[palmer]

holds to a free trade ideology that benefits corporate fat cats and shareholders at the expense of American labor

That's probably the worst characterization out of the article. The biggest benefit from free trade is for the poorest in the world (provided their governments aren't too corrupt). The rich generally don't do as well under free trade and the rich includes American union laborers.

[em2vn]

How has free trade helped labor unions as millions of jobs both union and non-union have been outsourced to low wage nations around the world?
Damn but it’s early in the morning for this dumb ass labor bashing.Every sector of working households have suffered because of free trade.

[Jim Noble]

The biggest benefit from free trade is for the poorest in the world

And that's exactly why it's wrong, and why we should be against it.

Benefitting "the poorest in the world" is not the purpose of the American economy.

[rbg81]

I have never understood why its our national interest to transfer our jobs & wealth to other countries. Maybe it made some (very limited) sense during the Cold War, but not since. Our massive wealth transfer to the Chinese has been particularly puzzling.

[bert]

American Labor is actually American Organized Laziness.

Union labor has lost its market because of laziness.

[AndyJackson]

The biggest benefit from free trade is for the poorest in the world (provided their governments aren't too corrupt)

The poorest countries in the world are very much too corrupt, and the folks who benefit are cronies of the politically powerful, which is how the politically powerful stay that way. Crony Capitalism. BTW Crony Capitalism is not capitalism at all for those about to accuse me of being a Marxist. Again.

[servantboy777]

>>The rich generally don't do as well under free trade and the rich includes American union laborers.”

Your kidding right?

It wasn't enough that we had free trade (notice I didn't use fair trade), corporate America with the help of the bought and paid for congress accelerated free trade into hyper-globalism.

The wealthy have become even wealthier off the backs of near slave labor.

The standard of living for the middle class is shrinking.

I work for a large fortune 500 company, 100 billion a year in revenue.

Corporate elites have enjoyed lavish bonuses, stock options, salaries / perks and then the ol golden parachute that equals the GDP of a small country. It's down right shameful.

One of our former CEO’s left with a package valued over 30 million.......that was more than one of our departments made all year.

Suckin the juice of life out of America and these globalist care not one iota nor hold any allegiance to the USA.

All the while, the worker bees have seen their benefits reduced, cost skyrocketing, frozen or paltry salary increases, elimination of pensions, and every other cut imaginable down to plastic sporks.

I've been in corporate life since 1984, I've never seen such penny pinchin in all my life.

[sit-rep]

People like you are the reason this “Free Trade” was not stopped years ago...

[hedgetrimmer]

The biggest benefit from free trade is for the poorest in the world

There, you said it. "free trade" is a wealth redistribution plan. But you forgot to mention that transnational corporations benefit when the poor nations, under the guise of "free trade" give up their nations to the global pillagers. They get extremely low cost and slave labor to develop their products. They get no labor or environmental laws or purity regulations over the products produced there. That's why "free traders" love china-- only one communist dictator to pay graft to, slave labor, pollute without penalty, impure and unsafe products uninspected by anyone-- at the same time charge first world prices for the goods.

[sit-rep]

Talk about characterizations...