2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: Clinton's opposition to the TPP is insulting [View all]Jim Lane
(11,175 posts)First, Clinton announced her sort-of opposition to the TPP immediately after the text had been finalized -- but before it had been publicly released. She tried to give the impression that her previous oft-reiterated support had applied to an earlier version and that her flipflop was based on seeing the final text. She hadn't actually seen it, though, and she's never said how the final text supposedly differs from the version she had been touting. (In this thread, one of her supporters has mentioned currency manipulation. That's a red herring. The U.S. Trade Representative said quite a while back that currency manipulation wasn't in the agreement. The Secretary of the Treasury said that there was so much opposition to including it that the U.S. wasn't even trying to get it in. So please don't further insult our intelligence by pretending that Clinton switched when somehow, to her great surprise, the bumbling Obama administration bargained away a currency manipulation provision.)
Second, it's worth noting how, in the televised debate, she lied. (Oops, we can't say she lied. The Clinton supporters' delicate sensibilities will be offended. Let me try again.) Second, it's worth noting how, in the televised debate, she gave an account that did not accord with the documented record. What she said in 2012 was: "This TPP sets the gold standard in trade agreements to open free, transparent, fair trade, the kind of environment that has the rule of law and a level playing field." What she said in 2015 was: "I did say, when I was secretary of state, three years ago, that I hoped it would be the gold standard." Politifact very charitably gives her a Half True for a phrasing that "doesnt exactly match up to her prior comments" and for "twisting her 2012 remarks a bit" by switching from the definitive statement she actually made to the claim that she'd merely expressed a hope. See "What Hillary Clinton really said about TPP and the 'gold standard'" for a lot more detail.
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