NAFTA and TPP

[LoneLaugher]

Let me start by repeating something that I've said hundreds of times over the past few years.

"Prior to the 1980's, the US was the world's leading importer of raw materials and the world's leading exporter of finished goods. The irresponsible trade policies of the Reagan, Clinton and Bush administrations led to a reversal of that equation. We are now the world's leading exporter of raw materials and the world's leading importer of finished goods."

I used that argument to rail against trade deals like NAFTA as I viewed them as being responsible for our losing our manufacturing base....and the good jobs that came with it.

While I am not going to say that I was wrong about that.....I am going to say that my recent research into these trade policies has caused me to soften my view of them.

Here is why.

These trade deals are not.....I have come to realize... simply trade deals. They are national security deals and they determine much more than the dollars and cents of trade. They determine whether or not it is OUR influence which shapes the geo-political nature of the areas involved or if it is someone else's.

For example...NAFTA has greatly stabilized the economy of Mexico and has quite permanently cemented relations between our nation and Mexico.....with OUR influence pertaining to human rights and international law being the primary influence. Our norms have become theirs.

The same is true when it comes to the TPP. Only....in this case....if we don't assert our influence in the region......CHINA most certainly will. If we wish to maintain dominance over China....I believe that our interests are better served if our norms...and not theirs.....become the standard when it comes to relations between the nations involved.

So.....as liberals are known to do.....I have taken new information into account and have decided that I am not absolutely opposed to the TPP. I will be looking at the safeguards which will help reduce job loss and the plans for augmenting any loss with plans for retraining. If those are sufficient....I will be open to lobbying for passage.

Any thoughts?

 

[westwall]

Let me start by repeating something that I've said hundreds of times over the past few years.

"Prior to the 1980's, the US was the world's leading importer of raw materials and the world's leading exporter of finished goods. The irresponsible trade policies of the Reagan, Clinton and Bush administrations led to a reversal of that equation. We are now the world's leading exporter of raw materials and the world's leading importer of finished goods."

I used that argument to rail against trade deals like NAFTA as I viewed them as being responsible for our losing our manufacturing base....and the good jobs that came with it.

While I am not going to say that I was wrong about that.....I am going to say that my recent research into these trade policies has caused me to soften my view of them.

Here is why.

These trade deals are not.....I have come to realize... simply trade deals. They are national security deals and they determine much more than the dollars and cents of trade. They determine whether or not it is OUR influence which shapes the geo-political nature of the areas involved or if it is someone else's.

For example...NAFTA has greatly stabilized the economy of Mexico and has quite permanently cemented relations between our nation and Mexico.....with OUR influence pertaining to human rights and international law being the primary influence. Our norms have become theirs.

The same is true when it comes to the TPP. Only....in this case....if we don't assert our influence in the region......CHINA most certainly will. If we wish to maintain dominance over China....I believe that our interests are better served if our norms...and not theirs.....become the standard when it comes to relations between the nations involved.

So.....as liberals are known to do.....I have taken new information into account and have decided that I am not absolutely opposed to the TPP. I will be looking at the safeguards which will help reduce job loss and the plans for augmenting any loss with plans for retraining. If those are sufficient....I will be open to lobbying for passage.

Any thoughts?

Yes, we traded short term cheap security, for long term misery, weakness, and eventual collapse. The trade deals have benefited the globalists, and the wealthiest of the one percenters, but has led to the wholesale destruction of the American manufacturing base, and the conversion of the USA from a manufacturing based economy to a service based economy.

 

[Wyatt earp]

Lone the writing was on the wall in the 70s the world was catching up to us after WWII, our prosperity was a fluke in history.

What else could they do to stop the mass exodus of jobs?

 

[LoneLaugher]

Let me start by repeating something that I've said hundreds of times over the past few years.

"Prior to the 1980's, the US was the world's leading importer of raw materials and the world's leading exporter of finished goods. The irresponsible trade policies of the Reagan, Clinton and Bush administrations led to a reversal of that equation. We are now the world's leading exporter of raw materials and the world's leading importer of finished goods."

I used that argument to rail against trade deals like NAFTA as I viewed them as being responsible for our losing our manufacturing base....and the good jobs that came with it.

While I am not going to say that I was wrong about that.....I am going to say that my recent research into these trade policies has caused me to soften my view of them.

Here is why.

These trade deals are not.....I have come to realize... simply trade deals. They are national security deals and they determine much more than the dollars and cents of trade. They determine whether or not it is OUR influence which shapes the geo-political nature of the areas involved or if it is someone else's.

For example...NAFTA has greatly stabilized the economy of Mexico and has quite permanently cemented relations between our nation and Mexico.....with OUR influence pertaining to human rights and international law being the primary influence. Our norms have become theirs.

The same is true when it comes to the TPP. Only....in this case....if we don't assert our influence in the region......CHINA most certainly will. If we wish to maintain dominance over China....I believe that our interests are better served if our norms...and not theirs.....become the standard when it comes to relations between the nations involved.

So.....as liberals are known to do.....I have taken new information into account and have decided that I am not absolutely opposed to the TPP. I will be looking at the safeguards which will help reduce job loss and the plans for augmenting any loss with plans for retraining. If those are sufficient....I will be open to lobbying for passage.

Any thoughts?

Yes, we traded short term cheap security, for long term misery, weakness, and eventual collapse. The trade deals have benefited the globalists, and the wealthiest of the one percenters, but has led to the wholesale destruction of the American manufacturing base, and the conversion of the USA from a manufacturing based economy to a service based economy.

It is all so simple, isn't it?!

Try harder. You just argued the same thing that I have argued in the past.

I think you could benefit, as I have, from a bit of research. Maybe.

 

[LoneLaugher]

Lone the writing was on the wall in the 70s the world was catching up to us after WWII, our prosperity was a fluke in history.

What else could they do to stop the mass exodus of jobs?

I'm thinking you didn't read the whole post.

 

[TooTall]

Let me start by repeating something that I've said hundreds of times over the past few years.

"Prior to the 1980's, the US was the world's leading importer of raw materials and the world's leading exporter of finished goods. The irresponsible trade policies of the Reagan, Clinton and Bush administrations led to a reversal of that equation. We are now the world's leading exporter of raw materials and the world's leading importer of finished goods."

I used that argument to rail against trade deals like NAFTA as I viewed them as being responsible for our losing our manufacturing base....and the good jobs that came with it.

While I am not going to say that I was wrong about that.....I am going to say that my recent research into these trade policies has caused me to soften my view of them.

Here is why.

These trade deals are not.....I have come to realize... simply trade deals. They are national security deals and they determine much more than the dollars and cents of trade. They determine whether or not it is OUR influence which shapes the geo-political nature of the areas involved or if it is someone else's.

For example...NAFTA has greatly stabilized the economy of Mexico and has quite permanently cemented relations between our nation and Mexico.....with OUR influence pertaining to human rights and international law being the primary influence. Our norms have become theirs.

The same is true when it comes to the TPP. Only....in this case....if we don't assert our influence in the region......CHINA most certainly will. If we wish to maintain dominance over China....I believe that our interests are better served if our norms...and not theirs.....become the standard when it comes to relations between the nations involved.

So.....as liberals are known to do.....I have taken new information into account and have decided that I am not absolutely opposed to the TPP. I will be looking at the safeguards which will help reduce job loss and the plans for augmenting any loss with plans for retraining. If those are sufficient....I will be open to lobbying for passage.

Any thoughts?

Here is why. Bill Clinton signed NAFTA and Hillary is all for TPP. Period

 

[Wyatt earp]

Lone the writing was on the wall in the 70s the world was catching up to us after WWII, our prosperity was a fluke in history.

What else could they do to stop the mass exodus of jobs?

I'm thinking you didn't read the whole post.

I did read it...

.CHINA most certainly will. If we wish to maintain dominance over China....I believe that our interests are better served if our norms...and not theirs.....become the standard when it comes to relations between the nations involved.

Especially this one, yea Russia and China is going towards democracy , Mexico is going forward not backwards...

We are bringing third world nations up with these trade agreements .

I have read so much on China and there manufacturing and wages being raised...that countries like Vietnam are under cutting them..

In time they too will also be undercut by some African countries..

Its a manufacturing circle that started in Europe and will run it's circle across the globe.

 

[L.K.Eder]

I hate reading, and i also hate hitlery.

 

[westwall]

Let me start by repeating something that I've said hundreds of times over the past few years.

"Prior to the 1980's, the US was the world's leading importer of raw materials and the world's leading exporter of finished goods. The irresponsible trade policies of the Reagan, Clinton and Bush administrations led to a reversal of that equation. We are now the world's leading exporter of raw materials and the world's leading importer of finished goods."

I used that argument to rail against trade deals like NAFTA as I viewed them as being responsible for our losing our manufacturing base....and the good jobs that came with it.

While I am not going to say that I was wrong about that.....I am going to say that my recent research into these trade policies has caused me to soften my view of them.

Here is why.

These trade deals are not.....I have come to realize... simply trade deals. They are national security deals and they determine much more than the dollars and cents of trade. They determine whether or not it is OUR influence which shapes the geo-political nature of the areas involved or if it is someone else's.

For example...NAFTA has greatly stabilized the economy of Mexico and has quite permanently cemented relations between our nation and Mexico.....with OUR influence pertaining to human rights and international law being the primary influence. Our norms have become theirs.

The same is true when it comes to the TPP. Only....in this case....if we don't assert our influence in the region......CHINA most certainly will. If we wish to maintain dominance over China....I believe that our interests are better served if our norms...and not theirs.....become the standard when it comes to relations between the nations involved.

So.....as liberals are known to do.....I have taken new information into account and have decided that I am not absolutely opposed to the TPP. I will be looking at the safeguards which will help reduce job loss and the plans for augmenting any loss with plans for retraining. If those are sufficient....I will be open to lobbying for passage.

Any thoughts?

Yes, we traded short term cheap security, for long term misery, weakness, and eventual collapse. The trade deals have benefited the globalists, and the wealthiest of the one percenters, but has led to the wholesale destruction of the American manufacturing base, and the conversion of the USA from a manufacturing based economy to a service based economy.

It is all so simple, isn't it?!

Try harder. You just argued the same thing that I have argued in the past.

I think you could benefit, as I have, from a bit of research. Maybe.

I have done the research. Probably before you were born. Twenty years ago pretty much everything I bought was made here in the USA. Now it is nearly impossible to find anything that is made here. Walmart has virtually forced the manufacturing over to China so that they could have the cheapest prices, the problem with that is the manufacturing sector pays the best. That sector is disappearing. Thus those high paying jobs are disappearing as well.

NAFTA, and TPP are nothing more than assaults on the middle class of the USA. The wealthiest one percent make their money no matter what. Whether the markets go up or down truly doesn't matter to them. The middle class on the other hand, when the markets go down lose. They lose value in their retirement programs, and their 401K's etc. The rich don't care about any of that. The manufacturing sector is a bridge between the one percent and the poor. That sector is under attack by the globalists.

 

[LoneLaugher]

Let me start by repeating something that I've said hundreds of times over the past few years.

"Prior to the 1980's, the US was the world's leading importer of raw materials and the world's leading exporter of finished goods. The irresponsible trade policies of the Reagan, Clinton and Bush administrations led to a reversal of that equation. We are now the world's leading exporter of raw materials and the world's leading importer of finished goods."

I used that argument to rail against trade deals like NAFTA as I viewed them as being responsible for our losing our manufacturing base....and the good jobs that came with it.

While I am not going to say that I was wrong about that.....I am going to say that my recent research into these trade policies has caused me to soften my view of them.

Here is why.

These trade deals are not.....I have come to realize... simply trade deals. They are national security deals and they determine much more than the dollars and cents of trade. They determine whether or not it is OUR influence which shapes the geo-political nature of the areas involved or if it is someone else's.

For example...NAFTA has greatly stabilized the economy of Mexico and has quite permanently cemented relations between our nation and Mexico.....with OUR influence pertaining to human rights and international law being the primary influence. Our norms have become theirs.

The same is true when it comes to the TPP. Only....in this case....if we don't assert our influence in the region......CHINA most certainly will. If we wish to maintain dominance over China....I believe that our interests are better served if our norms...and not theirs.....become the standard when it comes to relations between the nations involved.

So.....as liberals are known to do.....I have taken new information into account and have decided that I am not absolutely opposed to the TPP. I will be looking at the safeguards which will help reduce job loss and the plans for augmenting any loss with plans for retraining. If those are sufficient....I will be open to lobbying for passage.

Any thoughts?

Here is why. Bill Clinton signed NAFTA and Hillary is all for TPP. Period

Such clandestine messaging. It makes one wonder if you've got a thoughtful opinion on the matter...or if you just wanted to say something that passed as a hit on Clinton.

You didn't say anything, bro. Wanna try again?

 

[LoneLaugher]

Let me start by repeating something that I've said hundreds of times over the past few years.

"Prior to the 1980's, the US was the world's leading importer of raw materials and the world's leading exporter of finished goods. The irresponsible trade policies of the Reagan, Clinton and Bush administrations led to a reversal of that equation. We are now the world's leading exporter of raw materials and the world's leading importer of finished goods."

I used that argument to rail against trade deals like NAFTA as I viewed them as being responsible for our losing our manufacturing base....and the good jobs that came with it.

While I am not going to say that I was wrong about that.....I am going to say that my recent research into these trade policies has caused me to soften my view of them.

Here is why.

These trade deals are not.....I have come to realize... simply trade deals. They are national security deals and they determine much more than the dollars and cents of trade. They determine whether or not it is OUR influence which shapes the geo-political nature of the areas involved or if it is someone else's.

For example...NAFTA has greatly stabilized the economy of Mexico and has quite permanently cemented relations between our nation and Mexico.....with OUR influence pertaining to human rights and international law being the primary influence. Our norms have become theirs.

The same is true when it comes to the TPP. Only....in this case....if we don't assert our influence in the region......CHINA most certainly will. If we wish to maintain dominance over China....I believe that our interests are better served if our norms...and not theirs.....become the standard when it comes to relations between the nations involved.

So.....as liberals are known to do.....I have taken new information into account and have decided that I am not absolutely opposed to the TPP. I will be looking at the safeguards which will help reduce job loss and the plans for augmenting any loss with plans for retraining. If those are sufficient....I will be open to lobbying for passage.

Any thoughts?

Yes, we traded short term cheap security, for long term misery, weakness, and eventual collapse. The trade deals have benefited the globalists, and the wealthiest of the one percenters, but has led to the wholesale destruction of the American manufacturing base, and the conversion of the USA from a manufacturing based economy to a service based economy.

It is all so simple, isn't it?!

Try harder. You just argued the same thing that I have argued in the past.

I think you could benefit, as I have, from a bit of research. Maybe.

I have done the research. Probably before you were born. Twenty years ago pretty much everything I bought was made here in the USA. Now it is nearly impossible to find anything that is made here. Walmart has virtually forced the manufacturing over to China so that they could have the cheapest prices, the problem with that is the manufacturing sector pays the best. That sector is disappearing. Thus those high paying jobs are disappearing as well.

NAFTA, and TPP are nothing more than assaults on the middle class of the USA. The wealthiest one percent make their money no matter what. Whether the markets go up or down truly doesn't matter to them. The middle class on the other hand, when the markets go down lose. They lose value in their retirement programs, and their 401K's etc. The rich don't care about any of that. The manufacturing sector is a bridge between the one percent and the poor. That sector is under attack by the globalists.

You are so smart! What was I thinking?

 

[TooTall]

Let me start by repeating something that I've said hundreds of times over the past few years.

"Prior to the 1980's, the US was the world's leading importer of raw materials and the world's leading exporter of finished goods. The irresponsible trade policies of the Reagan, Clinton and Bush administrations led to a reversal of that equation. We are now the world's leading exporter of raw materials and the world's leading importer of finished goods."

I used that argument to rail against trade deals like NAFTA as I viewed them as being responsible for our losing our manufacturing base....and the good jobs that came with it.

While I am not going to say that I was wrong about that.....I am going to say that my recent research into these trade policies has caused me to soften my view of them.

Here is why.

These trade deals are not.....I have come to realize... simply trade deals. They are national security deals and they determine much more than the dollars and cents of trade. They determine whether or not it is OUR influence which shapes the geo-political nature of the areas involved or if it is someone else's.

For example...NAFTA has greatly stabilized the economy of Mexico and has quite permanently cemented relations between our nation and Mexico.....with OUR influence pertaining to human rights and international law being the primary influence. Our norms have become theirs.

The same is true when it comes to the TPP. Only....in this case....if we don't assert our influence in the region......CHINA most certainly will. If we wish to maintain dominance over China....I believe that our interests are better served if our norms...and not theirs.....become the standard when it comes to relations between the nations involved.

So.....as liberals are known to do.....I have taken new information into account and have decided that I am not absolutely opposed to the TPP. I will be looking at the safeguards which will help reduce job loss and the plans for augmenting any loss with plans for retraining. If those are sufficient....I will be open to lobbying for passage.

Any thoughts?

Here is why. Bill Clinton signed NAFTA and Hillary is all for TPP. Period

Such clandestine messaging. It makes one wonder if you've got a thoughtful opinion on the matter...or if you just wanted to say something that passed as a hit on Clinton.

You didn't say anything, bro. Wanna try again?

That wasn't as much a hit on Clinton as it was a hit on you.

 

[LoneLaugher]

Let me start by repeating something that I've said hundreds of times over the past few years.

"Prior to the 1980's, the US was the world's leading importer of raw materials and the world's leading exporter of finished goods. The irresponsible trade policies of the Reagan, Clinton and Bush administrations led to a reversal of that equation. We are now the world's leading exporter of raw materials and the world's leading importer of finished goods."

I used that argument to rail against trade deals like NAFTA as I viewed them as being responsible for our losing our manufacturing base....and the good jobs that came with it.

While I am not going to say that I was wrong about that.....I am going to say that my recent research into these trade policies has caused me to soften my view of them.

Here is why.

These trade deals are not.....I have come to realize... simply trade deals. They are national security deals and they determine much more than the dollars and cents of trade. They determine whether or not it is OUR influence which shapes the geo-political nature of the areas involved or if it is someone else's.

For example...NAFTA has greatly stabilized the economy of Mexico and has quite permanently cemented relations between our nation and Mexico.....with OUR influence pertaining to human rights and international law being the primary influence. Our norms have become theirs.

The same is true when it comes to the TPP. Only....in this case....if we don't assert our influence in the region......CHINA most certainly will. If we wish to maintain dominance over China....I believe that our interests are better served if our norms...and not theirs.....become the standard when it comes to relations between the nations involved.

So.....as liberals are known to do.....I have taken new information into account and have decided that I am not absolutely opposed to the TPP. I will be looking at the safeguards which will help reduce job loss and the plans for augmenting any loss with plans for retraining. If those are sufficient....I will be open to lobbying for passage.

Any thoughts?

Here is why. Bill Clinton signed NAFTA and Hillary is all for TPP. Period

Such clandestine messaging. It makes one wonder if you've got a thoughtful opinion on the matter...or if you just wanted to say something that passed as a hit on Clinton.

You didn't say anything, bro. Wanna try again?

That wasn't as much a hit on Clinton as it was a hit on you.

Yeah. You still haven't said anything. It isn't a crime to admit that you don't know about a subject. You should try it in an effort to gain some respect.

 

[TooTall]

Let me start by repeating something that I've said hundreds of times over the past few years.

"Prior to the 1980's, the US was the world's leading importer of raw materials and the world's leading exporter of finished goods. The irresponsible trade policies of the Reagan, Clinton and Bush administrations led to a reversal of that equation. We are now the world's leading exporter of raw materials and the world's leading importer of finished goods."

I used that argument to rail against trade deals like NAFTA as I viewed them as being responsible for our losing our manufacturing base....and the good jobs that came with it.

While I am not going to say that I was wrong about that.....I am going to say that my recent research into these trade policies has caused me to soften my view of them.

Here is why.

These trade deals are not.....I have come to realize... simply trade deals. They are national security deals and they determine much more than the dollars and cents of trade. They determine whether or not it is OUR influence which shapes the geo-political nature of the areas involved or if it is someone else's.

For example...NAFTA has greatly stabilized the economy of Mexico and has quite permanently cemented relations between our nation and Mexico.....with OUR influence pertaining to human rights and international law being the primary influence. Our norms have become theirs.

The same is true when it comes to the TPP. Only....in this case....if we don't assert our influence in the region......CHINA most certainly will. If we wish to maintain dominance over China....I believe that our interests are better served if our norms...and not theirs.....become the standard when it comes to relations between the nations involved.

So.....as liberals are known to do.....I have taken new information into account and have decided that I am not absolutely opposed to the TPP. I will be looking at the safeguards which will help reduce job loss and the plans for augmenting any loss with plans for retraining. If those are sufficient....I will be open to lobbying for passage.

Any thoughts?

Here is why. Bill Clinton signed NAFTA and Hillary is all for TPP. Period

Such clandestine messaging. It makes one wonder if you've got a thoughtful opinion on the matter...or if you just wanted to say something that passed as a hit on Clinton.

You didn't say anything, bro. Wanna try again?

That wasn't as much a hit on Clinton as it was a hit on you.

Yeah. You still haven't said anything. It isn't a crime to admit that you don't know about a subject. You should try it in an effort to gain some respect.

I already know that millions of American jobs have been lost due to NAFTA. I don't need to know any more than that.

 

[LoneLaugher]

Let me start by repeating something that I've said hundreds of times over the past few years.

"Prior to the 1980's, the US was the world's leading importer of raw materials and the world's leading exporter of finished goods. The irresponsible trade policies of the Reagan, Clinton and Bush administrations led to a reversal of that equation. We are now the world's leading exporter of raw materials and the world's leading importer of finished goods."

I used that argument to rail against trade deals like NAFTA as I viewed them as being responsible for our losing our manufacturing base....and the good jobs that came with it.

While I am not going to say that I was wrong about that.....I am going to say that my recent research into these trade policies has caused me to soften my view of them.

Here is why.

These trade deals are not.....I have come to realize... simply trade deals. They are national security deals and they determine much more than the dollars and cents of trade. They determine whether or not it is OUR influence which shapes the geo-political nature of the areas involved or if it is someone else's.

For example...NAFTA has greatly stabilized the economy of Mexico and has quite permanently cemented relations between our nation and Mexico.....with OUR influence pertaining to human rights and international law being the primary influence. Our norms have become theirs.

The same is true when it comes to the TPP. Only....in this case....if we don't assert our influence in the region......CHINA most certainly will. If we wish to maintain dominance over China....I believe that our interests are better served if our norms...and not theirs.....become the standard when it comes to relations between the nations involved.

So.....as liberals are known to do.....I have taken new information into account and have decided that I am not absolutely opposed to the TPP. I will be looking at the safeguards which will help reduce job loss and the plans for augmenting any loss with plans for retraining. If those are sufficient....I will be open to lobbying for passage.

Any thoughts?

Here is why. Bill Clinton signed NAFTA and Hillary is all for TPP. Period

Such clandestine messaging. It makes one wonder if you've got a thoughtful opinion on the matter...or if you just wanted to say something that passed as a hit on Clinton.

You didn't say anything, bro. Wanna try again?

That wasn't as much a hit on Clinton as it was a hit on you.

Yeah. You still haven't said anything. It isn't a crime to admit that you don't know about a subject. You should try it in an effort to gain some respect.

I already know that millions of American jobs have been lost due to NAFTA. I don't need to know any more than that.

You don't know that. Yiu thnk that. So did I. But,..then I checked.

That's your problem. You don't check.

 

[TooTall]

Here is why. Bill Clinton signed NAFTA and Hillary is all for TPP. Period

Such clandestine messaging. It makes one wonder if you've got a thoughtful opinion on the matter...or if you just wanted to say something that passed as a hit on Clinton.

You didn't say anything, bro. Wanna try again?

That wasn't as much a hit on Clinton as it was a hit on you.

Yeah. You still haven't said anything. It isn't a crime to admit that you don't know about a subject. You should try it in an effort to gain some respect.

I already know that millions of American jobs have been lost due to NAFTA. I don't need to know any more than that.

You don't know that. Yiu thnk that. So did I. But,..then I checked.

That's your problem. You don't check.

I checked with one of your favorite sources. Here are some excerpts for you to get up to date.

"For NAFTA’s unhappy 20th anniversary, Public Citizen has published a report that details the wreckage. Not only did promises made by NAFTA’s proponents not materialize, but many results are exactly the opposite.

Such outcomes include a staggering $181 billion U.S. trade deficit with NAFTA partners Mexico and Canada and the related loss of 1 million net U.S. jobs under NAFTA, growing income inequality, displacement of more than one million Mexican campesino farmers and a doubling of desperate immigration from Mexico, and more than $360 million paid to corporations after “investor-state” tribunal attacks on, and rollbacks of, domestic public interest policies.

Given NAFTA’s record of damage, it is equal parts disgusting and infuriating that now President Barack Obama has joined the corporate Pinocchios who lied about NAFTA, recycling similar claims to try to sell the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which is NAFTA on steroids.

NAFTA at 20: One Million U.S. Jobs Lost, Higher Income Inequality

 

[RoshawnMarkwees]

TPP is an expansion of NAFTA. They only serve to milk out manufacturing, increasing wealth in poorer countries while continuing to bring ours down. Democrat marxist subversion.

 

[Tehon]

Let me start by repeating something that I've said hundreds of times over the past few years.

"Prior to the 1980's, the US was the world's leading importer of raw materials and the world's leading exporter of finished goods. The irresponsible trade policies of the Reagan, Clinton and Bush administrations led to a reversal of that equation. We are now the world's leading exporter of raw materials and the world's leading importer of finished goods."

I used that argument to rail against trade deals like NAFTA as I viewed them as being responsible for our losing our manufacturing base....and the good jobs that came with it.

While I am not going to say that I was wrong about that.....I am going to say that my recent research into these trade policies has caused me to soften my view of them.

Here is why.

These trade deals are not.....I have come to realize... simply trade deals. They are national security deals and they determine much more than the dollars and cents of trade. They determine whether or not it is OUR influence which shapes the geo-political nature of the areas involved or if it is someone else's.

For example...NAFTA has greatly stabilized the economy of Mexico and has quite permanently cemented relations between our nation and Mexico.....with OUR influence pertaining to human rights and international law being the primary influence. Our norms have become theirs.

The same is true when it comes to the TPP. Only....in this case....if we don't assert our influence in the region......CHINA most certainly will. If we wish to maintain dominance over China....I believe that our interests are better served if our norms...and not theirs.....become the standard when it comes to relations between the nations involved.

So.....as liberals are known to do.....I have taken new information into account and have decided that I am not absolutely opposed to the TPP. I will be looking at the safeguards which will help reduce job loss and the plans for augmenting any loss with plans for retraining. If those are sufficient....I will be open to lobbying for passage.

Any thoughts?

For example...NAFTA has greatly stabilized the economy of Mexico and has quite permanently cemented relations between our nation and Mexico.....with OUR influence pertaining to human rights and international law being the primary influence. Our norms have become theirs.

So you feel so strongly about bettering the life of Mexicans that you would undermine the lives of Americans to do it?

The same is true when it comes to the TPP. Only....in this case....if we don't assert our influence in the region......CHINA most certainly will. If we wish to maintain dominance over China....I believe that our interests are better served if our norms...and not theirs.....become the standard when it comes to relations between the nations involved.

The TPP isn't about making China more like us. It's about creating a new economic zone of low wage workers to exploit because China is getting more expensive.

Put down the swill you have been drinking.