Why Hillary Clinton should ditch the Trans-Pacific Partnership
................
The Obama administration clearly sees the TPP as a major foreign policy objective, in no small part because of a strain of Democratic Party neoliberalism that sees each and every piece of paper labeled "free trade" as good by definition, represented today by the The Washington Post op-ed page. But that presents a problem: How to get the deal through Congress? Republicans, though they are generally pro-free trade, might well blow a gasket and decide that the deal contains Agenda 21, while Democrats are likely to balk due to opposition from unions and other constituencies.
That's where the corporate oligarchs come in. Those people have the money and lobbying muscle needed to get something through our jalopy legislature. So the administration slanted the deal heavily towards some key sectors, even allowing some corporate representatives access to the documents that were denied to members of Congress. And now the thing has built up so much momentum that Obama is invested in passing it if only so he doesn't look like he lost something big.
......
Right now, Clinton is attempting to skate on this question, saying that the TPP needs to protect American workers, while not criticizing it or Obama directly. But even if it works as advertised, it will be a minor accomplishment, while the side effects are likely to be large. She might as well co-opt O'Malley's message and come out against the deal.
......
http://theweek.com/articles/551133/why-hillary-clinton-should-ditch-transpacific-partnership
= new reply since forum marked as read
