The TPP may be the final nail in the coffin for the American worker?

[kentuck]

The President and the leader of Japan are discussing it at the White House today. It should be good news for American auto companies.

The wages of American workers will continue to shrink until they have reached a balance with Third World countries and finally achieve "true" competition.

In the meantime, the standard of living will continue to shrink for American workers. There will be more and more homelessness and less of a social safety net for our own people.

When we finally achieve equilibrium with wages in Vietnam, then we should be able to find jobs for everyone. Is that the direction we are going?

[djean111]

1. There are one or two DUers who are actually predicting that, and hoping for that,

and say it serves us right as a country to do penance.

The TPP is not meant to raise anyone up but corporations. Bottom line.

[blkmusclmachine]

9. +1: "The TPP is not meant to raise anyone up but corporations."

[Fred Sanders]

2. Japan's high wage, high population consumer markets opening up to American goods is a good thing for American workers.

Vietnam trade is a minuscule fraction of the trade with Japan, so a trade agreement with Vietnam will have as much affect on American worker wages as the current TPP low wage partners have - zilch.

But the partnership with Japan is the main thing about the TPP, a true trade breakthrough with a rich, high wage consumer crazy nation with an economy greater than all the new partners combined by far.

The doom and Gloomers versus Obama?

Tough choice.

[kentuck]

3. Unless the American goods are made in Vietnam?

We should not assume that the products will be made in America. History tells us they probably will not.

[aspirant]

4. If multinational trade is the answer

why are we giving mega-billions in foreign aid?

[tridim]

8. Maybe it is meant to replace the billions in foreign aid?

Preemptive pessimism is so damn destructive.

[cascadiance]

5. We need a new "trade deal" if this passes...

Where we can set up our own tribunals composed of labor unions and other members of the middle class where we can sue governments and multinationals for OUR losses for all of the wages, etc. they've been stealing from us when our salaries have been kept lower so that they can pay executives, company ownerships as the only beneficiaries when we have increased productivity instead of sharing that wealth like we used to have happen before Reagan's time. It should be OUR OWN WTO! If they can have these tribunals, then it should be possible for us to have them too. Then if we are able to sue politicians for enough of this money, they'll get the message that the laws need to be rewritten to serve us the way a government should instead of the rich b*stards!

And if we do it like the TPP is doing it for corporations, then the John Roberts can grumble a lot since SCOTUS won't be able to overturn rulings of this kind of court if it is set up the way that TPP courts would be set up too!

Not sure if we could ever get this kind of law to pass, but if we organize globally, perhaps we can build up pressure in many countries around the world to raise the "bottom" so that everyone can get a decent wage, instead of lowering it to the lowest possible wage of labor being exploited by these bums!

[Marblehead]

6. Well...candidate obama

did say he was going to renegotiate NAFTA

[brentspeak]

7. He stumbled over his words when he said that

What he tried to say was, "And if elected President, I promise to redo NAFTA!"