Secret TPP Hampers Debate

[Panich52]

Secret TPP Hampers Debate

Australian senator questions secrecy of negotiations.
Sydney Morning Herald: "Liberal Senator Bill Heffernan has blasted Trade Minister Andrew Robb for conducting Trans-Pacific Partnership talks in secret, preventing a 'contest of ideas' that could uncover unintended consequences. Despite knowing he will get 'in trouble' for speaking out, the veteran senator criticised Mr Robb for hiding the 'guts' of the soon-to-be-sealed trade pact."

http://m.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/liberal-senator-bill-heffernan-blasts-trade-minister-over-secret-tpp-talks-20150409-1mgn1z.html



Former WH economist Jared Bernstein explains his indecision over TPP:
"... lack of knowledge of the deal's content has led me to pull my punches, but it's also why I'm quite taken aback by those writing strong endorsements of a deal that to my knowledge they've never seen ... I'm not convinced that our negotiators tried hard to get such a [currency manipulation] chapter in the deal. I find some of their objections overwrought."

http://jaredbernsteinblog.com/me-and-the-tpp/



Two House Dems defend WH on TPP.
The Hill: "[Rep. Ron] Kind ... said that while 'some past trade agreements have not lived up to their expectations,' the United States needs 'a proactive, aggressive trade agenda that's going to work for American workers, our businesses and our farmers.' ... [Rep. Brad] Ashford said, 'I stand, and I think most of my fellow Nebraskans stand, behind the TPP process and TPA process.' ... Liberal House Democrats ... have said they have enough support to deny [Obama] 'fast-track' authority ... That has left the administration seeking support from centrist Democrats such as Kind..."

http://thehill.com/policy/finance/238270-two-house-dems-signal-solidarity-with-obama-in-trade-fight
•

[hedda_foil]

1. More on Kind from The Hill. Guess which caucus he leads

Reps. Ron Kind (Wis.) and Brad Ashford (Neb.) argued that their states will benefit from expanded trade and the passage of trade promotion authority (TPA) legislation that will smooth approval of trade deals such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

Kind, who is chairman of the New Democrat Coalition, said that while “some past trade agreements have not lived up to their expectations,” the United States needs “a proactive, aggressive trade agenda that’s going to work for American workers, our businesses and our farmers.”

“That is why my colleagues in the New Democrat Coalition and I have been actively engaged in negotiations to make trade promotion authority a tool to ensure the next round of trade agreements America joins are not only free, but fair as well,” he said in an op-ed in the Wisconsin State Journal.

http://thehill.com/policy/finance/238270-two-house-dems-signal-solidarity-with-obama-in-trade-fight

[2naSalit]

2. So...

just who the hell would vote for legislation that nobody can know what os contained within? Good grief, people! Broad-brush legislation is not a grab-bag novelty situation!