Obama Readies One Last Push for Trans-Pacific Partnership

[yallerdawg]

Tough row to hoe for President Obama - but if it's the right thing to do, it's worth fighting for.

New York Times, by Jackie Calmes

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Although the administration’s push will begin in September, no vote on the accord will occur before the election. Just as the White House and congressional Republican leaders mostly agree on the economic benefits of trade, they have parallel political interests in delaying debate.

Republicans do not want to provoke attacks from their presidential nominee, Donald J. Trump, who called the trade accord “a rape of our country,” or hurt other Republican candidates. Mr. Obama does not want to make trouble for the Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton, who has struggled to persuade voters of her sincerity in switching from support of the pact to opposition. This month, during an economic address in Michigan, she declared, “I oppose it now, I’ll oppose it after the election and I’ll oppose it as president.”

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While administration officials and bipartisan surrogates will counter opponents’ economic arguments, a big focus will be on national security. Mr. Obama has emphasized that the pact would expand American influence in the Asia-Pacific region as a counterweight to China, which is not part of the pact.

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Many Republicans and the tobacco industry object that the tobacco companies would be barred from using international trade tribunals to sue countries that restrict smoking. More problematic is the complaint of Republicans, led by Mr. Hatch, and the pharmaceutical industry that the agreement would undercut drug makers’ intellectual property protections on the advanced drugs known as biologics. The issue was the last to be settled among the T.P.P. countries in October; other nations demanded fewer years of protection, to hasten the production of less costly generics.

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Read it all at: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/22/business/international/trans-pacific-partnership-obama.html

[villager]

1. "One last betrayal, to remind you how you felt the first six years of this administration." nt

[yallerdawg]

2. Is that a Republlcan quote?

If it isn't, it damn sure could be.

[villager]

3. TPP is more Republican cooperation. Scarcely "betrays" their corporate values. nt

[pampango]

4. New Pew poll: Trump reflects his base's view of TPP (and 'free trade' in general). So does Obama.

Views of free trade agreements and the TPP

Donald Trump supporters are broadly critical of the impact of free trade agreements on the U.S. generally and of the potential impact of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP. By contrast, most Clinton backers have a positive impression of free trade and the TPP.

Far more Trump supporters say free trade agreements have been a bad thing (68%) than good thing (26%) for the U.S. When it comes to the proposed TPP agreement, views are also broadly negative: 58% say the TPP would be bad for the U.S., compared with just 17% who say it would be good for the U.S. A quarter of Trump supporters (25%) do not express an opinion about how the TPP would affect the U.S.

By 59% to 32%, more Clinton supporters say free trade agreements have been a good thing than bad thing for the U.S. Clinton supporters also view the potential impact of the TPP positively: 55% say it would be a good thing for the U.S., while 24% say it would be a bad thing and 21% are unsure about its impact on the country or say they have not heard of it.

In the current survey, nearly twice as many Republican and Republican-leaning registered voters say free trade agreements have been a bad thing for the U.S. than say they have been a good thing (61%-32%). ... By 58% to 34%, more Democratic and Democratic-leaning registered voters say free trade agreements have been a good thing than say they have been a bad thing for the U.S. These views are little changed in recent years but are somewhat more positive than in 2009, when 48% of Democrats called free trade agreements a good thing for the U.S., compared with 37% who called them a bad thing.

http://www.people-press.org/2016/08/18/5-issues-and-the-2016-campaign/

Most Democrats seem to agree with Obama. As is often true in politics, those who strongly oppose/support something can count for more than what a majority wants but does not consider as important.

[yallerdawg]

5. If Trump and the Republican House and Senate oppose TPP...

might be a good idea to take another open-minded look at it!

Yeah, we saw our "Norma Rae" textile jobs disappear in the South - now we build cars, planes, and ships!

Things are much more complicated than silly little Trump slogans like "Free trade bad!"

Time to give President Obama a listen.