Headed full speed back to the 19th Century - on the TPP express
Last edited Tue Feb 10, 2015, 11:25 AM - Edit history (1)
http://www.salon.com/2015/02/10/robert_reich_america_is_heading_full_speed_back_to_the_19th_century_partner/This Robert Reich column in the link above starts out with, "It was an era when many workers were “happy” to toil twelve-hour days in sweat shops for lack of any better alternative." I read this and thought "twelve-hour days" what I wouldn't give for a ceiling at a mere 12 hours of work a day. When I was in corporate I regularly worked 14-hour days (on salary of course) and stayed connected at home via electronic device.
Says Reich on the Age of the Robber Baron -->
Yep, sounds familiar. This is Reich in high form calling for enforcement of anti-trust laws and a return to protecting labor -- and we ALL agree this is needed.
What's funny about this article on Salon is that was the second piece in their news feed this morning. The FIRST story was by David Dayen called "What POTUS wouldn’t tell Ezra Klein: The scary truth about America’s new trade deal." I'm sure Salon's news feed will shuffle as the day wears on, but this is what I found when doing my morning news read.
http://www.salon.com/2015/02/10/what_potus_didnt_tell_ezra_klein_the_scary_truth_about_americas_new_trade_deal/
In Dayen's words, the TPP -->
Dayen then points out that in the interview POTUS asks us to *trust* those who haven't earned our trust (international monopolies, polluters, ROBBER BARONS), with a trade agreement that's entirely secret.
So right here on the front page of Salon this morning you get the full spectrum of why we're heading straight back to the 19th Century. We're caught in a Catch-22 where the "best of our leaders," (who sounds like a member of the Progressive Caucus on many other issues) is fighting to institute the worst of all possible policies for American families.
I wish I had some insight into why this is so. I wish I could cast my vote for leaders who I could trust to represent me and then sit back and rest assured that they'll be looking out for MY interests in return. But they're not. They're looking out for the interests of modern-day Robber Barons, and things are going to get progressively worse until we put a stop to it.
So, there's no magic leadership formula. Even if we elect Elizabeth Warren for President and take back the House and/or Senate, the time when we could sit back and trust in our leaders to protect us is long gone. At best they need us to loudly support them when they do the right stuff. At worst we have to fight tooth and nail just to survive what's coming down the road.
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Last week on N.P.R. they had a full segment of Diane Rehm on the T.P.P.
One of the "expert guests" was Linda Dempsey of the National Association of Manufacturers -- obviously it was going to be massive propaganda.
There was some reason on the show, but nobody openly challenged Linda Dempsey's massive attempts at misleading the public. A statement by Steven Clemons, a lead editor at the Atlantic, pointed out a central problem with the T.P.P.:
“We have a 260 billion dollar trade deficit with the 11 other countries in the TPP proposal.”
This means that we're importing $260 billion more than we're exporting -- that's 260 billion worth of job-creating economic demand lost each year; when you're importing products, you're not creating them and creating employment -- it's $260 billion of capital that flows away from the U.S. economy every year.
"The 20 countries we have free trade agreements with right now purchase 47% of our exports. We have a trade surplus with our 20 free trade partners including NAFTA." - Linda Dempsey
Notice that she said "exports" and not "net exports" -- so it's completely meaningless propaganda. Public Citizen did an analysis (Scroll down and see the article: "U.S. Trade Deficits Have Grown More Than 440% with FTA Countries, but Declined 16% with Non-FTA Countries"
on the claim that we have a "trade surplus with our 20 free trade partners" and found it to be completely untrue -- it's in fact the opposite.
It's amazing that N.P.R. frequently allows guests from trade associations and other rightwing elements to blatantly lie to the American public. Of course, N.P.R. is always so far to the right that I can't even see it (yes, this is a pun for two separate reasons...)
It looks like an attempt to 'legislate' for the control and profits of resources, labor and the commons, as opposed to invading and bombing for said loot
Either way, not sure the body count won't be just as high
DURec
