Breaking: Dem Sen Sherrod Brown Slams Obama-Backed TPP As 'Massive Sellout of American Workers'

[Catherina]

Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown Slams Obama-Backed TPP As 'Massive Sellout of American Workers'

By David Sirota @davidsirota [e-mail] on October 14 2015 3:24 PM EDT

Democratic senators have typically used deferential language when discussing Obama administration initiatives, even ones they don't support. In that, they have emulated Ronald Reagan's (possibly apocryphal) "Eleventh Commandment" about not publicly attacking members of your own party. But that may be changing with the president's push for a 12-nation trade agreement, known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

In a blast email sent out Wednesday morning, senior Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown -- who represents the all-important swing state of Ohio -- slammed the White House initiative in terms typically reserved for attack ads against Republicans. He declared that Obama’s proposal “is an enormous giveaway to huge corporations and CEOs and a massive sellout of American workers and jobs.”

Brown is now urging voters to sign a petition demanding Obama immediately release the text of the TPP, which was finalized earlier this month. The Obama administration is obligated to release the full text of the agreement before any congressional vote on the TPP, but the administration recently went to court to keep the text secret for the time being. Brown asserted that as a legislator, he needs to see the text immediately.

...

Consumer, privacy and environmental watchdog groups that have reviewed leaked sections of the deal have sounded the alarm about the agreement’s provisions on everything from pharmaceutical patents to copyrights to strengthening corporations legal rights in their challenges against domestic laws.

http://www.ibtimes.com/political-capital/democratic-senator-sherrod-brown-slams-obama-backed-tpp-massive-sellout-american

[irisblue]

1. and this is why he needs to stay in the Senate

[randys1]

2. Good for him! The problem, that NOBODY is addressing, other than Bernie

is if you dont accept terrible terms for low paying jobs as in the TPP, and you further isolate yourself from the world economy, what do you do?

The answer is of course massive protectionism as in tariffs and so on; massive increase in taxes on corps and the rich so we can loan money to start ups here, but NOBODY is even mentioning that, not really.

The only way you do this is a political revolution.

The idiots simply wont accept this kind of change willingly. The idiots being you know, the cons.

[AzDar]

3. Ayup. THANKS, Obama.

[bbgrunt]

4. k and r. I was kind of surprised that Bernie didn't take the

opportunity when queried about how his adm would differ from PBO to say there would be no big corporate trade deals.

[CharlotteVale]

5. Thank you, Sherrod Brown. One of the very few on our side.

[jalan48]

6. It's a big setup.

Negotiations in secret, limited time 'allotted' for public viewing before debate and limitation on the debate time itself in Congress. Why the secrecy, what's the hurry?

[hifiguy]

7. And Senator Brown is

ABSOLUTELY right. In every possible way.

[Doctor_J]

8. The TPP is also backed by Mrs Clinton