Posted on 06/23/2015 4:29:02 AM PDT by Leto
As a general matter, I agree (as did Ronald Reagan) that free trade is good for America; when we open up foreign markets, it helps American farmers, ranchers, and manufacturers. But TPA in this Congress has become enmeshed in corrupt Washington backroom deal-making, along with serious concerns that it would open up the potential for sweeping changes in our laws that trade agreements typically do not include. Since the Senate first voted on TPA, there have been two material changes. First, WikiLeaks subsequently revealed new troubling information regarding the Trade in Services Agreement, or TiSA, one of the trade deals being negotiated by Obama. Despite the administration’s public assurances that it was not negotiating on immigration, several chapters of the TiSA draft posted online explicitly contained potential changes in federal immigration law. TPA would cover TiSA, and therefore these changes would presumably be subject to be fast-track. When TPA last came up for a vote, both Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL)80% and I introduced amendments that would have barred fast-track treatment for any trade agreement that attempted to impact immigration law. Two other Republican senators objected, and we were both denied votes on our amendments. Instead, the House inserted substantially weaker language in related legislation.
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
Too late.
Ghostery is not a browser, just a simple add-on that should work well with pale moon.
It filters out a lot of crud. You might also edit your site preferences and block java, popups...and disable animated images and plugins.
I do all this and rarely encounter anything annoying. And still I avoid Breitbart, Blaze and Townhall.
But get ghostery, definitely — it installs easily and does what it says it’ll do.
TPA passed in the House. TAA was voted on separately and failed. The new House bill will be passed by the Senate after the Dems got some more concessions. It is all political theater. Both parties are owned by their corporate paymasters. They have abandoned the American worker.
I do most of my browsing with a text-only browser, lynx, and use a graphical browser (firefox mostly) as needed. Sites either load quickly, or inform me (various ways) that lynx won’t work there. Breitbart feeds the lynx browser.
I think that some apologies are in order here.
“corrupt Washington backroom deal-making”
Do they make any other kind of deal in DC? Cynical! Yes! But politicians of any ilk have given me good reason to not trust.
yes we knew Sessions was correct all along. I will reconsider Ted now and give him a fair shake, however I still wonder at his stance on H-1B visas and if he will evolve on this.
If Breitbart could only place more ADs on their pages it would help everyone’s browser.</sarcasm>
Then, install the Ad Block plugin, at least. I also recommend Ghostery (blocks tracking).
You can also install NoScript. But, that requires some knowledge and effort: many sites won't render properly if you don't enable Javascript, and you have to enable it temporarily or permanently for that site.
The problem is that many websites use Javascript from OTHER websites, and you have to figure out which one to enable.
I’m glad he changedd his mind, I am just worried because he didn’t do it sooner. Especially since McConnell said this in Jan.
“We’re in active discussion on TPA,” said McConnell, adding, “It’s an enormous grant of power, obviously, from a Republican Congress to a Democratic president, but that’s how much we believe in trade as an important part of America’s economy.”
Some politicians vote a particular way because they have been told to.
Some vote because it benefits their district.
Some vote because they have been lied to by donors/leadership.
Cruz was clearly lied to and now realizes it.
I use to be against being called a troll but now I’m for it. If Ted gets the nomination one can only hope that he’s seen some light over this matter. I’m waiting for him to address his H1B and outsourcing record.
Two other very useful add-ons are Add Block Plus and Flash Block. I'm on a satellite so every bit is dearly paid for, I don't want to pay to download ads and video I am not interested in.
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Freedom ≠ Free Stuff☭ |  |
| I, for one, welcome our new Cybernetic Overlords /. | ||
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Well, well, well. Looks like those of us who called Ted Cruz on the carpet over his stupid vote for TPA were right all along.
Ted listened to the criticism, tasted the crap sandwich he voted for and reversed course.
What are all those Ted Cruz supporting freepers who said TPA was the best thing since the tearing down of the Berlin wall going to say now?
When your candidate goes off the reservation, you have to call him on the carpet. You can’t just sit there and pretend every stupid move they make is brilliant.
I e-mailed Ted Cruz and left posts on his Facebook page several times to tell him what a stupid decision it was to support TPA and apparently rather than listening to his sycophants here who refused to think for themselves and call Ted on the carpet, he listened to his critics.
Are you Ted Cruz supporters who told us TPA was wonderful going to support Ted Cruz for this? Or can you do the right thing yourself and admit you were wrong?
It will be interesting to see.
Funny, they usually started every Pro-Cruz thread on this forum and they are strangely absent from this thread.
It’s good to see Cruz reverse himself on the TPA.
We all make mistakes. Admitting it is not easy.
I’m back in the Cruz camp.
TPA would have passed the Senate the first time without Cruz’s vote. It passed by a wide margin. Cruz’s concerns now are about a back room deal to link this to the Ex-IM Bank deal, which he is against.
He also does not want TPA without the Cruz/Sessions immigration language and I don’t either. Now that some of the other trade deals have come to light that were being negotiated in secret, Cruz does not like their immigration language.
Enough is enough. I cannot vote for TPA unless McConnell and Boehner both commit publicly to allow the Ex-Im Bank to expire—and stay expired. And, Congress must also pass the Cruz-Sessions amendments to TPA to ensure that no trade agreement can try to back-door changes to our immigration laws. Otherwise, I will have no choice but to vote no.
Is Ted perfect? None are. But his arguments are principled and intelligent. Compare to Jeb, or Christie or Trump.
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