks. To ignore the ‘cartel’ now including China, Russia, Iran along with the Middle East (Saudis, Qatar, Libya et al) is to bury our collective head in the sand.
“Will energy demand continue to accelerate? Sure! Will energy company prices eventually rise? Sure. Can one tolerate continuing stock losses? Individual decision. As a contrarian. I like your analysis, just not your timing.”
Finally, Reader Bruce C. weighed in on the Middle East policy debate. He said:
“The American leadership needs to decide if we are in or out. If we are in, that means at least 168,000 troops must go back to Iraq (as that was the number it took during the previous administration to eventually subdue the country). If we are in for a little, then we need to be all in with no exit strategy… meaning no exit. We establish permanent military bases there and install a benevolent dictator who rebuilds the country with Iraqi oil money including housing, schools, hospitals, police and military, etc. and basically bring them back to the 21st century.
“The current American leadership will never commit to such a plan. So if we are not all in, we need to be all out. All out in this case means no troops and no foreign or military aid to the entire region. Now that America is basically energy self sufficient, we can safely step back and let Europe and Russia intervene in the Mideast as needed to protect their interests.”
Thanks for the input across the board. I think the sum total of all the evidence points to higher energy stock prices. And given the incredibly cheap valuations they’re trading at, I think so much bad news has already been priced in that the risk-reward is too compelling to miss out on!
As for the Middle East, our policies are so muddled and messed up that strategic disengagement may be the only option in the end. But that doesn’t seem to be anyone’s policy of choice right now, Republican or Democrat.
If you haven’t already shared your thoughts, here’s where you can do so here. I look forward to hearing what you have to say.
Other Developments of the Day |
“Deviousness and incompetence” were the words one European official used in this Financial Times story to describe the attitudes and tactics of his Greek counterparts. Not exactly what you want to see if you’re expecting a debt deal to get hammered out.
So will Greece finally get kicked out of the euro? Or will there be yet another last minute “save?” Time is running out, so we’ll get an answer one way or the other soon.
Twitter’s (TWTR) CEO Dick Costolo is out in the wake of disappointing results and questions over the social media company’s strategy. User growth has decelerated to around 14% from 30%, and investors are hoping a new leader will be able to right the ship. Co-founder Jack Dorsey will temporarily step in until a permanent replacement can be found.
Emerging market funds aren’t feeling the love from investors these days. They suffered $9.3 billion in withdrawals in the most recent week, according to the FT. That was the biggest drawdown since the depths of the financial crisis in 2008.
Me? I can’t help but see some opportunity here. I like to get in on the cheap when everyone else is running around with their hair on fire. So I’m scoping out new picks in select foreign markets.
The Producer Price Index jumped 0.5% in May. But rising energy costs took most of the blame. “Core” inflation only gained 0.1%, in line with economist forecasts. The strong dollar is putting massive downward pressure on import prices too. They plunged 9.6% from a year ago in May.
So does inflation look stable to you, away from the gas pump? Are you more likely to buy Twitter now that a new CEO is headed to the corner office? Have any more thoughts on Greece? Here’s the link to the website; Sound off there when you have a minute.
Until next time,
Mike Larson
{ 67 comments }
Greece: it is extremely rare to see the author of any article pertaining to the Greece debt affair state the fact Greece was a communist country for the last 50 years. The bankers who gave Greece the loans should be called out, and I mean the individual loan officers named publicly around the world to at least embarrase them. The banks should take their losses and move on, they made the decision to lend to a communist country.
They disingenuously try to make the Greek crisis look like a complicated matter. How can a nation of 11,000,000 people, mired in a depression featuring 26 per cent unemployment, ever repay $380,000,000,000 in debt? It can’t! The individuals and institutions that made these loans deserve to lose every cent. Not only have they wrecked Greece they have poisoned their own portfolios with what has to be viewed as a mountain of totally worthless bonds. Commentators who argue this is no big deal are only kidding themselves. Short the Euro!
OK OK OK IF $$$$ 34,545 IS TOO HARD FOR THE GREEKS TO PAY PLEASE TELL ME HOW THE U.S. IS GOING TO PAY ALMOST $$$$ 57000 PER MAN, WOMAN , AND CHILD IN THIS COUNTRY think about it ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? is that enough question marks ?
The Republicans (who are supported by Big Business and the Conservative Ultra Wealthy (CUWs)have brought a number of Trade Agreements before TPP… Everyone of these have resulted in millions of good paying Middle Class jobs being sent off shore and because of that our trade deficit has grow even larger… Why should we trust that this newest Republican Trade Bill will be any different? Wouldn’t it be unique for the GOP to bring legislation that actually helped the average American Citizen?
I just bought a t- shirt it says STUPID LIBERALS DIX R 4 CHX
Obama is the one pushing for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, not the Republicans.
Remember NAFTA, that was Bill Clinton’s, another Democrat.
Things that make a non-democrat go HMMM!
NAFTA and TPP were written and sponsored by the GOP and voted for by EVERY Republican… Why Clinton and Obama supported them is a mystery to me…. Most Democrats were against NAFTA and are against TPP….
Agree the dollar is rising but for the wrong reasons. We have the same deficit , debt, regulatory and employment problems other countries have, just not so great. That is a sorry place to be because eventually, if sanity does not return to world governments, our economy will come a cropper just like everyone elses.
Are you kidding me or what…?
“It’s declassified and made public once it’s agreed to,†Congressman Ryan said of Obamatrade in Rules Committee testimony on Wednesday during questioning from Rep. Michael Burgess.
Oh yeah, how is that other “we have to pass it before we can know what is in it…” legislation working out for you…?
The people we elect to manage government so that it doesn’t get out of control are themselves out of control…!
When Democrats are against laws proposed by Obama, you better get a good grip on your wallet and bend over and kiss your lifestyle goodbye…
There is absolutely nothing about these two trade bills that are good for America…!
In the Great Depression period, protectionism had some positive benefits. In the current crisis, leaders seem to be trying to resolve global issues while ignoring local ones. We need to act locally and think globally. What is the point of any deal that harms our local people. All that does is betray common trust. Washington needs to remember whose interests it represents.
Obama is pushing this so-called “Trans Pacific trade” deal because it is NOT about free trade. It is about setting up a trans Pacific version of an European Union, with unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats dictating labor, environment, and other regulations, resulting in loss of sovereignty for all countries that would be part of this nonsense. This feeds Obama’s emperor complex and he needs to go down and go down hard.
Obama has shown time and time again he can not be trusted. Giving him carte blanche over anything is a mistake. Too many things were hidden in these Bills, such as using Medicare funds to pay stipends to workers deemed displaced by “Free Trade” We can no longer let Obama loose IMV
Mike,
The TPP trade bill is another toxic piece of unnecessary and harmful legislation. Its purpose, like that of the Patriot Act and Obamacare, is to divest Americans of their freedom to conduct their lives without interference from government or the tight group of crony corporations that curry favor through heavy lobby payments. America has been steered toward a Byzantine Empire model of layered bureaucracies, where citizens can’t do anything without some type of approval, fee or tax. As the Greatest Generation dies off, there is less memory of what living in a truly free country used to feel like. So, the simple way to fix this is to stop adding rules and laws such as TPP, and start dismantling them, beginning with the Patriot Act, Obamacare, and NSA domestic spy programs. American productivity would go THROUGH THE ROOF if only government stopped “managing” our free enterprise system, and simply tended our borders properly. Thank you. RP Martin
Very well said. I am an American who has been living in Cyprus for the past 25 years. The TPP will be, for the USA and other participants, what the European Union is to its ‘member states’: a massive bureaucracy run by unelected ‘officials’ which has completely destroyed national sovreignty and subjugated the will of the citizens of Euroean nations. It is a trojan horse presented as a ‘trade deal’. It is nothing of the sort. It is pure fascism. Americans will only understand what an unmitigated disaster the TPP is when the ‘pacific commission’ decides to steal the contents of their bank accounts to recapitalize criminal banks which engaged in massive fraud. That is what happened in Cyprus. And the citizens of this country have no recourse because their politicians sold the country out when they signed the Lisbon Treaty. Speak out and refuse America, before it is too late.
My God, if Americans don’t recall everyone in both houses before it’s too damn late American is being sold into bondage very much like the European Union crap that’s not been good for any countries that are members.
Foreign trading nations/partners will be able to regulate how we do business in America by a select committee and we will have no say in the regulations they pass.
This federal government is not looking out for the best interests of Americans…!
Wake up people…!
Always on Fridays…!
Anyone who is still asleep at this point isn’t going to ever wake up. The Great American Experiment cannot succeed without an informed electorate. There are simply not enough
Patriots like you out there.
The problem with these trade bills are that they are so secretive.
My understanding is that 1) the bill voted on today is known as the TPA and it gives authority to this President to negotiate trade deals on behalf of the U.S. Does anyone honestly believe that Obama can negotiate anything for the betterment of the U.S. Just look at the alleged negotiation he is engaged in with Iran. That alone should scare any citizen from giving him authority to negotiate. 2) Why do we have to Fast Track this bill? What is the rush? Is there any reason we have to expedite this bill before All of Congress and the general public have a chance to read and digest the details of this bill? 3) While there is much more, I’ll make this my final point. I would like to urge consideration of the fact that Obama does not have our country’s best interest at heart. Just look at Obama Care. While there are a few that it has helped, that law has done more damage to more Americans than it has helped. And we want to give him authority to negotiate trade deals. Look at the mess he has this country in. And now he wants is Fast Tracked. Let’s wait until we get someone competent in the White House!!!!
The real issue with these international trade agreements is not who gets enriched, it’s the issue of providing unbridled power to the President. We’re seeing the Executive Branch of government ride roughshod over the Legislative and Judicial branches. Companies and their executives have always found ways to increase their largesse and will continue to do so without this legislation but with the support of the financial powers. This legislation only accelerates this country’s erosion of freedoms.
Number one : Our strategic plan should be to beat ISIS (ISEL) , and if we have to supply the boots on the ground military, and the air power, then the Iraqies should pay us because they have the oil money to do so. Or like I just read, make us partners in the ownership of Iraq so we can establish our bases there. I say this because the last effort under President Bush, we didn’t get one dime from Iraq and we lost thousands of our young soldiers there plus crippled a lot more and that is our expense, Plus put us so deeply in debt that it’s no wonder our economy fell and we had a terrible depression.
We lost so much of our military weapons which Isis now has because the Iraq soldiers became so afraid of these devils that they just ran and abandoned the cities they were defending.
No 2: Stop trying to negotiate with the Iranians because they are obviously just killing time and continuing to develop there neuclear weapon projects with one thing in mind. What’s that? So when they are where they want to be, they WILL bomb Israel off the map and then we will be next or maybe even at the same time. You can’t negotiate with lieing, cheating criminals that they are with no respect for life except there own and that is just not acceptable.
I see our President just keeping everything in himself and not sharing what he really Knows he should tell us and what he really should do. It is suspicious that he may be secretly hiding the fact that he is a Mussilin. We need to find reasons to Impeach Him now before it is too late. I think Joe Biden would do a better job than Obama right now, but his hands are tied and he is respecting his elders and his party lines.
I beg of you, if you want to save The United States and there Allies, please do the things I am suggesting and you will see it will work. Our nation of brave men and women have proven THAT, in the past 100 years!
Please for my sake, do not publish my name rather put only that the author of this blog is a honest, truly all American supporter.
Obama has never ever hid the fact that he is a Muslim…
There are dozens of videos of speeches where he has claimed her is Muslim…
He wants this country destroyed plain and simple…!
YESSSSS but remember to get elected he claimed I got to church im a Christian and remember his reverend REVEREND WRIGHT
Since this site and so many of the commentors here sound as though they are very Republican, would someone please tell me of any legislation that the GOP has brought and passed since they returned to power with Reagan that has benefited the average citizen and also reduced the deficit? Perhaps I’m not very informed, but for the life of me, I can not think of a thing. Perhaps some of the readers could enlighten me…..
I can hear the crickets chirping!
I like Bruce’s assessment. Under present leadership??? we better not get involved and let Europe and Russia do what they will with/in the Middle East.
MY THOUGHTS ABOUT THE TPP:
The article link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/12/business/unpacking-the-trans-pacific-partnership-trade-deal.html?action=click&contentCollection=Politics&module=RelatedCoverage®ion=Marginalia&pgtype=article&_r=0
The TPP trade deal’s secrecy cannot be explained by gov’t people as some sort of necessity due to the sensitively of negations between the various parties. It’s clear that the bill contains some features that would be unaccepted by the American public at large, and that is why we have been kept in the dark. This is hardly the accepted approach to governing in a free country. There should be dialog and discussion about important bills that will have a large impact on the American people. The president’s effort’s so keep the public (and US lawmakers) in the dark about this package raise clear questions about exactly who will benefit from TPP, and why.
1) The provision allowing the president (this one and future one) to bypass the checks and balances of US gov’t design looks very much like a power play by the executive branch at the expense of the legislative branch. I know of no economics, or free trade based reasoning that suggests this is a good idea – and a lot of reasons that it sounds like a bad idea. This aspect of the TPP alone would seem a good reason to kill it off.
2) The provision that appears to hand legal authority to non-US tribunals seems particularly dangerous measure of the TPP. Past trade disputes between the US and other nations have not ended well for the US in many cases, including in those cases where the US seemed quite clearly to be in the right (which we are not always). The reality of trade conflicts is that foreign countries often band together to stop the US from exerting undue influence over international trade – regardless of what the issues are. So taking legal authority out of the hands of America’s elected lawmakers and turning it over to unknown and unnamed decision making bodies does not seem either safe or wise by any standard. While it’s true that the US has been blocked by foreign gov’t interests at trade bodies such as the WTO in the past (and that will not change) there is no reason to turn over US law making authority to foreign interests. This provision alone would also seem enough to want to kill the TPP.
3) Patent protection abroad seems like a positive aspect of the TPP, but in the case of Canada, the largest trading partner by dollar volume involved, as well as others like Australia we already have the observation of international respect for intellectual property rights. And in nations where we don’t (like Viet Nam) I think it’s highly unlikely that the signing of this bill will have any impact on the actual observation of intellectual property rights in those countries. I believe this claim is window dressing that will never produce results.
4) The adoption of rigorous environmental standards would clearly be a good thing since some of the economic advantage gained in developing countries has come at the expense of destruction not only of their own local environment, but also of the environment we all share on this planet such as air and water. Emerging nations do not have a track record of having learned from the experience of Western nations in the area of the true costs of environmental pollution. And like #3 above, I think it’s highly unlikely that the signing of a bill will be enough to include emerging market nations to start plowing the money necessary to hold down pollution and protect the environment the way they ought to have been doing right along. Nobody knows what a mess some of these people have made of their own environment better than they do. There’s a reason those protections have been ignored, and those reasons (and the profits associated with avoiding the cost associated with environmental protection) will continue to exist even should TPP be signed. I highly doubt anything will change in this area because of TPP.
5) The data flow issue looks like a thorny one in this era of ramping up cyber security warfare. As someone with a high degree of knowledge about the deplorable state of cyber security provisions of this kind look like an information disaster waiting to happen. While freedom of data flow looks like a free trade provision on the surface, it will also represent a conduit for cyber warfare that compromises the security of every person in the world today. Neither our government nor or our major institutions (like banks, insurance companies, ecommerce firms and the like) have done anything remotely like take meaningful cyber security measures. The hack of SONY last year ostensibly due to their film about N. Korea is a wonderful example. When brought up at the cyber-security conference I was at shortly thereafter, the presenters statement was “… there is no protection against ‘stupid’.” The truth is that when it comes to data and cyber security today near total ignorance is the best description of the level of expertise of the overwhelming majority of players, including our own federal government. I am totally confident in making this statement. Consequently I would want no part of a legal agreement that puts our national and personal data at even more risk that it’s already at (which is already way, way over the top as it is).
6) State owned businesses are not natural, and are not about to become neutral. I have no idea where this pipe dream came from, but I think there is no chance of changing the behavior of state owned business either in foreign countries – or even in our own. The idea that any trade bill will have any impact whatsoever on leveling the playing field between state owned businesses and private ones in any country is absurd. Many foreign governments depend upon the income from the businesses they own because they lack the robust tax base of nations like the US. There is no chance that they will voluntarily give up competitive advantages they have (which will cost them dearly in revenue) just for a scrap of paper like the TPP. And the US gov’t is not above bashing down whatever is in its way to grab money either – as witnessed by the scandals of the IRS, both publicized and unpublicized. Money is the life blood of government spending and a government that can right in its desire to spend more and more money has yet to appear on the surface of the earth.
Finally I would like to say with respect to trade barriers – there is no reason for the US to negotiate the lowering of barriers to trade. Based on the theory of comparative advantage (Riccardo) the unilateral elimination of trade barriers will have a significant positive effect on trade and represent an economic advantage for all people in both nations. Needless to say the elimination of barrier to trade by both nations (of a trading pair) would be even better. But when agreement between two countries about trade barriers can’t be reached – the only smart move to make is for the more enlightened country to get rid of them unilaterally. There is no need to negotiate anything for one side to smarten up and start reaping the benefits of free trade by acting alone, which ironically, will benefit both.
The TPP bill does not look like a good and proper economic deal to me, and I feel that it’s clear that at least some aspects of this bill look like bad news. In all I see more than enough to applaud the defeat of the TPP today and I hope it stays gone in the future – even though I generally am supportive of free trade.
John
I agree 100%. I can not fathom Mike Larsen passing this off as just a trade deal. It is
just another notch in Obama’s belt for destroying the USA. Our RINO leaders in the House and Senate have not even read it, yet they “TRUST” Obama and want to give him authority with a blank check. They are giving up their Constitutional Authority to make sure this is in the best interest of the USA. My opinion is all these Countries “MUST” come up to the USA standards of openness and trade balances “BEFORE” we give them any more advantages over us. Why is it that we the USA have to import more crap from every 2 bit Country and they can effectively shut us out, treaty or no treaty. Do you think China will stop stealing our public/private/military trade secrets because we give them more trade deals. We need to increase tariffs on their shipments to the USA until the trade balance is balanced! The USA PUBLIC has nothing to gain from TPP. Even if the trade part of TPP was worth having, it is not worth giving up our sovereign control over trade and our National Interest.
Ah Genius,
It like NAFTA (Bush) was brought by the GOP and EVERY REPUBLICAN voted to Pass…. What that is not on your GOP Q card? These were GOP Pigs, no matter the lies that the paid GOP commentors or the really gullible want us to believe otherwise!… :(
HEY LIBERAL OR ARE YOU LIBTARDED hey mikey it was the your great liberal president BILL Clinton that signed NAFTA you know the great liar who would have been impeached except for the other liars out there like NANCY PELOSI , HARRY REED, BARNEY FRANK that couldn’t accept to let a great liar go for lying to the American public about his deceit and cheatings REMEMBER THOSE FAMOUS WORDS LIBERAL……………………………………………. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ( (((( I DID NOT HAVE SEX WITH THAT WOMAN ))))))) pointing to Monica Lewinsky x- cept one problem BILL CLINTON left all his white DNA all over her dress
TPP is pure poison for the middle class and the American worker because jobs will go away to another European State or wherever it is allowed to go and then what can we do about it? In my opinion it is NAFTA on steroids.
The TPP seems to be a step toward giving up American sovereignty, and the sovereignty of other nations as well; and needs to be entirely rewritten, or defeated. Do you know that under it any disputes will be ironed out by a panel of three lawyers, paid by the hour. That means disputes may never be settled, of course. Lifetime jobs for lawyers. It is proposed by a One World Democrat president, and promoted by One World Republican congressmen, who care nothing for our Constitutional form of government, but want the entire world to come under some socialist/fascist rule. Remember, Germany was ruled by the Nazionalsozialistischearbeiterspartei – the National Socialist Workers Party.
I have to confess a mistake: I had thought Rand Paul seemed the best of the announced candidates for president, but I was wrong. He supports the TPP, so he is not nearly the constitutionalist I’d thought. Just another politician, no better than the rest. DO NOT vote any of the rats back into office. Write in Joe – or Josie – Blow, if need be.
This trade agreement is about way more than just trade. It is about the formation of a New World Order where national sovereignty is surrendered to an international world governing body. These trade agreement rules will override our current laws which are deemed to be in conflict with the trade agreement. American voters will no longer be able to persuade their government representatives to pass laws or perhaps even policies that are in their interests if these changes run counter to the international trade agreements. Dare say, even our labor laws may be superseded and the ability to sue international corporations for personal damages may be lost. What a deal, and welcome to the new world/reality. No thanks!
Michele Nash-Hoff, a strong advocate of American business wrote a clear and concise analysis of the problems with TPP. Several quotes from that analysis:
“Buy American Act made Null and Void: For the manufacturing industry, for which I play a role, the most adverse effect would be that the U.S. would have to agree to waive Buy America procurement policies for all companies operating in TPP countries. What this means is that the TPP’s procurement chapter would require that all companies operating in any country signing the agreement be provided access equal to domestic firms to bid on government procurement contracts at the local, state, and federal level…Investor State Dispute Resolution: ISDR is designed to allow foreign corporations to bypass the domestic legal system to use to fight laws they don’t like. International Tribunals, not U.S. courts, would decide on lawsuits between “investor” companies in member countries and the U. S. Foreign “investors” could file lawsuits against city, state, and federal agencies for laws and regulations that may infringe on their “expected future profits.” They can also sue for compensation for the loss of these “expected future profits.” Thus, the TPP would infringe upon states’ rights as state and local governments have the constitutional authority to enact rules governing many areas covered by the TPP. But, they will no longer have the freedom to do so in the many regulatory areas covered by the TPP.”
“Country of Origin Labeling, labeling of GMO products, and “organic” labeling could be made illegal because of being viewed as an “illegal trade barrier.,,Many TPP countries are farm-raising seafood using chemicals and antibiotics that are prohibited in the U. S. and farmed seafood from China is being raised in water quality equivalent to U. S. sewers. According to Food & Water Watch, around 90% of the shrimp and catfish that Americans eat are imported.”
“Except for the large multinational corporations that participated in writing the Agreement and are its beneficiaries, there is something for everyone to hate… It will hurt the 98-99% of American manufacturers who had no place at the table in writing the Agreement. It will hurt American consumers and American workers of all ages. It will harm our environment and put our food and water safety at risk. But, most of all it will destroy our national sovereignty.”
So why is this call a “Fair Trade Agreement”?
Take a look at the balance of trade with Mexico pre NAFTA when in 1992 it was a positive $5,381 million. Our trade balance with Mexico started to go south in 1994 when NAFTA took effect, increasing to a negative $64,722 million in 2008.
https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/balance/c2010.html
So is the American worker competitive with those in Vietnam who have an average annual income of $1,800? Are foreign countries saddled with Obamacare, thousand of pages of government regulations and one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world? Look for millions of jobs to go offshore. To be sure there would be winners in this trade agreement, but in the aggregate, it is a bad deal for Americans as it takes a big step in facilitating a global government. The fact that the details are hidden from the American public is reason enough not to support it.
Giving ANY president, especially this president who’s obviously intent is to “transform” the U.S into a third world country, and who has already bypassed congress and our constitution at an alarming rate, would fast track the transformation of the presidency into a dictatorial position – more so than he has done so already.
OBSERVATION: In reading other comments, I notice a strong Democrat-Republican overtone. I am neither a Republican or Democrat and I strongly hope that our citizenry, including the otherwise astute commentators above, awakens to the shell game of pitting Democrats against Republicans, rich against middle class, minorities against minorities, women against men, etc., etc. These are classic Marxist tactics and guess in which direction our nation is slowly “progressing”. We should concentrate in getting our country back from the grips of Washington D.C.
Your observation is absolutely spot on!
President Obama has repeatedly promised to bring manufacturing home, back to the U.S. He has never stated a plan to do so but this trade agreement he now wants is the opposite of his assertions in his State of the Union addresses. It seems to me a giant step would be to lower corporate taxes to encourage manufacturing in our own country. Our president enriched insurance companies and many if not most had huge increases in insurance premiums. Now with sending troops to Iraq, the 3 campaign promises that got him elected have all been broken.
These insurance companies that so willingly supported Obamacare are going to be double crossed when the Progressives announce it isn’t working because it did not go far enough. They planned all along for it not to work so they could sell us Single Payer and cut the insurance companies out completely. They have been classic “useful idiots”, and will soon be blamed for Obamacare’s failure.
I am 61 years old. In the early 80s NAFTA was initiated and we watched the market surge and at the same time watched American manufacturing and all the professional and skilled workforce disappear. Our engineering jobs in development and manufacturing were swallowed up by service industry and government professions. Our middle class skilled workforce ended up in the same boat or out on the street. The number of documented unemployed did not affect our economy as much as the small number of employed in comparison to the much larger number of those that are homeless, not working, disabled, and the aged retired. What was started by Reagan and all the way to today where and now they not only want to repeat the same stupidity that has gradually destroyed this once industrial powerful nation, but to give power to the president to make such deals in the future. The constitution has laws to cover Seperation of powers, but it all falls on lets make a deal. It is disgraceful that we have so many Americans homeless and unskilled in the trades and highly educated and trained professionals that can’t find jobs because they are not here in America, they are in China, Japan Germany, Netherlands. Where are most of the computers manufactured that we use and the government uses. Has anyone ever mentioned why it is so easy hackers in foreign countries to hack into our systems, it’s not just the software folks.
In summary, starting up another PAFTA or whatever they want to call it or spell it will sink this country “s economy and the real danger may not show up for a few years.
There was a very famous Russian President said that no other country shall have to fire a shot at America, America will destroy itself from its own greed. Has the time come, or did it start in 1980s.
how has the economy and the worker fared since GATT and NAFTA treaties? Other than the stock market-propped up by a multi trillion dollar gift from the treasury- not very well. Real wages have not increased over the 25 years of these treaties. Millions of manufacturing jobs went overseas, our economy bleeds 40 BILLION dollars a month in a trade deficit. I would say we do not need any more “FREE TRADE” treaties.
The politicians in Washington D C including the Chief Idiot obama need to be kicked out of the Idiots Club for excessive stupidity. That would mean every idiot there, repug or dimocrap. This trade deal is bad for the USA and giving a thug like obama power to make deals in secret is definitely excessive stupidity. If you vote for any of these bat rastards next year you need to be kicked out of the Idiots club for excessive stupidity yourself.
I am fortunate to be an investor. As such, I know that no agreement will hurt my investment money. That is the privilege of the investor class. Conversely, no agreement ever really gets adjusted because the working poor will get poorer After all, its business!. It is designed to make the rich riches and the poor poorer. Capitalism at its finest!.
Richard Berggren – your response (above) is totally self centered, and shows that you do have the ability to empathize with others. That is shameful.
Crony Capitalism at its finest!
We don’t have Capitalism – we have Protectionism, which benefits politicians first.
Richard
What a smug piece of crap
The disturbing implications of TPP – the Trans Pacific Pact, are the secret protocols which are being hidden from US citizens. The TPP, which appears to be merely a trade agreement amongst nations, contains a number of clandestine rules which threaten the sanctity of American law and are forbidden from being revealed by members of Congress. According to Morningstar, one such protocol, which has been leaked to the public, requires disputes between foreign corporations to be resolved via “panels of lawyers that would stand above and apart from the American courts.” Beyond the legal implications of the TPP, Morningstar theorized that the agreement may also be a covert military coalition aimed at ultimately battling China.
Its really a no brainer. The new trade deal benefits big business in their profit gathering approach and the worker gets left behind to be supported by the government. Its the same as 2008-2009 the taxpayers will be on the hook again. Forget all this fluff put up by OBama we must do this or China’s Silk Road deal will hurt our “national” interest. Its not national interest its BIG BUSINESS interests. Who is he trying to kid. The days of my father voted Republican and I will vote Republican are long gone.
It’s important to realize that American is not going to be the only major economy in the world of the future. A great many people of formerly undeveloped nations have shown that they too can industrialize and more and more of them are joining the modern world all the time. It used to be that Westerners though only “they” had the ability to operate a modern economy. That has proven to be wrong. Global development is happening rapidly as anyone who reads the material we buy from Weiss should know. So the new “Silk Road” plan to streamline transportation between China and other nations is nothing more than one of many inevitable developments of our times. There have been many other such developments (Suez and Panama canals) and there will be more. American’s need to get over the idea that people of other nations are incompetent and have nothing to offer as business partners for the traditionally developed world of Europe and the USA.
And it’s not just business (or BIG business) as some of you have described it, that benefits. Lower costs translate directly to lower prices of goods bought by consumers that raise the standard of living of all involved. Some on this blog are quick to criticize overseas manufacture, for example – but few would be interested in paying $400 for a toaster than sells today at the box store for $34. Remember that businesses don’t pay the costs of anything; they are merely pass-through entities. By passing costs on to consumers in the form of higher prices it is they – the consumers of products – who are end up paying the costs of inefficiency.
And none of you are as pro-American manufacturing as I am. (This happens to be one of my primary interests) But I don’t support the idea that being pro-American (in manufacturing) means we should use gov’t or other means to screw the consumer with artificially high prices. In the last 30 years we have seen a revolution in efficiency, and that has had an enormous impact of the standard of living of people all over the world, including in the US. Greater efficiency in production benefits all parties – the business owners, AND consumers AND employees alike because lower prices of goods translators into more sales volume, increase in hiring (because there is more work to do), better wages (potentially) as part of greater overall economic scale. This principle is widely ignored (for political reasons) but has been known for well over a hundred years, since the 1880’s.
I have never been impressed with the idea that high wages in the US are (solely) the cause of the losses in America’s manufacturing sector. American businesses have shirked their responsibly to implement modern and efficient industrial practices – they way they do in Germany and Japan. You don’t hear Germans (worlds no. 3 exporter) or Japanese saying their manufacturing sector failed due to high costs of labor do you? Their manufacturing sectors have not failed, they are thriving – and their labor costs are far higher than ours. That’s because they are smarter about it than we have been. And if we smarten up about it here in the US we can have the same manufacturing successes they have had as well. That’s what I’d like to see – not complaining about it.
The workers in the District of Columbia,at whatever level, including the Supreme Court have difficulties with the truth. The public will never know what is in the bill before it is passed and has become law. The President appears to have the greatest difficulty with the truth and transparency, but that doesn’t approve the others. Taxes are the primary problem. We should move to a consumption tax and not an income tax. If we had a value added tax, such as Germany, we could tax the activity at home and have much more competitive products abroad. Those competitive products would provide many more jobs for American workers. The absence of truth in our nation’s capital is a high hurdles that will be difficult to overcome.
Politicians love a ‘consumption tax”. It has no real limit. Look at the history of “sales taxes”, which really tax consumption. Most states first adopted sales taxes of 2 or 3 percent, but they have usually been raised until 6 or 7 percent is common, and sometimes more. Consumption taxes on gasoline are usually into double figures. A national consumption tax would likely begin at well over 20%, and rising as “needed”.
Ideally the consumption tax would be 15 Per cent. This would generate enough revenue to fund all legitimate government functions. This would generate somewhere between 1.5 to 2 trillion dollars. They will just have get by on chicken feed like that. We draw a line in the sand and say this is it. Any thing not covered be the 15 per cent has to go. Sales, income, capital gains, estate taxes all started out tiny and we allowed them to raise all of them repeatedly. No more, they all disappear, along with the IRS. This is the only hope we have for limiting government at reasonable levels. No dough! No show!
I know this sounds naive under current conditions but I think that when the alternative is bankruptcy it will make a lot more sense. The Federal Government is already bankrupt but no one has been forced to admit it just yet.
Free trade needs no “agreements”. Any “Trade Pact” undermines freedom of trade, and favors some nation(s) or group(s). It is contrary to the American tradition, and possibly our Constitution.
If it has to be secret so no one has time to read it, then it can’t be good for the people. I understand that there is more than trade issues, but others such as immigration and other controversial measures that this administration has been trying to enact. It will only result in more government intrusion.
Trade deals are good for corporations but deadly for workers. They send jobs overseas and the profits stay there because of taxes if brought back here. They are killing the middle class here with no jobs and lower wages. They are also killing off there business here because of lower wages people buy less. Most other countries look out for their own but that is not the case here, it is all about profit. They say that the deals will also challenge our legal system and work and clean air laws. With these deals we are not all trading by the same rules, just look at China. They manipulate there money so they have the advantage. We are uplifting other countries while destroying the U.S.
NO TOO the too trade bills.one man does not need that kind of power. Look how he’s burying the country in deth.power too the poeple not the pres.
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/14ded4bcb1386e55
See the link above for the scheming that is going on. Democrats only want this TPP passed so they can get their grubby hands on more mufti-billions of the Nations wealth via the TPA part. The $700 billion the RINO’s are stealing from Medicare wasn’t enough. So, Boehner has to come up with more money to appease them. Then they will sell our Country’s sole. They stole $500 Billion from Medicare for Obamcare’s expanded medicaid now another $700 Billion? That’s $1.2 trillion, and they wonder why Medicare is in trouble! So why the theft to pass a trade treaty? In part to cover the millions of Middle Class jobs that will be lost. We don’t need to support Vietnam and other low cost clothing and manufacturing at our expense. Why would any concerned American Politician vote for something that most of them are not allowed to look at and those that can look at it are subject to $10,000 fines and 5 years in prison if they divulge anything about this treaty. What Country is this? Senator Sessions has spoken out about it and urged a no vote. Will Obama put him in jail now?
I do not like the increase in authority that the President will have. Obama has steadily moved us from a democracy to a dictatorship. Congress and the Senate should have a say on any trade deals and not give the President authority do as he pleases.
Again, this trade pig, like NAFTA was written and bought by the GOP, not the Democrats and every Republican is voting for it, like NAFTA….. Doesn’t matter the revisios GOP history, this is still a GOP Pig with lipstick, that has removed hundreds of thousands of good paying Middle Class jobs from the USA….. The ONLY group enriched since the GOP cme to poser are the Conservative Ultra Wealthy (CUWs) Why do they do that? Could be that these powerful people are paying them thru election donations, to do that?… :(
Two comments on the Trade Deal legislation: 1) Anytime you have to go into a secret basement, give up your cell phone, read one page at a time and then promise not to discuss what you saw, WE know it can’t be good for those of US who aren’t allowed that PRIVILEGE!! 2) Evidently Ms. Pelosi, who usually passes legislation before she reads it, must have read this first since she voted against it. That’s scary.
Free Trade Agreements. Well, companies seem to amass more cash, executives seem to make more money (lots more), more jobs are shipped overseas, wages for American workers fall as fast as executive wages go up, our representatives represent themselves, and Americans are told this is good for them. Well, it must be, or else we are stupid to allow this to continue. At one time the rest of the world wanted to be like America, and now America wants to be like the rest of the world.
Your interpretation and analysis of the bills before Congress reminds me of the analysis of the health care bills. The health care bill were far too long for the short attention span of most Congress persons to read and digest, therefore they didn’t. The result has been untold unknown consequences as a result of passing the legislation. The main Trade bill is 800 pages long with over 26 Sections/Chapters, and it is clear to me that there are real reasons why the administration doesn’t want the bill vetted in the light of day. There are countless clauses, conditions, adders, impacts to a host of other venues of our culture, political structure that they don’t want know. If such weren’t the case, then why doesn’t the administration that said, “this will be the most transparent administration in history,” reveal the contents? You should focus on what’s not in it or known versus the bait that is used a the lure to win votes.
No republican legislators understand the unintended consequences of all these trade bills. In IT departments were wiped in many corporations and outsourced to countries like india for cheap labour. Data entry to accounts you name it everything got outsourced. The result more job losses here. Does any one know that people own properties costing million of dollars where as our families stuck with homes not able to sell and stuck with high taxes and HOA fees
The trade deal is going to lose jobs otherwise it would not have job lose assistance. I have read that a company can sue a country if it does not profit because of that countries laws about labor or pollution. There are cases already where the corporation have won millions from offending countries. We do lose intellectual properties all the time with these trade deals, but the main goal is profit from cheap labor. With our standard of living, which is going down, there is no way to compete with the cheap labor in developing countries. These deals are killing the middle class in this country and the customer base for many of these companies.
The real problem is our federal tax code that is based on production ( income, savings and investments) and also taxes jobs. Taxes on business are actually paid by the final consumer in the form of higher prices due to the taxes on business. Thus US business is less competitive in the World markets plus our tax code drives out and discourages the enter of jobs, companies and capital. Replace this foolish tax practice with one progressive sales/consumption tax system called the FairTax bill HR 25 and S 155. Learn more, join the replace the tax code and repeal the 16th Amendment cause and contribute at fairtax.org