And please keep it civil!
Be forewarned that I’m asking for a lot of your time to read this diary, read the links, and watch the videos; but I consider this issue to be of huge importance to American workers. If you don’t want to spend the time, I ask that you watch the last video at least. Elizabeth Warren is very clear in what the TPP means to our national sovereignty. Then go back and read and watch.
Yes, she is brilliant and did a magnificent job before Congress; but the hearings were a farce and did not focus on anything of substance so I give her kudos for performance; however, there are those of us who have concerns about Hillary and her "evolving" on issues. I have a number of apprehensions about a President Clinton, but I'll address only one in this diary - that of trade.
Less than one week before the first Democratic debate, Clinton finally came out in opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, a treaty strongly opposed by unions, consumer groups, small business, most voters (when they learn more about it), most Democrats in Congress (although enough voted with Republicans to pass fast-track authority). Even 250 tech companies signed a letter in May protesting the "Investment Chapter of the TPP. http://www.occupy.com/....
Who else opposed this treaty before Oct 2015 - Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Republican Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama, of all people!
While not a big fan of Sessions, I have to give him props for actually reading the treaty and exposing what's in it although the US Trade Representative threatened to prosecute any elected official who had the audacity to tell the American public what was going on.
Wow! This kind of secrecy blows my mind. http://www.truth-out.org/...
But enough details of this treaty have been out there for awhile so that any leading politician could have seen enough to realize what a horrible deal this is for the American people (well, at least for most of us). Not only did Senator Sessions provide information, but Wikileaks has been releasing draft texts since 2013.
If you think TPP is just some monotonous, esoteric commerce deal that really doesn't affect you, then go to Public Citizen's website to learn more about it. http://www.citizen.org/...
And there's a place on their website that shows you the impact by state of these "free trade" deals. Click on your home state to see what's happened. http://www.citizen.org/...
Clinton claims to have had no real opinion on TPP until she recently learned more. Yet, on 45 occasions between 2010-2013, she made statements supporting the trade deal.
http://www.cnn.com/...
Here is just one of those times:
And in 2012 (Why does it seem that she knows so much about TPP at this time?):
Elizabeth Warren on TPP in 2014:
Clinton on NAFTA in 2007:
To be fair, I have included the portion of the transcript where Clinton goes on to answer more fully.
MR. BLITZER: Was NAFTA a mistake?
SEN. CLINTON: NAFTA was a mistake to the extent that it did not deliver on what we had hoped it would, and that's why I call for a trade timeout when I am president. I'm going to evaluate every trade agreement. We do need to get back to enforcing the ones we have, which the Bush administration has not done. They have totally abdicated that. But I think we have to get broader than that. We've got to have enforceable labor and environmental standards. We've got the WTO that enforces financial and corporate rights; we need the International Labor Organization and other mechanisms that will be there to enforce labor rights and environmental rights, and that's what I intend to do as president.
Note: Enforcement of labor and environmental rights still hasn't happened.
Now, let's look at Bernie Sanders in 1993 on his opposition to NAFTA:
And Bernie Sanders on TPP earlier this year:
Watch Elizabeth Warren explain one of the most insidious features of the TPP - the ISDS (investor-State Dispute Settlement)in Feb 2015 (over 7 months before Hillary came out against TPP):
Hillary Clinton has promoted the TPP in years past and only recently came out in opposition. She had the example of NAFTA and its aftermath to make a judgment on the TPP. She, as well as Obama, promised to renegotiate NAFTA if elected President. It has not happened. Bernie Sanders was against NAFTA, predicted what would happen (and was right) and has vehemently opposed the TPP. He has been consistent in his views on these trade agreements and their effects on the the American worker.