Tuesday, July 5, 2016

Insiders believe Hillary Clinton would support Obama's hemispheric free trade deals TPP and TTIP if elected pres. as she did when Sec. of State-AP, 7/2/16

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November 15, 2012: Hillary: "TPP sets the gold standard in trade agreements."...July 10, 2012, Hillary: "We are particularly focused on developing a global economic order"...  

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Officials believe Hillary would support Obama's globalist free trade deals:
 
7/2/16, "Obama backtracks on UK trade warning to limit Brexit fallout," AP, Josh Lederman

"Current and former Obama administration officials are operating under the assumption that Democrat Hillary Clinton, if elected, would come around to supporting Obama's trade deals after finding ways to reconcile specific concerns she's raised about jobs, wages and national security....

Before Britain's exit vote, or Brexit, Obama's administration was deep in negotiations toward a sweeping free trade deal with the 28-nation EU [known as TTIP]. Supporters of the Brexit had argued the U.K. wouldn't lose out on U.S. commerce because it could easily broker a one-on-one deal with the U.S. So during a visit to London in April, Obama sought to correct the record, arguing that wouldn't "happen any time soon."

Obama's warning reflected his broader belief that separate trade deals with individual countries are too laborious, given the countless regulations, laws and standards that must be aligned to create a free trade zone.
 
Instead, Obama has sought to broker broad deals with universal requirements, so that any country that agrees to the conditions can join. His 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership with Asia, awaiting ratification in Congress, is a prime example of that multi-member approach.

So it took many by surprise when, after Britain's referendum, the White House said the U.S. might still pursue a one-off deal with Britain, but it simply might take longer given the legwork that's already been done on the broader EU deal....

In reality, neither is likely to happen before Obama leaves office. Reeling from a decision many British leaders are already starting to regret, the U.K. will be too preoccupied with negotiating its EU exit to pursue complex trade talks with the U.S....

Republican lawmakers, including House Speaker Paul Ryan, are urging Obama to start talks on a U.S.-U.K. deal right away. In addition to that option, American officials have also discussed letting Britain simply join the U.S.-EU deal at a later date despite no longer being an EU member. An out-of-the-box option being discussed is for Britain to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership, even though it's nowhere near the Pacific Ocean....

White House officials have said they expect no change in Britain's partnership in NATO or in the fight against the Islamic State group, while CIA Director John Brennan insists intelligence cooperation will continue unabated.

At the same time, while German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other European power-brokers have pressured Britain to pull out sooner than later, Obama has adopted the opposite position. Meeting with other North American leaders on Wednesday (6/29), he said "everyone should catch their breath" before pursuing an orderly, measured withdrawal.

U.S. officials say it makes little sense to punish Britain by denying it a trade deal. In addition to helping stem global economic anxieties, a free-trade agreement could help Britain continue meeting its NATO pledge to devote 2 percent of GDP to military spending. And it [free trade] would enable the U.K. to contribute significantly to stabilizing Afghanistan and fighting terrorism in Syria and Iraq--
critical security efforts  

with no clear end in sight."


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Added: Per AP above, we learn that TPP is a neocon dream as it would help UK finance ongoing Middle East wars that have "no clear end in sight." Americans are told that TPP is none of our business, despite the fact that as with similar "deals," it would continue "constant downward pressure on American wages:"
 
"Obama has pledged to make the TPP public but only after the legislation has passed." An expert hired by Obama admin. to analyze pending free trade deal TPP says it, "does nothing for Americans," that deals like it result "in constant downward pressure on American wages."... 

10/9/2015, "Wikileaks release of TPP deal text stokes 'freedom of expression' fears," UK Guardian, Sam Thielman 

"Obama has pledged to make the TPP public but only after the legislation has passed. Michael Wessel was one of the advisers who was asked by the US government to review what he said were woefully inadequate portions of the document. Wessel said the thrust of the TPP does nothing for Americans.

“This is about increasing the ability of global corporations to source wherever they can at the lowest cost,” he said.

“It is not about enhancing or promoting production in the United States,” Wessel said. We aren't enforcing today's trade agreements adequately. Look at China and Korea. Now we’re not only expanding trade to a far larger set of countries under a new set of rules that have yet to be tested but we’re preparing to expand that to many more countries. It would be easier to accept if we were enforcing today’s rules.” 

Wessel said that ultimately, the countries currently benefiting from increased outsourcing of jobs by American firms aren’t likely to see wages rise above a certain level. “If you look in other countries, Mexico and India and others – there’s been a rise in the middle class but there’s been stagnation for those we’re hoping to get into the middle class,” Wessel said. Companies are scouring the globe for countries they can get to produce most cheaply.”

That, he said, results in constant downward pressure on American wages. Companies are not invested here the way we’d like them to; they’re doing stock buybacks and higher dividends,” Wessel continued. “ “They may yield support for the stock-holding class but it’s not creating jobs.”"...

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Detail: Hemispheric trade deals TTIP (US and Europe) and TPP (US and Pacific countries) are both currently awaiting final approvals.

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More on TPP from Tufts:

Jan. 2016 Tufts study: "TPP would lead to higher inequality...redistributing income from labor to capital in all countries. In the United States, this would exacerbate a multi-decade downward trend."...

Jan. 2016, "Trading Down: Unemployment, Inequality and Other Risks of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement," Jeronim Capaldo and Alex Izurieta with Jomo Kwame Sundaram, GDAE Working Paper 16-01



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In 2015, globalists Ted Cruz and Paul Ryan wrote an op-ed seeking to speed approval of massive trade deals like TPP. Unfortunately: "Nowhere is there a mention of the fact that...currency manipulation and other financial gimmicks...are expressly kept out of the trade deal. The primary weapon being used against American workers and business is not going to be discussed. Had they been allowed to read and review the so-called deal-the Trans-Pacific Partnership-they might have known that. But sadly, the Obama administration has kept the "deal" under lock and key-virtually nobody has been allowed to view it."...

4/22/2015, "Ted Cruz joins the establishment," The Hill, by Rick Manning, contributor

"(Paul) Ryan and (Ted) Cruz assert that the American worker has been placed at a terrible disadvantage to workers in the rest of the world and that we have to give Obama more power in order to address this serious problem. But, of course, nowhere is there a mention of the fact that a big part of that "disadvantage" is currency manipulation and other financial gimmicks — issues that are expressly kept out of the trade deal. I guess nobody told these gentlemen that the primary weapon being used against American workers and business is not going to be discussed. Had they been allowed to read and review the so-called dealthe Trans-Pacific Partnership — they might have known that. But sadly, the Obama administration has kept the "deal" under lock and key — virtually nobody has been allowed to view it....
 
Establishment, globalist advocates published what will go down as the most disingenuous, deceitful and outright dishonest promotional piece on behalf of the so-called fast-track trade authority that could have been written

Authored by establishment GOP Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and heretofore "conservative" Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), the op-ed in The Wall Street Journal is a compilation of talking points and slick dodges. It is textbook propaganda that would make the disinformation experts of the KGB blush."...

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Lost jobs in Ohio and US due to US trade deficit with TPP countries:
 
"U.S. trade deficit with the TPP countries cost 2 million jobs in 2015, with job losses in every state"...

3/3/16, "Ohio lost 112,500 jobs due to trade with TPP countries (graphic): EPI," Cleveland Plain Dealer, Olivera Perkins, Cleveland, Ohio

"Ohio lost 112,500 jobs in 2015 resulting from the United States' trade deficit with countries that are part of the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, according to an analysis by the Economic Policy Institute."...


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Trump and Hillary tied in Ohio in recent poll:

6/21/16, "New Ohio poll shows Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump tied in Ohio," Cleveland.com, Andrew J. Tobias

"Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump's race for Ohio remains a toss-up, with a new poll finding the two presumptive nominees are tied in the perennial battleground state."...


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TPP fails to address currency manipulation. From Economic Policy Institute report:

3/3/16, "Trans-Pacific Partnership, currency manipulation, trade, and jobs"

 
"U.S. trade deficit with the TPP countries cost 2 million jobs in 2015, with job losses in every state," Economic Policy Institute, by Robert E. Scott and Elizabeth Glass


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Many members of the proposed TPP, including Malaysia, Singapore, and Japan, are known currency manipulators. Others, namely Vietnam, appear to be following the lead of currency manipulators by, for example, acquiring excess foreign exchange reserves to depress the value of their currency. Currency manipulation explains a substantial share of the large, persistent U.S. trade deficit with the 11 other TPP countries that has not only cost millions of U.S. jobs but also increased income inequality and put downward pressure on American wages. We can’t afford a trade agreement that not only allows but would intensify these harmful trends:"...


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Hillary promoted TPP until she flip flopped in mid 2015:

June 15, 2015, "45 times Secretary Clinton pushed the trade bill she now opposes," CNN, by Jake Tapper and The Lead staff. (45 examples posted below)

5 random examples:

November 15, 2012: Hillary: "TPP sets the gold standard in trade agreements."... 

July 10, 2012, Hillary: "We are particularly focused on developing a global economic order"... 

March 9, 2011, Hillary: TPP "aims to eliminate all trade tariffs by 2015."
 
November 17, 2012, Hillary: "We welcome the interest of any nation...in the TPP, including China."

October 14, 2011, Hillary: "We are not only a resident military and diplomatic power in Asia, we are a resident economic power and we are there to stay." 

[Ed. note: Oct. 14, 2011 exemplifies the Neocon view, ie, that it's normal for the US to be a "resident military and diplomatic power" in other countries. Why shouldn't other countries take up "military residence" in the US?]


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The State of Maine expresses opposition to TPP:
 
"Earlier this year (4/29/16), the Maine House of Representatives unanimously passed a symbolic resolution against the Trans-Pacific Partnership, [142 to O] a trade deal with Pacific rim nations negotiated by President Barack Obama’s administration."...(parag. 8)


6/29/16, "Trump rips Clinton, courts working-class voters in Bangor," Bangor Daily News, Michael Shepherd

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Added: 11/9/2015, Presumptive Democrat presidential nominee Hillary Clinton said she would not try to influence congress about TPP, CNN tweet:














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