Romney supports Obama's position on the trade initiative. So what do we make of that?

Does that make us more fer it? Or more agin it? Or does no one give a hoot what either the republican or the democrat says?

Anybody who passed their freshman economics course understands the benefits of free trade.  The devil is in the detail and I believe many of the critics of the deal have legitimate concerns.  However, trade allows worldwide prosperity and protectionism dooms productivity to protecting those who have political connections.  Trade requires rules and fairness.  There have been abuses which the critics are addressing especially in currency manipulation which weakens ones currency and allows dumping into a market destroying their factories by cheating on their currency.

The "benefit of free trade" that will cost so many americans their jobs that a special govt aid provision is needed. Lol... you've lost all ability to think critically. We don't even know what's in it except for that... ya goob.

The devil is in the BS riders attached to it

I personally know people who work at John Deere and Caterpillar.....they prosper in open markets and Americas employment goes up as our export markets are huge.   Agriculture has prospered as our exports find open markets.....the only goober are those who lack education and understanding of simple economic tenets.   Trade is good for all.  Cheating with currency manipulation destroys the advantages of free trade and can cause huge economic dislocations.  It is silly to be proud of Goober credentials, it helps if folks understand the issues before they talk, where one had the impression that a person was a fool, only to have the same confirmed when they conclude trade hurts America....it does not, and fair currency adjustments level the playing field.

2seaoat wrote:I personally know people who work at John Deere and Caterpillar.....they prosper in open markets and Americas employment goes up as our export markets are huge.   Agriculture has prospered as our exports find open markets.....the only goober are those who lack education and understanding of simple economic tenets.   Trade is good for all.  Cheating with currency manipulation destroys the advantages of free trade and can cause huge economic dislocations.  It is silly to be proud of Goober credentials, it helps if folks understand the issues before they talk, where one had the impression that a person was a fool, only to have the same confirmed when they conclude trade hurts America....it does not, and fair currency adjustments level the playing field.

Our agriculture is a joke, as more and more countries refuse to import GMO's and/or grow them. Meanwhile, the "soylent green" is causing obesity and a number of other health problems, and we can't even get labeling of these products. Roundup is agent orange...the runoff is polluting our air and water. States like Oregon that try to produce exclusively organic products face a massive pushback from Monsanto, Sygenta and Bayer. We have an export deficit. We need to buy products Made in the USA...and we need our manufacturing back...that people like Mitt Romney (for one) sent overseas.

http://www.citizen.org/TPP

Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP): Job Loss, Lower Wages and Higher Drug Prices

Have you heard? The TPP is a massive, controversial "free trade" agreement currently being pushed by big corporations and negotiated behind closed doors by officials from the United States and 11 other countries – Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam.
The TPP would expand the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) "trade" pact model that has spurred massive U.S. trade deficits and job loss, downward pressure on wages, unprecedented levels of inequality and new floods of agricultural imports. The TPP not only replicates, but expands NAFTA's special protections for firms that offshore U.S. jobs. And U.S. TPP negotiators literally used the 2011 Korea FTA – under which exports have fallen and trade deficits have surged – as the template for the TPP.
In one fell swoop, this secretive deal could:

offshore American jobs and increase income inequality,
jack up the cost of medicines,
sneak in SOPA-like threats to Internet freedom,
and empower corporations to attack our environmental and health safeguards.
expose the U.S. to unsafe food and products,
roll back Wall Street reforms,
ban Buy American policies needed to create green jobs,





Although it is called a "free trade" agreement, the TPP is not mainly about trade. Of TPP's 29 draft chapters, only five deal with traditional trade issues. One chapter would provide incentives to offshore jobs to low-wage countries. Many would impose limits on government policies that we rely on in our daily lives for safe food, a clean environment, and more. Our domestic federal, state and local policies would be required to comply with TPP rules.

left
The TPP would even elevate individual foreign firms to equal status with sovereign nations, empowering them to privately enforce new rights and privileges, provided by the pact, by dragging governments to foreign tribunals to challenge public interest policies that they claim frustrate their expectations. The tribunals would be authorized to order taxpayer compensation to the foreign corporations for the "expected future profits" they surmise would be inhibited by the challenged policies.

We only know about the TPP's threats thanks to leaks – the public is not allowed to see the draft TPP text. Even members of Congress, after being denied the text for years, are now only provided limited access. Meanwhile, more than 500 official corporate "trade advisors" have special access. The TPP has been under negotiation for six years, and the Obama administration wants to sign the deal this year. Opposition to the TPP is growing at home and in many of the other countries involved.

Se puede encontrar recursos en español aquí.

TPP Corporate Empowerment Map: See which foreign corporations near you could use NAFTA-style investor rights to challenge laws and regulations under the TPP
Factsheet Series: Learn how the TPP's investment rules harm Public Access to Essential Services, Public Health and the Environment
Map: What Would the TPP Mean For Your State?
Find out more on the blog: Read the latest on the TPP on Eyes on Trade

If only you had been so interested in disclosure and govt transparency during the obamacaid "process".

A little bit of consistency and a sense of fair play would be a welcome change from leftists.

Bob wrote:Does that make us more fer it?  Or more agin it?  Or does no one give a hoot what either the republican or the democrat says?

Romney was a loser and so is Obama.

Romney was a loser and so is Obama.


I am confused....this is beginning to sound like the NBA thread....I thought somebody actually won.