Multiple polls show that majority of Americans are against NAFTA-type "free trade" deals
Suppose someone -- some oily individual who wanted you to submissively cave in and not petition your representatives to oppose the Obama/GOP TPP deal-- in the course of their propaganda attempts, cited to you a poll that showed the majority of Americans believed that "trade with other nations is good". That is, this person or persons cited to you a poll showing that Americans believe that the pure ideal of buying and selling of goods between nations -- international commerce -- is a good thing.
Would it then necessarily follow that that same polled majority also approved of today's "free trade" deals (i.e. NAFTA, CAFTA, KORUS, now TPP) -- corporate-written and sponsored deals which have little to do with the pure ideal of the buying and selling of goods between nations and more to do with simply relocating US manufacturing overseas?
Absolutely not:
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https://www.citizen.org/documents/memo-us-polling-shows-nafta-style-trade-deals.pdf
U.S. Polling Shows NAFTA-style Trade Deals Becoming Even More Unpopular
Recent polling indicates that American public opinion over the past few years has intensified from broad opposition to overwhelming opposition to NAFTA-style trade deals.
In 2011, for the first time in history, a majority of Americans believed that China – not the U.S. – is the world’s leading economic power. That belief held firm in 2012, with China outweighing the U.S. by a full twenty percentage points as the recognized economic leader (53% vs. 33%). Eighty percent of Americans in 2011 believed that the global economy has a great or a fair amount of influence on the way things are going in America, while 63 percent believed that America’s ability to compete economically is less than good.
How did this come to pass? Polls have consistently shown that Americans believe our trade policy plays a major role in putting our workers behind. In January 2011, most Americans said they believed that the trend towards a global economy was a bad thing for the country, compared with 60 percent who said it was a good thing in 2001.
Trade deals modeled on the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) have become particularly unpopular. A May 2012 Angus Reid Public Opinion poll found that U.S. respondents who believe that the country should “renegotiate” or “leave” NAFTA outnumbered by nearly 4-to-1 those that say the U.S. should “continue to be a member” of NAFTA (53% vs. 15%). Support for the “leave” or “renegotiate” positions dominated among Republicans, Independents, and Democrats alike. Underscoring this anti-NAFTA sentiment was the finding that just 1 in 3 U.S. respondents thought that NAFTA benefitted the overall U.S. economy, and only 1 in 4 saw the pact as having benefitted U.S. workers.
Given such results, it is not surprising that the NAFTA-style “free trade” agreements (FTAs) passed by Congress in 2011 with Korea, Panama, and Colombia bring political liability. Immediately after passage, a plurality of U.S. voters expressed opposition to the FTAs in an October 2011 National Journal survey, with Republicans and Democrats showing equivalent levels of opposition. Republicans without a college education opposed the FTAs by a nearly 2-to-1 margin. Women also expressed especially high opposition in an election cycle where the presidential candidates have devoted special effort to luring women voters.
This poll was conducted in 2011, you ask? Ok, how about something even more recent, like last year: http://www.ibtimes.com/trans-pacific-partnership-tpp-poll-only-strongest-obama-supporters-want-him-have-fast-track-1552039
= new reply since forum marked as read
the idea." (From your second link.)
Polls show that most of the opposition to fast track and TPP come from republicans, particularly from the most conservative wing of their party. Tea partiers have a name for it: Obamatrade.
On the issue of trade agreements, divisions within the Republican Party are again apparent. Staunch Conservatives are strongly opposed to granting the president fast-track authority: 76% oppose, only 22% favor. Moderate Republicans and Populist Republicans also oppose this proposal; however, their opposition is more muted. Among Moderate Republicans, 53% oppose, 43% favor; among Populists, 57% oppose, 35% favor.
Democratic groups are more united on this issue. Roughly 50% of Liberals, Socially Conservative Democrats and Partisan Poor favor fast track.
http://www.people-press.org/1999/11/11/section-6-issues/
