Posted on 06/24/2015 7:00:33 AM PDT by xzins
Yesterday’s procedural vote in the Republican-controlled Senate to give Obama Trade Promotion Authority, or “fast track” as it used to be called, passed by just one vote – that of Florida’s Republican Senator and presidential aspirant Marco Rubio.
Why would Rubio vote to give Obama more power? No one knows for certain, but Senator Jeff Sessions, in a statement released after the vote gave us some insight into the dynamics of what went on on Capitol Hill prior to the vote.
“Americans increasingly believe that their country isn’t serving its own citizens. They need look no further than a bipartisan vote of Congress that will transfer congressional power to the Executive Branch and, in turn, to a transnational Pacific Union and the global interests who will help write its rules.
"The same routine plays out over and again. We are told a massive bill must be passed, all the business lobbyists and leaders tell how grand it will be, but that it must be rushed through before the voters spoil the plan. As with Obamacare and the Gang of Eight, the politicians meet with the consultants to craft the talking points—not based on what the bill actually does, but what they hope people will believe it does. And when ordinary Americans who never asked for the plan, who don’t want the plan, who want no part of the plan, resist, they are scorned, mocked, and heaped with condescension.
"Washington broke arms and heads to get that 60th vote—not one to spare—to impose on the American people a plan which imperils their jobs, wages, and control over their own affairs. It is remarkable that so much energy has been expended on advancing the things Americans oppose, and preventing the things Americans want.
"For instance: thousands of loyal Americans have been laid off and forced to train the foreign workers brought in to fill their jobs—at Disney, at Southern California Edison, across the country. Does Washington rush to their defense? No, the politicians and the lobbyists rush to move legislation that would double or triple the very program responsible for replacing them,” noted Senator Sessions.
Where were those Disney workers located you might ask? Why in Marco Rubio’s home state of Florida, where some 250 Orlando-based workers were not only let go and replaced by cheaper (and younger) foreign workers – they were also required to train their foreign worker replacements.
"I just couldn't believe they could fly people in to sit at our desks and take over our jobs exactly," one former worker, who wasn't named and is now unemployed, told The New York Times. "It was so humiliating to train somebody else to take over your job. I still can't grasp it."
Neither, apparently, can Marco Rubio.
A New York Times report detailed the situation at Disney and other companies where positions are outsourced to companies that hire foreign workers who come to the United States on H-1B visas.
That particular visa is often described as a way to employ foreign workers when companies can't find enough skilled Americans to do the work.
But that's a lie. In reality, says Beth Kassab of The Orlando Sentinel, companies have come to view workers on these visas like generic drugs —just as effective, but a lot cheaper.
It's all about profit, says Ron Hira of the Economic Policy Institute and who testified before Congress in March about the ramifications of the visa program.
Hira said he made a Freedom of Information Act request for the wages of the employees of the outsourcing firm used by Disney. The median was about $62,000.
But he says he spoke to a laid-off Disney employee who was making about $100,000.
"H-1B guest workers are cheaper than American workers and don't have much bargaining power, and any company would be foolish not to take advantage of this highly lucrative business model that has been inadvertently created by Congress and multiple presidential administrations," writes Hira, who recently published a book on outsourcing and also teaches at Howard University.
Professor Hira is being much too polite or is just plain naïve about how Congress works – Congress didn’t “inadvertently” create this highly lucrative business model – it was lobbied into it and Marco Rubio just voted to expand it, no doubt at the bidding of Disney and other beneficiaries.
As Senator Jeff Sessions noted in his post vote statement, "This ‘econometarian’ ideology holds that if a company can increase its bottom line —whether by insourcing foreign workers or outsourcing production—then it’s always a win, never a downside.
"President Obama, and allies in Congress, have won this fast-track vote. But, in exchange, they may find that they are losing something far greater: the trust of the American people. Americans have a fundamental, decent, and just demand: that the people they elect defend their interests. And every issue to come before us in the coming months will have to pass this test: does this strengthen, or weaken, the position of the everyday, loyal American citizen?”
By providing the final vote to pass TPA Marco Rubio put himself squarely on the economentarian side and against the everyday, loyal American citizen whom, we suspect, will have no trouble remembering how he voted when their turn to vote in a Republican primary election rolls around.
You can thank bit#h McConnell for resurrecting it.
Cheer up, there's no hope. Even the Tea Party faded out.
I’ll bet Rubio will have no problem paying his bills now that he has been bought off.
Same here. I pay very little attention anymore but what I thought was this was dead. I mean, I knew it was coming back until it passed. That’s how they do it. I just didn’t think it’d be four days later.
Senator Ron Johnson voted for it here in Wisconsin. He was our Tea Party favorite. I campaigned for him against Feingold. They are now saying Feingold is going to run again and based on polls he will win against Ron Johnson. Ron shot himself in the foot with this vote, and has lost the support of his constituents.
I think you should reread my post.
“”I just couldn’t believe they could fly people in to sit at our desks and take over our jobs exactly,” one former worker, who wasn’t named and is now unemployed, told The New York Times. “It was so humiliating to train somebody else to take over your job. I still can’t grasp it.”
This kind of thing has been quoted quite a bit, but if someone is that mad, why are they anonymous? Remaining anonymous doesn’t lend any credibility to the story whatsoever. If the person it supposedly happened to can’t go out on a limb to expose this wrongdoing, i’ll reserve believing it until someone does. Otherwise it is unsubstantiated hearsay.
Employers make nondisclosure a condition for getting severance pay.
FUGOP.
Rut roh
The people themselves say there are two things forcing their silence:
1. employment agreements they’ve signed, and
2. recommendations for new jobs to new employers
The Tea Party should “Scott Brown” him and not support him for the senate again, maybe primary him
Him, and the 46 other Pubs who voted 0bama's way.
Lil Flower Bud read it all on the internet doncha know. So it must be true. Any thoughts to the contrary are just “pretzels” cooked up to embarrass Lil Bud.
Well, it could still be anyone making the statement since it isn’t verified.
Self-interest comes before principles much of the time, sadly.
Rubio bailed Cruz out. If Rubio had voted “no” Cruz would have had to change his vote back to yes. In other words, he would have been for it before he was against it before he was for it again.
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