Obama is invited to visit a site to see what three decades of failed trade policy looks like.

[midnight]

[imthevicar]

1. After that he can Bring His But to

Trenton NJ. Trenton Makes world Takes!? Not any more!

[d_legendary1]

14. Went to Jersey last year to visit family

I have never seen so many empty factories in my entire life! Obama needs to take a road trip around the former working capitals of the USA to see what "Free Trade" actually costs.

[ananda]

26. Obama is a trade imperialist.

Workers and factories at home are basically irrelevant
to the imperial aims of global corporate fascism.

[RKP5637]

30. Sadly I have to agree. More and more he's showing what he's really about IMO! n/t

[d_legendary1]

37. With his gun-ho approach to TPP and fast track

Yeah. He sold out. I wonder if the other laws he's passed through executive order that affect government workers is just window dressing for TPP. Once that thing passes it can repeal everything he's done.

[GoneFishin]

42. I wonder the exact same thing. He has handed very few economic wins to us working stiffs, and

maybe those few were only agreed to with the knowledge that they might be snatched back under the terms of TPP.

Keystone XL and Net Neutrality both come to mind.

[midnight]

48. I think this is a great talking point. It should be used to slow down this bill.

[d_legendary1]

54. Its more than a talking point. Its reality.

To see stories about closed factories due to "free trade" and then seeing them up close is pretty scary. That and the rusty guard rails that cover the highways up there should be a wake up call that the president needs to invest in America and not transnational corporations.

[appalachiablue]

50. +1 Sorry to hear this but know it's true, same for parts of NE, Midwest, South et al.

No replacement jobs except the burger flipping industry or clerking if you can get a position. A couple weeks ago, after the Baltimore disruption one of Bill Maher's guests was a Balto. resident. He mentioned that CVS won't even hire blacks in that neighborhood because they think they, or their f&f will steal stuff. That was very ugly to hear.

Walmart has been the largest US employer for some time and the majority of the workers are women who are hardworking yet receive low pay. Can someone remind me what Hillary did for the workers when she was on the W Board of Directors?

[votesparks]

2. Fill In The Blanks with

Every city in the Midwest.

[Enthusiast]

18. Precisely.

[appalachiablue]

40. Buffalo, Camden, Balto., Cleveland, Columbus, Akron, Toldeo, St. Louis & on. Heartbreaking.

There were so many factories that a person could leave one and walk across the street and get another job if they wanted, as one expert put it. And the auto industry supported one in six jobs in America at one time I read.

[RKP5637]

3. Question is, does he really care? n/t

[imthevicar]

9. By the way he's pushing for fast tracking the TPP,

I'd say that's a resounding NO!

[RKP5637]

16. He talks a good talk. Yeah, "a resounding NO!" These deals always work for the big guys, but the

majority of Americans, millions and millions and millions get screwed. When it comes to big $$$$$'s often R=D=I.

[midnight]

46. Here is a list of our elected officials to express our point of view on this matter...

http://www.house.gov/representatives/


Please go to this link and find your rep and call.

[Enthusiast]

19. Obviously he doesn't care.

[RKP5637]

29. This country needs a financial shakeup to empower the little people, otherwise, it's

going to be the SOS forever. The only person I hear that gets it is Bernie Sanders! I've been very disillusioned by Obama.

[midnight]

47. A few days ago there was a great pic of the people in Spain. They all came to the streets and

Last edited Tue Jun 16, 2015, 11:04 PM - Edit history (1)

said that this is how it is done. Those people then ran for office and won.

http://www.bigstory.ap.org/article/big-protest-spain-against-government-austerity



People react in front of the city town building to support the leader of leftist coalition Barcelona Together, Ada Colau, after been elected as Barcelona's new mayor in Barcelona, Spain, Saturday, June 13, 2015. Spain's biggest cities, Madrid and Barcelona, have swear in far-left mayors Saturday in one of the nation's biggest political upheavals in years. The new mayors promise to cut their own salaries, halt homeowner evictions and eliminate perks enjoyed by the rich and famous.


http://news.yahoo.com/photos/people-react-front-city-town-building-support-leader-photo-195248061.html


Look at photo at link....

[RKP5637]

49. We need a major turnaround in the US. I am hoping 2016 might help! Thanks for the

links!

[midnight]

55. I think that photo at this link says it all for me.

[MrMickeysMom]

52. Or, he doesn't care enough...

He's living in that tiny radius of accomplishments influenced long ago that something was going to be better than nothing.

[RKP5637]

4. It started with Clinton, and now Obama wants his version of these failed policies too.

It's a recipe for making most Americans live in a failed landscape. Trouble is when you say this, many dems jump all over you. When it comes to big $$$$$'s the majority of the citizens lose. TPTB really can't feel the pain. There is a lot of lip service, but most people never feel the pain of others unless in their shoes. Fortunately, the dems in congress are getting it and voted it down. When Obama has to look for republicans to side with him and support him, at least to me, that is very telling about TPP.

[appalachiablue]

35. Failed landscape is right. Dystopian neofeudalism also works as in the film 'Elysium' (2013)

with Matt Damon, to use a H.wood analogy. Scary sh*t.

'Elysium' 2013 movie, Matt Damon, Jodie Foster

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1535108/

[RKP5637]

39. Thanks for the link! The timing is incredible. I was just starting

to watch "Assault on Wall Street." It seems very good, made 2013. And then I saw this discussion on DU.

Yeah, it is Scary sh*t. I don't know how it's going to end up, but it's far from over. The same crap is going on, they just play a better game now.

My hunch is for the majority of Americans it is not going to end up very well. I've traveled over a far part of the US and have seen many destroyed cities and towns. You tube, of course, has a lot on it.

Problem is, MSM works hard to keep it all out of sight, out of mind. These guys at the top are riding by the seat of their pants. They have no idea what to do for the masses, so they work the deals to enhance their wealth and the collective wealth of probably the top 20% or so of the US, but millions and millions of people are going to financially suffer through no fault of their own.

[appalachiablue]

45. The corporate consolidation of the Media into 5-6 major conglomerates that produce

90% of what we read, hear and see in the last 20 years happened due to elimination of the Fairness Doctrine and avoidance of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act by Reagan and the 1996 Telecom Act which lifted the rules on media ownership. It was deregulation and then consolidation, 90s- early 2000s style for the Media giants, just like the Big Banks that were deregulated and then consolidated into institutions that are larger, more powerful and dangerous than ever.

The banks will fall anytime as they are heavy, fragile, never reformed after 2008 and still engaged in risky financial speculation. Warning; follow economist Nouriel Roubini, the Prophet who forecast the last Crash, and Thom Hartmann's book, "The Crash of 2016".

Yes, many Americans are so uninformed about what's going on all over the country and world, intentionally by the M$M. Otherwise if they knew they might unite, to fight it. Somewhere I just read that only 10% of our population has a computer, still a source of alternative news IF you know where to look.

For different POVS there's international TV broadcasts on satellite. A poster here recently commented that in Europe their press isn't completely taken over yet so people are still able to read and learn about what's actually taking place (minus the influence of Murdoch & News Corp). That's terrific, unlike here-

[Pooka Fey]

5. Great short video, it's important to watch this one

[newfie11]

6. Detroit, nuff said nt

[Enthusiast]

20. +1

Just look at all the Korean made cars in the US. Decades ago there weren't any.

[StopTheNeoCons]

7. The 1% always use a Democratic president

to push their oppressive trade policies through.

[Enthusiast]

21. They use Democratic Presidents to do a lot of bad stuff.

[RKP5637]

32. Yep, they fund whoever will do their bidding. Lot's of people still don't get it that

when it comes to big $$$$$'s often R=D=I.

[MissDeeds]

8. Wow. That was powerful

Obama and everyone else who has the power to vote on the trade policy should see this, but I doubt any of them will take the ninety seconds to see the devastating impact it could have on American workers.

[appalachiablue]

10. K & R. I can't recommend this video enough. What a portrait of the vitality

and production that once characterized Baltimore and so many other thriving US cities and communities. Offshoring and the loss of jobs particularly since NAFTA and in the last 15 years when 60,000 factories were sent overseas has left these places and people almost completely abandoned and vulnerable to poverty, crime and hopelessness.

What is the plan for post industrial America in the neoliberal corporate age, I've yet to see any organized effort to assist and rebuild cities like Balto., Trenton, Camden, Buffalo, Dayton, Detroit and many others beyond some urban efforts to develop commercial downtown centers with stores, hotels, restaurants, high end condos and tourist attractions based on service sector jobs that are largely low wage.

A few days ago I watched a video of Pulitzer prize author Chris Hedges speaking on his new book, "Wages of Rebellion". When he commented that the loss of manufacturing in this country took the vertebrae- the spine was ripped out of this country, he was absolutely right. And now we are expected to support the TPP and listen to Larry Summers, the Wall Street banker alarm us that if it's not passed it's doom for America.

Truthdig, "Wages of Rebellion", Chris Hedges new book.
http://www.truthdig.com/tag/wages_of_rebellion

Chris Hedges talks about his new book in Olympia, Washington, March 9, 2015

[Enthusiast]

22. Huge +1!

[RKP5637]

25. Americans are severely propagandized and bamboozled, and are too trusting. The guys

at the top have no plan. The smart ones know where all of this is headed given the current direction. They are protecting their assets. The little people in the new US are screwed. Many were before, but now many more are joining. Most Americans could not survive without their paycheck for a couple of months, and retirement for most is going to be a very unpleasant experience.

[appalachiablue]

38. The elites have no plan except their own profits and unfortunately many of our

elected representatives are corrupted and benefit from the same system so they won't and can't advocate for us, the people like they should. Who speaks for our welfare genuinely, for 30 years? Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren and Alan Grayson at the top. They're vital if a small voice in the corporate universe unless and until things change.

[RKP5637]

41. We are very lucky to have them! n/t

[appalachiablue]

43. We are so lucky with them, for sure. Just think if they weren't here, what a thought- good Lord.

I haven't heard of the new Wall Street movie you mentioned, will check it out, thanks. 'Elysium' is well done, and a very scary possibility. The 2nd time I saw it entirely the message really came through, and it's ugly and devastating considering what we're used to- brrrr!

[RKP5637]

44. Thanks! I'll watch 'Elysium' for sure! n/t

[midnight]

51. This man has to have nerves of steel to tolerate what

he has had to see and report on.

[LuvNewcastle]

11. The people up there breathing

the rarefied air seem to think we have to bring America down in order to bring other countries up. They think we're not desperate enough. We've got it too good. We need elected officials who serve the people here, not the corporations and not the rest of the world.

[Enthusiast]

23. That's the entirety of their economic theory. "We've got it too good."

They're gonna show us!

This is what happens when Wall Street is not held accountable for their crimes.

[RKP5637]

27. The crooks have bought the US government and now have free rein to do what the F they please.

This is no longer "we the people" in the US, but now "we the corporations" in USA, Inc. Any not seeing that just don't F'en get it, or are on the take.

[Enthusiast]

28. I'm with you!

[appalachiablue]

34. Absolutely, corps rule and people are nuisances and pests. That is until they're gone

or imprisoned out of sight and paid $1.50 a day to labor invisibly, quietly and confined in correctional institutions. The system is a very lucrative industry for the privateers who operate it and the contractors who service it. Thanks Bubba.

[appalachiablue]

31. You Americans have it good, you have TVs (and refrigerators). I've actually heard this

from some old, RW CoC and think tank businessmen who fill too much of CSPAN's programming anymore. Warning serfs- it could be worse! How can the establishment be so lame and think we're so clueless to continue to send out the repulsive Larry Summers whose trail of blunders and involvement in corporate greed is a mile long. That it's Recession over, return to business as usual is clear for this crowd who rules. And btw, what does Goldman think?

[Enthusiast]

36. I have heard them. They (Limbaugh and the rest) tell their listeners the fact that people have

refrigerators, microwaves and TVs proves they are not poor. Yes, our standard of living is higher than Vietnam's. Let's keep it that way!

You can get used microwaves, TVs and refrigerators for practically nothing in this country. As a matter of fact the TV I am currently using was free because the donor got a new one. My stove was free and almost brand new. My fridge and microwave were new but low priced. Hey, I do have a kick ass stereo that wasn't free.

[mountain grammy]

12. The trade policies not only hurt American workers...

People are living and working in squalor for multinational corporations in third world countries. People are abused and suffer enormously all in the name of the almighty dollar, kind of like America before unions.
The corporations claim they are lifting up third world populations, but there is plenty of evidence that what the corps are doing is exploiting poor nations so we can buy a shirt for $10 and they can make huge profits.

Trade is essential for nations to coexist in some form of peace. But in the corporate world, trade is nothing but profit driven, with not a care in the world for human beings or the environment. Governments who buy the corporate trade pacts are selling out their people, whether in America or Indonesia.

[raindaddy]

13. Instead of representing the oligarchs at Nike headquarters......

we need a president who'll represent American workers and talk about our failed trade policies at Sparrow's Point...

[Enthusiast]

17. Correct. n/t

[Enthusiast]

15. K&R! This should have hundreds of recommendations!

These trade deals have done nothing for the American working people. Nothing!

We can have successful competitive manufacturing here. If greed was not standing in the way we could have it.

[raindaddy]

24. K&R

Correct!!!!!

[midnight]

57. I agree.... Thanks....

[appalachiablue]

33. Great post Midnight. A moving, beautiful record of the Golden Age USA.

The French have a term for it, the 'Trente Glorieuses', the thirty year period, 1945-1975 when France grew in industry and advanced because the post WWII Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe and other factors. The prosperity began to decline in the 1970s with the oil crisis and other international policy decisions. French economist Thomas Piketty refers to it in his landmark new book, "Capitalism in the 21st Century".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trente_Glorieuses

[midnight]

58. Thank you for this information. Lizzy Warren sums up our greatest period as when glass-steagall

was in place... When they started removing it, it lead us to all the finical crisis..


Nearly a year ago (on July 11, 2013), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) introduced the 21st Century Glass-Steagall Act of 2013, which is described on her Senate website as:

A bill to reduce risks to the financial system by limiting banks' ability to engage in certain risky activities and limiting conflicts of interest, to reinstate certain Glass-Steagall Act protections that were repealed by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, and for other purposes.

http://truth-out.org/buzzflash/commentary/elizabeth-warren-champions-bill-to-restore-glass-steagall-act-and-rein-in-wall-street/18726-elizabeth-warren-champions-bill-to-restore-glass-steagall-act-and-rein-in-wall-street

[MrMickeysMom]

53. Damn, this is right...

Recommended to all for a dose of reality.

[midnight]

56. It is a reality that does need some better recognition.

[cantbeserious]

59. Powerful And To The Point - Obama - HRC - No Where To Be Found

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