CAFTA

6/13/2015 | tnmouth

[TNMOUTH]

Maybe some of you FREEPERS who bash Cruz for supporting TPA and who hold Jeff Sessions up as being a new hero for Americans....

Can you tell me WHY he supported CAFTA? Doesn't CAFTA give back door access to illegal immigration? Doesn't this hurt the American worker?

Inquiring minds want to know.

[central_va]

I am not voting in the general election for POTUS unless things change. I will vote down ballot. This leaves me free to call ‘em like I see ‘em.

[P-Marlowe]

Interestingly, I haven’t seen the same vitriol directed toward Walker since he came out in favor or TPA.

Walker is not a Constitutional lawyer. He can be forgiven for his ignorance. Additionally Walker did not cast a vote in favor of TPA. Cruz did. Cruz should have known better, but he violated the constitution and his conservative principles to push TPA over the hill.

The TPA surrenders all treaty making power to the president and a simple majority of congress. That is not what our founders intended. They intended that 2/3 of the STATES (as Senators were then elected by State Legislatures) would concur with any agreement between the United STATES and any foreign country.

Of course that would mean a lot of work and responsibility for Senators who spend 90% of their time schmoozing with lobbyists and fund raising rather than seeing to it that the best interests of the Citizens of the States are represented.

Walker didn't go to Law School. Walker was not given the TPA to vote on. The fact of the matter is that there should not be any TPA and never should have been.

The Senate needs to reclaim their power, authority and responsibility under the Treaty Clause. There can be no other method under which a Treaty can be approved.

[TNMOUTH]

LOL...then who is to be trusted of the remaining candidates?

You like many, throw out these lines, but have no backup plan.

See, unlike you, I look at the whole body of work...Cruz is solid. He will have my money and my support

[TNMOUTH]

You purposely miss the point. I asked you if you’d support Reagan now. You want someone 100% like you...there is none. Cruz is close to most of us here...closer than anyone else.

So, while you deal with this field, tell me who is better capable of advancing Conservatism than Cruz.

[TNMOUTH]

LOL. Yes, his campaign is so derailed...bet you’d like to believe that.

So, who fills the void then? I guess his grassroots support and his campaign money will just wither up, huh?

We have a long way to go. This will be a moot point by election time. Cruz is nowhere near done...nice try, though.

[Georgia Girl 2]

“I guess his grassroots support and his campaign money will just wither up, huh?”

Uh yeh. What do you think FR is? Grass roots.

[ExpatGator]

He failed the test. Save your breath for someone who will fall for your siren song of compromise.
I am done with appeasers and compromise.

[lquist1]

“I am not voting in the general election for POTUS unless things change. I will vote down ballot. This leaves me free to call ‘em like I see ‘em.”

Sounds great. Let’s all do that so we can sit back and complain about all the everything that’s happening without ever lifting a finger to change anything. Sounds like a solid path to victory to me.

[central_va]

Sounds great. Let’s all do that so we can sit back and complain about all the everything that’s happening without ever lifting a finger to change anything. Sounds like a solid path to victory to me.

Right - 18 months out and so compromise your principles early and often. Why wait? ...

[TNMOUTH]

LOL...not really. It has become a place for trolls and holier than thou, types. Those of us who are truly Conservative, will stick with Cruz.

[TNMOUTH]

LOL...I guess all of the other times that Cruz has “compromised” disqualify him too?

Wow, you really do want someone who agrees with you 100% of the time. You must really be a special person in that case.

Good luck finding that perfection.

[Georgia Girl 2]

At this point Cruz has a better chance of getting hit in a drone strike than becoming President. :-)

[xzins]

Can you tell me WHY he supported CAFTA?

Because Bush was president. He was giving authority to someone he trusted.

[TNMOUTH]

Says who? You?

[TNMOUTH]

I believe it gave FAST TRACK to whomever was President...including Clinton. did it not? do you trust Bubba?

[xzins]

It was 05 or 06. Bush was president.

[kabar]

I believe in Free Trade. Cruz said that the deal create jobs like it has done in TX.

Cite some examples of where free trade has worked for the American worker or lowered our huge trade deficits. NAFTA has been a disaster for us.

The availability of Mexican labor suppressed real wages, reduced benefits and limited collective bargaining power for production workers in the U.S. According to one estimate, workers in Canada and Mexico have displaced 829,280 U.S. jobs, mostly high-wage positions in manufacturing. The heaviest U.S. manufacturing-job losses were in states such as Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York, North Carolina, Texas, Connecticut, New Jersey, California, Indiana and Florida.

The long-time growth in the U.S.trade deficit accelerated dramatically after NAFTA became effective in 1994. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the $30 billion U.S. trade deficit in 1993 increased 281% to an inflation-adjusted $85 billion in 2002.

While NAFTA's overall financial impact has been generally positive, it has not lived up to the high expectations of its proponents. It has made many U.S. companies and investors rich - and their managements richer. But it has also cost many U.S. manufacturing workers their livelihoods while failing to raise living standards for most Mexicans. Any major market changes not dictated by market forces usually lead to both opportunity and loss, and this has happened with NAFTA.

Congress should NEVER cede power to the President...but, instead of saying “oh no! Let’s not give Obama power” why not do whatever you can to DEFEAT people like the GOP-e who allow him this power?

TPA is ceding authority to the Executive regardless of who is in the WH. It is bad whether it is a Dem or a Rep.

So where has free trade gotten us in terms of the American worker? Depressed wages and the lowest labor participation rates in 38 years. And of course, free trade means the other countries can violate the agreement with impunity and the US does nothing except run bigger and bigger trade deficits.

We need to defeat people who supported TPA and "free trade," which has destroyed the middle class.

[TNMOUTH]

Cruz cited jobs created in TX...did you not read or hear what he said?

So, since we need to defeat those who support Free Trade, are you saying Jeff Sessions should resign too?

[kabar]

Should we shoot ourselves in the foot by restricting trade with China? Would we be safer if we did? The answer to both questions is NO.

Should we continue to incur huge trade deficits with China? Should we allow the Chinese to manipulate their currency to gain a trade advantage? China holds a trillion dollars of our national debt. They are increasing defense spending and creating a military that will eventually be able to project power globally. They are declaring more and more sovereignty over the China Sea, building man-made islands to extend their reach. Communist China is not an ally and more than likely a future adversary. The debt servicing costs we pay to China can be used to fund their military.

2001 also coincides with the first full year of trade with China under the rules of World Trade Organization after “Congress agreed to permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) status,” which “President Clinton signed into law on October 10, 2000,” paving “the way for China’s accession to the WTO in December 2000.”

According to Alan Uke’s book, Buying Back America, the United States now has a trade deficit with 88 countries. Of course, some deficits are small, but some are enormous, such as China. According to the Census Bureau, our top seven trading partners are: Canada, China, Mexico, Japan, Germany, South Korea, and the United Kingdom. These seven countries represent 50.9% of our total trade deficit $ -461.3 billion for January – November 2014. At an average deficit of $40 billion per month, the 2014 trade deficit will exceed $500 billion. Our 2014 trade deficit with China alone was $-$314.3 billion for January – November, representing 68% of the total.

How safer are we running these huge trade deficits and investing immense amount of money investing in China creating a huge manufacturing superpower. Once China surpasses the US as the world's largest economy, how benevolent will they be to US national interests?

[kabar]

Interestingly, I haven’t seen the same vitriol directed toward Walker since he came out in favor or TPA

Walker can't cast a vote in Congress, just offer a wrongheaded opinion. I was a Walker supporter. No more.