politics

5 things to know about trade as U.S. Senate debate begins

9 Comments
By CHARLES BABINGTON

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9 Comments
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Dem's in the Senate voted overwhelmingly against President Obama's trade authority.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20150512/us--senate-trade-94bea8d518.html

I am so sick and tired of these politicians doing everything they can to oppose the first African-American president. They don't care about what's best for the country. They let their hate and inability to accept a black man as president overwhelm their sense of patriotism. They just want to keep him from achieving anything so they can call his presidency a failure. No wonder Michelle Obama is so angry. Well, at least Republicans are doing all they can to salvage the trade agreement.

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TPP is an abomination. It must be defeated.

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Random choice of 2 x US senators = Beavis and Butt-Head

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Based on those already intense and passionate engagements between supporters and opponents of the bill in Capitol Hill, a clean bill requested by Obama admin would unlikely occur if TPP passes.

For Japan, a final passage of TPP might be a turning point in so many ways. For starters, it’s a beginning of end of an era that many Japanese industries and farmers have done their businesses domestically and abroad.

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There's nothing inherently wrong with the TPP but they should release the full negotiating document for public input. Negotiating in secrecy just serves to increase opposition to it.

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I cannot believe that this horrendous plan has gone this far.

The only people who would benefit are the senior executives of Monstanto, Dow, et al.

The rest of us will suffer. Americans, Japanese, all of us.

Democracy will go out the window.

Well, it's half way there already, but this will totally finish it.

As JapanGal says, "Why do we have to sign a blank cheque?"

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“does not ensure that American workers are put first.”

I don't think inserting such a provision into a trade agreement would go down too well. I hope this quote lost something when taken out of context, or is Duckworth a complete idiot?

On ISDS, “We treat our own companies the same way we treat somebody else’s companies.” I don't think it's so straightforward. Say a company from country A has a patent on a certain chemical fertilizer, and it invests a lot of money to set up a production plant in country B. Then a health concern emerges in country B about the effects of the chemical and it gets banned. This may be seen as an attempt by competing companies in country B to protect their interests, and the company may feel entitled to sue country B. But where does that leave the health concerns of residents of country B?

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"investor-state dispute settlement" means that if the US auto makers do not sell enough cars in Japan, they can sue Japan and make lots of money. Also, no regulations on capital flow allowed. And other then that, most of it is top secret. I wonder why. JAPAN MUST NOT PARTICIPATE!

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Nothing in this article lets the public know that the bill is being negotiated in private and the paw makers in general are not allowed to see what is going on behind closed doors. Many do not want to sign a blank check.

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