Obama Pitches Democrats on Pacific Rim Trade Deal

[Purveyor]

Source: ASSOCIATED PRESS

Oct 21, 8:01 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama promised Democratic lawmakers and others Wednesday they're going to like what they see when the final text of a trade deal with Pacific Rim countries becomes public in coming weeks.

Obama is seeking Democratic support for a deal that would reduce or eliminate thousands of tariffs on U.S. goods shipped to the participating nations, which include Australia, Japan and Vietnam.

But it's not going to be an easy sell with many congressional Democrats. A key base of support, labor unions, worries that the deal would put downward pressure on wages. All of the Democrats running for president are opposing the deal.

The meeting Wednesday at the White House was with those lawmakers who helped pass legislation earlier this year that allows Obama to present Congress with proposed trade agreements that it can ratify or reject but not change. A vote on the Trans-Pacific Partnership is expected in early 2016.

Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_OBAMA_TRADE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-10-21-20-01-37

[Trajan]

1. So yeah, Sen Ron Wyden will be there

Ahole ....

[appalachiablue]

2. Absolutely not.

[mpcamb]

15. You're absolutely right. Corporations benefit from these trade agreements. That's why they write

them.
Don't kid yourself that they're all about magnanimous ideals. They're about money. They're about favorable laws that override the interests of localities, states, governments and populations.

[kelliekat44]

3. So can we at least wait to see what the final agreement actually says and not what others speculate

what it says?

We have already spun the negative and turned people against it BEFORE the actual agreement is finalized. I fear many will not even want to hear or read the final deal since their minds are already made up.

[Art_from_Ark]

12. I have met a man who was involved in the negotiations,

and he says it is a bad, bad deal. He has started an organization to stop the TPP, and has organized many anti-TPP rallies here in Japan.

[randome]

18. And did he say WHY it's bad? Or is this just more nebulous fear?

[hr][font color="blue"][center]Everything is a satellite to some other thing.[/center][/font][hr]

[Art_from_Ark]

24. He has written a book and several papers on why it's bad

And he has given speeches at rallies, like this one:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026753877

[Le Taz Hot]

16. Do you ever ask yourself WHY it's not been released?

Doesn't it bother you that all of this has been negotiated in secret and the parts that have been leaked show that corporations will have authority over governments? Countries will become commodities. Sunlight really is the best disinfectant.

[randome]

17. All treaties are negotiated by...the negotiators! Not you or me.

[hr][font color="blue"][center]Everything is a satellite to some other thing.[/center][/font][hr]

[Le Taz Hot]

21. Non-sequitur

The issue at hand is not who negotiated the TPP (although I notice that labor or ANYONE representing The People was conspicuously absent) but the fact that it was negotiated in secret. What little has been leaked only enriches the oligarchy and usurps entire governments, including our own.

It's amazing to me that every single person on this planet isn't up in arms about this. It literally usurps our Democracy.

[C Moon]

4. "All of the Democrats running for president are opposing the deal."

That about says it.

[Art_from_Ark]

13. Well, one of those Democrats has included a lot of qualifiers in her "opposition"

[randome]

19. 3 people? Not much of a trend, really.

[hr][font color="blue"][center]Everything is a satellite to some other thing.[/center][/font][hr]

[Le Taz Hot]

22. They are responding to what they're hearing

in the field, reading in the newspapers and reading online. The TPP is highly unpopular with the populations in all of the involved nations.

You know, Randome, you really are smarter than this. I've seen you put up logical arguments. Why don't you do it more often?

[GoneFishin]

5. Cheap shit is made there and sold here. Lower tariffs don't do shit for American workers except

guarantee that their jobs will be shipped overseas, or they will have to agree to work for $5 an hour with no pee breaks.

No and fuck no.

[Munificence]

6. I don't see a problem

here coming from my liberal world views. I want you to think of the phrase "White Privilege" and then apply the same ideas to something larger called "U.S Privilege".

WTF is a border anyway? We want those the world over that are poor to be able to raise their standard of living....the only way we can accomplish that goal is to accept that we need to lower our standard of living in the U.S.

We want all to come here seeking a better life, which applies pressure on our wages. Shipping jobs overseas has near the same effect, yet we demonize that.

Please recognize our "U.S Privilege" and agree that we should have a lower standard of living so that others the globe over can rise a bit.


Let's face it, the U.S was set up after the 1st 2 World Wars as most other developed countries were blown all to hell. We prospered in a time where other countries were trying to get their manufacturing companies back on line. China really was not even in play back then, but look how they have developed over the past 25 years - They no longer have to buy the "Made in USA" sticker stuff (they call crap) as they are now making it all in their own factories on their own soil.

Things are rapidly changing here in the U.S. Those Glory days from the 1940's - 2009 days are over and we are never getting those days back.

[GoneFishin]

7. Sure, because the 10 families that own 50% of the world's wealth should get more while people who

have to decide between food or medicine or heating oil should be the ones to cut back.

[brentspeak]

8. "we should have a lower standard of living so that others..."

"...the globe over can rise a bit."

Free free to offer up your livelihood to the overseas worker of your choice.

Feel free to also find another website forum to express your US Chamber of Commerce pro-plutocracy propaganda.

[Munificence]

10. To this I will say

"Equal Pay to Women" and "Wealth redistribution" are things we have kicked around here in the U.S. Well there are a lot of other folks not residing in the U.S that would love to have a higher standard of living. I mean just look at how many cross our borders illegally to come here for a better life/better pay. Why do they have to do that? Spread the wealth across the globe.

"Feel free to also find another website forum to express your US Chamber of Commerce pro-plutocracy propaganda".


Sounds like you are saying "Fuck the rest of the world, I want mine". Such a small word view I see, as long as you can have yours the rest can go to hell? You sure you shouldn't be on one of those repug websites yourself. WOW.

[brentspeak]

11. You can demonstrate how serious you are about wealth redistribution

by offering your job and your savings to a poor foreigner of your choice.

"You sure you shouldn't be on one of those repug websites yourself. WOW."

You obviously were unaware of this, but this is a Democratic website -- "Democratic", as in the American Democratic Party. And one of the (American) Democratic Party's traditional platforms is to grow and protect the livelihoods of American citizens, first and foremost.

Your parroting of US Chamber of Commerce talking points -- combined with your simultaneous complete ignorance concerning the Democratic Party's platform -- leads me to believe that it is you, in fact, who is already quite familiar with those "repug websites".

[Munificence]

14. Well for starters

I've never even heard any of the "US Chamber of Commerce talking points". So stop putting fucking words in my mouth. I, as a free thinking person do require any talking points from either side of the isle to have a view. I know that you obviously need someone to feed you the talking points verses freeing your mind. And the "Democratic Party's Platform" you so much refer to? Oh, you mean like the TPP? President Obama promised a "Fundamental Change" and he's following through with that promise. Bill Clinton gave us NAFTA, so the past two presidents that we put into office were impostors in your view? Or do you maybe think they see the world in a different context? What does that say about your level of intelligence in voting them in? I know I voted for both twice and I was not snookered....you must really feel like a fool for being duped not only once but 4 times....who's the fool?

This is supposed to be a liberal/progressive site, you must be a blue dog Reagan Democrat. You will deny other the same opportunity?

So with your statement, I can assume I am supposed to despise the immigrants that have poured through our southern border? I mean you can't have your cake and eat it too. Or are those livelihoods such as construction, landscaping, road crews, etc "livelihoods" to menial for "American Citizens" to perform in your view?

So we love our Mexican workers here and despise the Indian H1B Visas and moving jobs overseas? No I think you love letting immigrants perform hard work that are below your privilege while despising ones who get a cushy job behind a desk or at a factory. Yeah, It's perfectly fine to sub out the $10-$15 and hour jobs to immigrants, but over $15/hr and you say "enough is enough"? Just what is your threshold? I'd be real interested in that as I guess I need to understand where they hypocrisy point is.

Arrogance, the show once again of "U.S Privilege". You must think that you are some type of "Privileged U.S Trust Fund Baby"

I don't believe in borders, same as I do not believe in the gated communities that the wealthy retreat to each day in their privilege, I assume you must reside in one yourself.

Maybe some day you'll grow, tear down that fence and become a world citizen, until then, I wish you the best in your protectionism and do indeed hope you get a chance to travel abroad some. I know I've been to roughly 20 different countries and the citizens within each are all my brothers and sisters. We are spoiled rotten little privileged brats here in the U.S compared to the rest of the world.

I recently purchased a few hives of bees from a Yemeni immigrant. He told me that of all the folks he has met in the U.S that I was most welcoming one, he had to throw in a statement where he referred to the rest of us as "Little Babies", he said "99% act like little entitled babies that need others to wipe their butts for them".

One day you will grow, free your mind and realize that all need equal opportunities the world over to raise their standard of living, for they are our brothers and sisters of the world. In the meantime our "Traditional Democratic Party Platform" must be blowing the shit out of them, raping their economies and reducing them to a live in a life of squalor is really not a platform that we should be proud of.

"Traditional" you say...pffft..what decade or century are you so desperately trying to hold onto, as I know I abhor a few "traditional" Democratic policies of the past.

[brentspeak]

20. Let's make it easy for you

Please spell out your real name and address

Your employer's name (if still employed) and contact number

We can then post your information to a job-seeker website, and advertise it as

"Enlightened American who considers themself and other American citizens "spoiled brats" wishes to not deny opportunities to non-American citizens: Is willing to give up their job AND their home and life savings to some non-American citizen out there. Please contact (such-and-such), and they will work with employer to offer up livelihood and assets to some foreigner out there so as not to be a "spoiled brat".

I can only assume that if you're not willing to so the above, then we conclude you're being a "spoiled brat"...

[Munificence]

23. "Let's make it easy for you"

Wait, what's this "let's" word you speak of. You've long been top troll of DU.

Good luck.

[brentspeak]

25. And so your pimping of shipping American jobs overseas goes down in a whimper. n/t

[pampango]

9. You'll have a hard time selling the 'we have to sacrifice for the poor' to republicans.

In reality the income of the global poor have increased substantially over the past 25 years. The other group to have benefitted greatly is the top 1%. The group that has suffered is, for the most part, the Western middle class.



Most liberals would look at this graph of global income changes and see that something needs to be done to benefit the Western middle class. The question becomes "Do the changes we recommend to benefit the middle class come at the expense of the global poor 70% or at the expense of the global 1%?" I think I know which option most liberals would choose.