Let's face it folks, begging for a job isn't and shouldn't be part of the collective psyche of American workers! Sadly, that's what proponents of the TPP would effectively have our workers do. Nothing illustrates this more than President Obama's visit to the corporate headquarters of Nike Shoes, a business that has according some reports, a million or so contract workers overseas manufacturing its products compared to 26,000 U.S. workers in supporting roles. They made an offer to add a whopping 10,000 U.S. workers over the next 10 Yrs. if the TPP is signed. With their corporate HQ as a backdrop, Obama exhorted Democrats is Congress and the Senate to give him fast track authority to proceed with forcing yet another “free” trade agreement on American workers.
Obama keeps citing the exporting opportunities that the TPP could help bring about. He keeps misleading us into thinking that exporting is the only path to future prosperity. If the truth be known, the real export that “free” trade agreements enable is our jobs! The TPP adds a new dimension to the exporting concept by also exporting our right to self govern by setting up an international corporate kangaroo court to second guess any U.S. regulation that interferes with a foreign corp. doing business here. Our nation has had the formula for middle class prosperity for years and that is to build it here and buy it here. You make that happen by instituting and or increasing trade tariffs back up to pre-Reagan era levels (gasp from conservatives) and tearing up many existing “free” trade agreements. Corporate owned propagandists call trade tariffs “protectionist” and in one sense, they are right, trade tariffs protect our jobs, our manufacturing infrastructure and our standard of living. The free traitors who stand to profit from the job offshoring that the TPP would inevitably bring want you to think that exporting is the only path to jobs and prosperity. The truth is that if protected, we have more than enough self-generated supply and demand economic activity to insure a prosperous nation for many years to come without begging third world nations to buy small quantities of our products. It worked for our parents and grandparents, it can and will work for us. Remember, our jobs are ours to keep if we just hold onto them, without begging any foreign nation to buy our stuff.
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Yesterday, much to my disgust, I read a couple of news stories about Barack Obama (a.k.a. President Hope And Change) using a visit to the corporate headquarters of Nike Shoes as a photo opportunity/press conference to hawk the Trans Pacific Partnership and slam Elizabeth Warren (an elected who truly represents “hope and change”) for opposing fast tracking the TPP. During the speech, Obama used Nike's advertising slogan in reference to the TPP to tell Democratic electeds who oppose TPP fast track to “just do (approve) it.” Nike promised Obama that it would add 10,000 new jobs in the USA over the next ten years if the TPP was approved. Hmm, 10,000 U.S. jobs added to an existing 26,000 U.S. jobs seems paltry when compared to the one million contract workers overseas that the article stated Nike uses to make its products. Some quid pro quo huh?
In my humble opinion, the bottom line is that Nike wants a reduction in import tariffs on its shoes via the TPP. You see, like I've said all along, the TPP is a grab bag of goodies for lots of corporations, in exchange for a can of worms for our nation and we, the people. Call your electeds and tell them to oppose the TPP!
Just when it looked like the 2016 Presidential election was going to be a choice between a to-be-announced corporate Republican and a preordained corporate Democrat, independent Bernie Sanders announced that he is going to run for President as a Democrat. If that isn't a game changer, I don't know what is? Now we have a clear choice and can vote for someone who has spent his whole career fighting for the middle class and the poor. Bernie's track record shows that he is all action, not someone who utters a few noncommittal words or worse yet, says the words that you want to hear then in a stealthy way, sides with corporations, billionaires and Wall St. after the election.
Look, I've never been shy about expressing my strong disdain for middle class and poor people who support and vote for Republicans that only help corporations and billionaires. Similarly, I have equal disdain for middle class and poor voters who call themselves Democrats, but vote for “lesser of two evils” candidates that “compromise” with Republicans after the election. Voters in the second category effectively turn a two party system into a virtual one party system by limiting our choices to bad and worse. Kind of sounds like a 1950's Soviet style election doesn't it? The difference is that you have a choice of two people cut from the same corporate cloth? Sadly, the people who prevent any substantive change in our country and doom us to a life of income inequality are the vociferous enforcers of the status quo who on social media and elsewhere, use fear as their weapon of choice. These people are nothing less than political bullies who are trying to force you to vote their way or else! Their phrase that enslaves is “If you vote for a third party candidate, the Republicans will win. Remember Nader in the 2000 election?” By running in a Democratic primary election, Bernie Sanders effectively eliminated that argument. The same people might now present the false argument that Bernie doesn't have a chance because conservative voters won't vote for him in a general election. My reply to that would be that Democrats shouldn't court Republicans by adopting their values? The take away is this: The only way that Bernie Sanders doesn't have a chance is you don't vote for him in the primaries and in the general election. For true democracy, forget the bullies and vote for Bernie. |
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