I believe in Free Trade. Cruz said that the deal create jobs like it has done in TX. Last time I looked, he was the Senator from TX whose job it is to benefit his constituents. He did just that.
TPA and other of these agreements have been around for a long time...nobody has had the feigned outrage that this is getting now. And, the outrage is from people with an agenda.
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?
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! Lets 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.