Senator Warren hits back at Obama in Pacific Rim trade fight
Source: Reuters
U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren hit back at President Barack Obama in their tussle over "fast track" power to negotiate a Pacific Rim trade treaty, a power she says could be used in the future to weaken Wall Street reforms.
The president, who wants the expedited negotiating power, said last week that Warren's claims were "absolutely wrong." [ID:nL1N0Y00K3]
Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat and prominent liberal voice, stuck to her argument in an interview published on Monday with a left-leaning Washington Post blog, saying Obama should release details of the Pacific trade talks so legal experts can determine if it could be used to weaken U.S. bank rules.
"If the president is so confident it's a good deal, he should declassify the text and let people see it before asking Congress to tie its hands on fixing it," Warren said in the interview with the Plum Line blog.
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/11/us-trade-obama-warren-idUSKBN0NW1N020150511
BillZBubb
(10,650 posts)If Obama shows it, it won't be secret anymore.
erronis
(15,355 posts)You know, Right To Know, Eyes-Only, etc. Maybe he's afraid that pocketed congress-critters already know more than he does and he doesn't want to look foolish. If the best he can say is she is "absolutely wrong", that sounds like schoolyard banter. Jest 'cause.
Why does a lame-duck black president need to see what the top corporations are crafting? He's not going to be around and he may leak the contents to his Muslim brothers in Kenya.
roguevalley
(40,656 posts)BrotherIvan
(9,126 posts)Wow, good for her. That's some guts. I think she will probably lose and be out maneuvered with a little help from Republicans, but I do like someone who stands her ground.
ashling
(25,771 posts)Kelvin Mace
(17,469 posts)Oh wait, six and seven figure jobs after he leaves office.
Never mind.
SoapBox
(18,791 posts)There is something really wrong with those deals.
historylovr
(1,557 posts)that not only is this what he chooses to really fight for, but that this is the tactic he chooses.
Baitball Blogger
(46,758 posts)No reason to stop being cynical.
SoapBox
(18,791 posts)And I'm more and more disgusted with the President over this.
Your argument isn't sufficient, then you attack the messenger. There must be something in the TPP that will repel the American people if it is exposed. I can understand secrecy while negotiations are in progress, but once they end and a decision is to be made then anyone who will be effected has a right to see what's coming. Those who represent us must vote based on knowledgeable information and they need to be allowed to not only see what's in the trade agreement, they must explain their position on it and how they will vote. Personally I'm a bit disturbed at the presidents acquiescence to Nike and it's horrible human rights record, but will believe he had a good reason for what he did. That said, I hope Nike being exposed once again will bring pressure on them and those that support Nike. I try not to buy things I know are of suspect origin but I'm rarely very successful, it is an unavoidable global economy that is swarming over us, just like global warming is bringing about undeniable climate change consequences. I hope senator Warren is successful in bringing light to this issue before we again find ourselves trapped in a nationally harmful agreement..
fbc
(1,668 posts)We can't expect the few members of congress who read it completely to catch every little thing hidden away inside it.
chknltl
(10,558 posts)I am not the trusting type, President Obama might think I am but he is wrong. I am with Senator Warren in this matter, declassify this deal.
Demeter
(85,373 posts)and a wise government won't force us to use them. Anybody seen a wise government around, lately?
Geronimoe
(1,539 posts)the Banksters have told Obama it is so.
Notice how Obama can not give any specifics about the deal, as if even he has not been allowed into the loop of what it is.
Obama economic policies are Reaganomics (trickle down) on steroids.
immoderate
(20,885 posts)--imm
Plucketeer
(12,882 posts)and then some! If this is transparency in governing, then I can see right thru iron lenses!
Art_from_Ark
(27,247 posts)and TPP is his version of "voodoo economics".
CharlotteVale
(2,717 posts)FlatBaroque
(3,160 posts)Gregorian
(23,867 posts)I always thought that was code for "I'm not rocking the boat unless you all demand it."
The biggest problem facing us is apathy. I think a lot more people are paying attention than it appears. Somehow our thoughts don't make it up the chain of representation. Other times, they're ignored.
jwirr
(39,215 posts)needed help rocking the boat.
I have also wondered if he really does not want this thing to pass. Attacking Elisabeth Warren whom must of us love is not the way to get support.
polichick
(37,152 posts)and he just gets pissy - looks like that line was just campaign rhetoric.
Gregorian
(23,867 posts)I can't buy the possible outcome of a secret trade negotiation as being for our benefit. If it were, I am certain it would be broadcast far and wide.
Ichingcarpenter
(36,988 posts)Angry Dragon
(36,693 posts)grahamhgreen
(15,741 posts)It includes the end of sovereignty for America labor, they can be overturned by corporate courts
Angry Dragon
(36,693 posts)If there is nothing to hide, why are they hiding it??
SusanCalvin
(6,592 posts)Hoyt
(54,770 posts)daleanime
(17,796 posts)and start this debate then. Why push so hard for an unfinished product that you won't let people see?
Hoyt
(54,770 posts)finished? Some politicians and lobby groups are trying to make a name for themselves or increase membership.
I love it when they criticize aspects of this "secretive agreement" that they seem to know everything about.
daleanime
(17,796 posts)I'll at least have gotten a laugh out of it.
Just between us, were you really able to keep a straight face while typing that.
Hoyt
(54,770 posts)people are incompetent.
daleanime
(17,796 posts)JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)weigh in on it.
If our members of Congress and business leaders can see it, why can't we?
Makes no sense. The only possible reason is that if we saw it we would be very upset about what Obama is trying to foist upon us.
Hoyt
(54,770 posts)if you look. You guys just wanna criticize.
We've seen all the lies about how bad it is, but most folks know better.
A Simple Game
(9,214 posts)So maybe the President didn't want it but he asked for it.
Hoyt
(54,770 posts)You think any of the countries would have talked to us if they thought our Congress could pick everything apart from font size, to whether Obama gets credit.
A Simple Game
(9,214 posts)by OKing fast track. So you think we should bypass our laws before we even enact an agreement that will bypass our laws?
Do I think any of the countries would have talked to us? You and the President need to realize we are still the biggest market in the world, we should own these negotiations and not be giving away everything our labor and environmentalists have worked for years to improve.
Hoyt
(54,770 posts)I do think it is unfair to expect a poor country to adopt the same standards we have now, but didn't have at a similar point in our development. To do so, hamstrings them from ever progressing. Sadly, I think that is what some here want.
grahamhgreen
(15,741 posts)Hoyt
(54,770 posts)Angry Dragon
(36,693 posts)just summaries there
Most treaties are secret during the negotiating process (so there's a lot of showboating going on about the secrecy surrounding the unreleased agreement that has not been reached yet), but there clearly is a track record of multilateral trade deals during the last three decades undermining US sovereignty and increasing US unemployment. We've been taught in college that protectionism is bad, but the reality is that globalism is worse because it increases the power of global multinational corporations at the expense of US national interests. Global multinational corporations today represent a greater threat to US national security than the Islamic State and on a daily basis take more US lives through corrupt life endangering practices, i.e., enjoy your salmonella-laced, hormone-filled, steroid-fortified, mercury-based fish dinner. Brakes working in your Prius today?
Fact is that these companies view all of us as wage slaves in the same way they see the workers building your iPhone. They are looking for a wage market correction so they may building in the States again one day and get all those sweet corporate tax subsides again.
JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)Jesus Malverde
(10,274 posts)GoneFishin
(5,217 posts)Thespian2
(2,741 posts)simple: put up or shut up. Publish the damn thing!
Oh, I am sorry...you are the same guy that introduced CPI...Oh, and forgot all about single-payer health care...should have recognized you...
Major Hogwash
(17,656 posts). . . how disingenuous this makes her look?
Has she even read it yet?
JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)There is something wrong when members of Congress and the representatives of multinational corporations can see an agreement, participate in drafting it but we, the voters, the citizens cannot. That, right there, is a sure sign that the agreement stinks.
Hoyt
(54,770 posts)libdem4life
(13,877 posts)desire to read it, but I insist that my representatives...not necessarily from my state, but Progressive representatives...the ONLY ones that speak for me...do so and report back to us. There is nothing "sinister" or "uneducated" about that. It's called Representative Democracy...not trudge up to Washington and read everything.
Hoyt
(54,770 posts)innovation, our social safety-nets, etc. Refusing to trade, won't do that.
libdem4life
(13,877 posts)JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)I'm not the only one. Here is what Dean Baker has to say about it.
In writing,
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dean-baker/the-march-trade-deficit-a_b_7261570.html
And here is a great interview of Dean Baker on this topic, interview by Ian Masters of Pcifica.
http://ianmasters.com/sites/default/files/bbriefing_2015_05_12b_dean%20baker.mp3
Hoyt
(54,770 posts)JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)He is right. I don't care how many free trade idiots you line up that are paid or fooled into supporting "free" trade, it is not good for the US, not good for constitutional government, not good for American workers, not good for the environment.
No to the TPP.
Hoyt
(54,770 posts)JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)When I hear the term, "expert" used to refer to someone who advocates for "free" trade and does not warn about its dangers, I have to laugh.
The free trade advocates are spouting theories that have been proven untrue when put into practice.
wordpix
(18,652 posts)Why is a trade deal classified in the first place? We the workers have the right to see how this deal will impact us, and so do the taxpayers. Not all of us want supercheap crap that harms workers (whether overseas or in the US) and the environment.
BigBearJohn
(11,410 posts)Shows how desperate Obama is.
Demeter
(85,373 posts)if more proof was needed.
libdem4life
(13,877 posts)various other things that The Taxpaying Public have no duty or, frankly, interest in.
stonecutter357
(12,697 posts)NorthCarolina
(11,197 posts)over TPP. Imagine if he had been as determined in fighting for a public option during healthcare debates.
Beowulf42
(205 posts)I've got to side with Sen. Warren on this one.
libdem4life
(13,877 posts)Hoyt
(54,770 posts)libdem4life
(13,877 posts)Gullible Dems...cute.