GOP Senator Jeff Flake: Congress needs to 'suck up' and pass TPP
Jeff Flake: Congress needs to 'suck up' and pass TPP 'because you know it has to be done'
Allan Smith
Business Insider
Not only Trump and Sanders stand in opposition to TPP, however. Presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, the candidate most aligned with the Obama administration, having served in it as secretary of state, has come out against TPP as it's currently structured.
But Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake told Business Insider during a Wednesday interview that Congress is going to have to "suck up" and ratify the agreement because it simply must be done, even in the face of hostile opposition to trade along the campaign trail.
"I do still think there are enough people that realize we've got to do it," the Arizona Republican said. "Some of those things you just suck up and do it because you know it has to be done. And this is one of them."
The senator said trade has always been something that's harder to sell to the public during an election year because it's "easier to identify those who have lost because of trade," pointing to factories that have closed or relocated.
"Anybody who believes that we're going to grow economically and deal with the huge fiscal problems that we have from shutting ourselves off from the rest of the world is just certainly not what I'd call a Republican," he said. "I mean, we believe in free trade. We still do. NAFTA is not a dirty word."
The GOP is itching to be the party of neoliberalism in spite of Trump. Instead of arguing over TPP in platform fights, the party should hang NAFTA and TPP around the opposition's neck like the albatross it is.
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