They're cruising ahead with the TPP as if Reid and Pelosi objecting was just kabuki
and that's because it is.
The President is DETERMINED to push through both TPP and TTIP (European trade deal) before he leaves office. Some nitpickers have objected to my use of the word "determined" regarding his efforts to move these deals forward. It's as apt a word to use as could possibly be.
Virtually all of corporate media has lined up to push the TPP in editorials ranging from incredibly shameless (WaPo, anything owned by that fuck Rupert) to the sheepish (The NYT).
As Bernie pointed out, corporate media has been loath to cover the TPP, but regardless, knowledge and opposition have grown a lot over the past year. and you know that dem pols in congress are aware of that.
I get a great deal of my news on the tpp from overseas media and bloggers as well from the very knowledgeable David Johnson and sites such as EFF and Public Citizen. I also go to the USTR website to see what color the smoke they're blowing is.
Tom Friedman has jumped aboard the TPP. No surprise there.
What Does Tom Friedman Know About TPP?
New York Times columnist Tom Friedman once declared that he doesn't really bother understanding international trade agreements. But that doesn't stop him from writing about them. In a TV interview (CNBC, 7/22/06), he once admitted: "I wrote a column supporting the CAFTA, the Caribbean Free Trade initiative. I didn't even know what was in it. I just knew two words: free trade." (Actually, he didn't even know what its name was; it's the Central America Free Trade Agreement, not "Caribbean."
So there was Friedman on Sunday (2/16/14) writing about the TPP, or Trans-Pacific Partnership. Friedman was contrasting the can-do spirit of Silicon Valley with the paralysis on Capitol Hill:
"But Washington these days won't even do the league minimum. As The Economist observed in an essay entitled "When Harry Mugged Barry," both the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal with big Asian markets like Japan, which is almost done, and the U.S.-European Union trade deal, which is being negotiated, are "next generation" agreements that even the playing field for us by requiring higher environmental and labor standards from our trading partners and more access for our software and services."
International trade deals are being to written to benefit the United States and raise environmental and labor standards. Well, who could be against that?
The only problem is that doesn't appear to be what's happening. As Friedman's paper has reported (1/15/14):
The Obama administration is retreating from previous demands of strong international environmental protections in order to reach agreement on a sweeping Pacific trade deal that is a pillar of President Obama's strategic shift to Asia, according to documents obtained by WikiLeaks, environmentalists and people close to the contentious trade talks.
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Whatever the case, Friedman's been told these are "free trade" deals, and those are the ones he's for.
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http://www.fair.org/blog/2014/02/18/what-does-tom-friedman-know-about-tpp/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=what-does-tom-friedman-know-about-tpp
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