TPP and Free trade

[Danny_boi 16]

It seems that right wing tea party conservatives and socialists can agree that Free Trade in bad for the nation. The United States seems to be cycling back to the Free trade debate of the 90s' NAFTA. Disclaimer: I love free trade! However, free trade has to be done in a fair and financially balanced way. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce credits NAFTA with increasing US trade in goods and services with Canada and Mexico from $337 billion in 1993 to $1.2 trillion in 2011. With the Office of the United States Trade Representative boasting a combined economic output of $17 trillion USD. However, the Huffington Post reported that ~1 million American lost their jobs because of the deal. The Huff Post also claims that over $181 billion USD have been lost to deficit and fail government investment. Now there is another free trade agreement floating in the halls of congress, The Trans-Pacific Partnership or TPP. People's main concerns are that it will lead to financial and workforce ruin. I personally think that's rubbish. TPP will not only help small business in the US but all over the Pacific; with the added benefit of creating a bloc against China. However, the second concern and mine major problem with TPP, is the Fast Track. This measure would allow the president to have unilateral power to create other free trade "agreements" without congress.

I think that congress, being the representatives of the people (at least they're supposed to be) should have the right to examine all deals with foreign sovereigns that the President makes. Checks and balances!
I'm sure I missed a lot of concerns about TPP and free trade that people have, what are the major one to y'all?

[Sugaree]

TPP should be burned and stomped on. NAFTA needs to be repealed. If you want a truly free and open market, government can not step in and take control where it is not needed. TPP is especially a problem because it gives the executive branch a power which oversteps its bounds and ignores the judicial and legislative branches.

If TPP was simply for creating a bloc against China, or any other country which is attempting to corner the economies of every other nation by injecting its goods into those economies to stop their competitors, then I would be all for it. Fast Track, however, seems to be the president trying to grab power because he doesn't like dealing with Congress.

[Danny_boi 16]

TPP should be burned and stomped on. NAFTA needs to be repealed. If you want a truly free and open market, government can not step in and take control where it is not needed. TPP is especially a problem because it gives the executive branch a power which oversteps its bounds and ignores the judicial and legislative branches.

I agree that the Fast Track authority is a terrible part of the deal. But other than that, what's wrong with creating this free trade agreement? Also, what's wrong with NAFTA? It have created and expanded private revenue and has boosted our GDP. There is nothing wrong with that.

[Uniquemind]

And you have to admit Congress is broken.

They're work ethic is worse than a student procrastinating on assignments.


And they take vacation it feels like for a 3rd of the year.

[phuckphace]

well well well what do we have here

https://wikileaks.org/tpp-investment/press.html

Similar mechanisms have already been used. For example, US tobacco company Phillip Morris used one such tribunal to sue Australia (June 2011 – ongoing) for mandating plain packaging of tobacco products on public health grounds; and by the oil giant Chevron against Ecuador in an attempt to evade a multi-billion-dollar compensation ruling for polluting the environment. The threat of future lawsuits chilled environmental and other legislation in Canada after it was sued by pesticide companies in 2008/9. ISDS tribunals are often held in secret, have no appeal mechanism, do not subordinate themselves to human rights laws or the public interest, and have few means by which other affected parties can make representations.

free trade agreements = corporations trying to make more cash while fucking you over, 100% of the time no exceptions