If the new trade deals with Korea and South America are so wonderful.. how come they have to create another slush fund to re-train displaced workers?
TAA (Trade Adjustment Assitance)
Could it be they already KNOW thousands more jobs will go offshore? Peterson Institute for Economics. Is that the same Pete Peterson who told Obama to gut Social Security and Medicare?
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Analysis: Obama's trade legacy in a crucible this fall
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/02/us-usa-obama-trade-idUSTRE7814CZ20110902LABOR OPPOSITION
Still, Congress' approval of the South Korea, Colombia and Panama deals is not assured.
Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO labor federation which opposes the deals, boasted on Wednesday that opponents may have the votes to stop the pacts, which they see as a threat to U.S. jobs. "I think we have a real shot at it," Trumka said.
In addition to the challenge from organized labor, Obama must persuade Republicans focusing on spending cuts to renew a retraining program for displaced workers known as Trade Adjustment Assistance. This is critical to gaining enough Democratic votes in the Senate to approve the trade pacts.
But "if the administration spends the effort and actually finishes the job (the trade deals) with Congress, that will send a very positive signal," said Jeffrey Schott, a senior fellow at the
Peterson Institute for International Economics