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Hillary Clinton Caught Lying to Voters on Trade Deal
http://www.nationofchange.org/news/2016/03/02/hillary-clinton-caught-lying-to-voters-on-trade-deal/Newly disclosed State Department emails from 2011 revealed her conversations with U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman and Clinton aide Robert Hormats as she furtively endorsed the Colombian trade deal while seeking support from Democratic congressmen. Formerly vice chairman of Goldman Sachs, Hormats was hired by Clinton at the State Department and now serves as Under Secretary of State. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
In response to Clinton’s emails regarding the Colombian trade deal, Hormats thanked her for her “help and support.” He later wrote, “GREAT line on Columbian [sic] workers!!!!!”
Despite the fact that both Clinton and President Obama received numerous reports of violence against union activists, the administration moved forward with the Colombian trade agreement. A 2015 AFL-CIO report citing data from Colombia’s National Union School asserted that “in the four years since the United States and Colombia signed the Labor Action Plan — a precursor to the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement — to address entrenched labor rights violations, Colombian workers have suffered more than 1,933 threats and acts of violence, including 105 assassinations of union activists and 1,337 death threats.”
Unlike Clinton, Sanders remains consistent in his opposition to international free trade deals. Speaking on the Senate floor in 2011, Sanders declared, “Mr. President, I rise in strong opposition to the free trade agreements with Korea, Colombia, and Panama. Let’s be clear: one of the major reasons that the middle class in America is disappearing, poverty is increasing and the gap between the rich and everyone else is growing wider and wider is due to our disastrous unfettered free trade policy.”
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April 2015
A Timeline Of Hillary Clinton's Evolution On Trade
1996:
"I think everybody is in favor of free and fair trade. I think NAFTA is proving its worth." (March 6, 1996: At an event for the UNITE union at the Nicole Miller company in New York.)
1998:
"There was a very effective business effort in the United States on behalf of NAFTA. There was a very limited and ineffective effort on behalf of fast track...
2000:
"What happened to NAFTA, I think, was we inherited an agreement that we didn't get everything we should have got out of it in my opinion. I think the NAFTA agreement was flawed. The problem is we have to go back and figure out how we are going to fix that." (March 26, 2000: Before the Working Families Party, per Clinton 2008 campaign.)
2003:
"Creating a free trade zone in North America — the largest free trade zone in the world — would expand U.S. exports, create jobs and ensure that our economy was reaping the benefits, not the burdens, of globalization. Although unpopular with labor unions, expanding trade opportunities was an important administration goal." (From Clinton's first memoir, Living History. She was arguing that the Clinton administration could do both health care and NAFTA at once, but Bill Clinton and his advisers did not think so.)
2004:
"I think on balance NAFTA has been good for New York and America, but I also think that there are a number of areas where we're not dealt with in an upfront way in dealing with our friend to the north, Canada, which seems to be able to come up with a number of rationales for keeping New York agricultural products out of Canada." (Jan. 5, 2004: Via teleconference.)
Voted in favor of Australian free-trade agreement. (July 15, 2004)
"I look at each agreement in its totality and measure the impact of each agreement on the New Yorkers that I am privileged to represent." (Clinton said of her vote for the agreement.)
Voted in favor of Morocco free-trade agreement. (July 21, 2004)
2005:
Voted against CAFTA. (July 1, 2005)
2006:
Voted in favor of Oman free-trade agreement. (June 29, 2006)
2007:
"NAFTA was inherited by the Clinton Administration. I believe in the general principles it represented, but what we have learned is that we have to drive a tougher bargain. Our market is the market that everybody wants to be in. We should quit giving it away so willy-nilly. I believe we need tougher enforcement of the trade agreements we already have. You look at the trade enforcement record between the Clinton Administration and the Bush Administration, the Clinton Administration brought more trade enforcement actions in one year than the Bush Administration brought in six years. For me, trade is who we are. We're traders. We want to be involved in the global economy, but not be played for suckers." (Feb. 1, 2007: Time interview.)
"While I value the strong relationship the United States enjoys with South Korea, I believe that this agreement is inherently unfair. It will hurt the U.S. auto industry, increase our trade deficit, cost us good middle-class jobs and make America less competitive." (June 9, 2007: Clinton before AFL-CIO confederation.)
"I support the trade agreement with Peru....
2008:
"NAFTA was negotiated more than 14 years ago, and Hillary believes it has not lived up to its promises." (On Clinton's campaign website.)
Clinton also called for a "new trade 'prosecutor'": "She will appoint a trade enforcement officer and double the enforcement staff at USTR. The current staff is too small to monitor and enforce the increasingly complex trade agreements." (On Clinton's campaign website.)
"You know, I have been a critic of NAFTA from the very beginning. I didn't have a public position on it, because I was part of the administration, but when I started running for the Senate, I have been a critic. I've said it was flawed. ... you don't have all the record because you can go back and look at what I've said consistently.....
( I have to interject here...
....oh my she is too funny....)
2010:
"First, let me underscore President Obama's and my commitment to the Free Trade Agreement. We are going to continue to work to obtain the votes in the Congress to be able to pass it. We think it's strongly in the interests of both Colombia and the United States. And I return very invigorated ... to begin a very intensive effort to try to obtain the votes to get the Free Trade Agreement finally ratified." (June 11, 2010: On RCN Television. She also flew her husband in for dinner in Bogota, Colombia, with key players. Bill Clinton has always been in favor; his foundation has taken money from people with business interests there, as reported and written about in a forthcoming book by Peter Schweizer.)
2011:
"Getting this done together sends a powerful message that America and Korea are partners for the long-term and that America is fully embracing its role as a Pacific power. ... I want to state as strongly as I can how committed the Obama Administration is to passing the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement this year. ... This is a priority for me, for President Obama and for the entire administration. We are determined to get it done, and I believe we will." (April 16, 2011: In a talk to a business group in Seoul, South Korea.)
2012:
"We need to keep upping our game both bilaterally and with partners across the region through agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership or TPP. ... This TPP sets the gold standard in trade agreements to open free, transparent, fair trade, the kind of environment that has the rule of law and a level playing field. And when negotiated, this agreement will cover 40 percent of the world's total trade and build in strong protections for workers and the environment." (Nov. 15, 2012: Comments in Australia.)
2014:
"One of our most important tools for engaging with Vietnam was a proposed new trade agreement called the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which would link markets throughout Asia and the Americas, lowering trade barriers while raising standards on labor, the environment, and intellectual property. ... It was also important for American workers, who would benefit from competing on a more level playing field. And it was a strategic initiative that would strengthen the position of the United States in Asia." (From her second memoir, Hard Choices.)
2015:
"Hillary Clinton believes that any new trade measure has to pass two tests. First, it should put us in a position to protect American workers, raise wages and create more good jobs at home. Second, it must also strengthen our national security. We should be willing to walk away from any outcome that falls short of these tests. The goal is greater prosperity and security for American families, not trade for trade's sake."
Specifically regarding TPP: "She will be watching closely to see what is being done to crack down on currency manipulation, improve labor rights, protect the environment and health, promote transparency and open new opportunities for our small businesses to export overseas."
http://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2015/04/21/401123124/a-timeline-of-hillary-clintons-evolution-on-trade
A Timeline Of Hillary Clinton's Evolution On Trade
1996:
"I think everybody is in favor of free and fair trade. I think NAFTA is proving its worth." (March 6, 1996: At an event for the UNITE union at the Nicole Miller company in New York.)
1998:
"There was a very effective business effort in the United States on behalf of NAFTA. There was a very limited and ineffective effort on behalf of fast track...
2000:
"What happened to NAFTA, I think, was we inherited an agreement that we didn't get everything we should have got out of it in my opinion. I think the NAFTA agreement was flawed. The problem is we have to go back and figure out how we are going to fix that." (March 26, 2000: Before the Working Families Party, per Clinton 2008 campaign.)
2003:
"Creating a free trade zone in North America — the largest free trade zone in the world — would expand U.S. exports, create jobs and ensure that our economy was reaping the benefits, not the burdens, of globalization. Although unpopular with labor unions, expanding trade opportunities was an important administration goal." (From Clinton's first memoir, Living History. She was arguing that the Clinton administration could do both health care and NAFTA at once, but Bill Clinton and his advisers did not think so.)
2004:
"I think on balance NAFTA has been good for New York and America, but I also think that there are a number of areas where we're not dealt with in an upfront way in dealing with our friend to the north, Canada, which seems to be able to come up with a number of rationales for keeping New York agricultural products out of Canada." (Jan. 5, 2004: Via teleconference.)
Voted in favor of Australian free-trade agreement. (July 15, 2004)
"I look at each agreement in its totality and measure the impact of each agreement on the New Yorkers that I am privileged to represent." (Clinton said of her vote for the agreement.)
Voted in favor of Morocco free-trade agreement. (July 21, 2004)
2005:
Voted against CAFTA. (July 1, 2005)
2006:
Voted in favor of Oman free-trade agreement. (June 29, 2006)
2007:
"NAFTA was inherited by the Clinton Administration. I believe in the general principles it represented, but what we have learned is that we have to drive a tougher bargain. Our market is the market that everybody wants to be in. We should quit giving it away so willy-nilly. I believe we need tougher enforcement of the trade agreements we already have. You look at the trade enforcement record between the Clinton Administration and the Bush Administration, the Clinton Administration brought more trade enforcement actions in one year than the Bush Administration brought in six years. For me, trade is who we are. We're traders. We want to be involved in the global economy, but not be played for suckers." (Feb. 1, 2007: Time interview.)
"While I value the strong relationship the United States enjoys with South Korea, I believe that this agreement is inherently unfair. It will hurt the U.S. auto industry, increase our trade deficit, cost us good middle-class jobs and make America less competitive." (June 9, 2007: Clinton before AFL-CIO confederation.)
"I support the trade agreement with Peru....
2008:
"NAFTA was negotiated more than 14 years ago, and Hillary believes it has not lived up to its promises." (On Clinton's campaign website.)
Clinton also called for a "new trade 'prosecutor'": "She will appoint a trade enforcement officer and double the enforcement staff at USTR. The current staff is too small to monitor and enforce the increasingly complex trade agreements." (On Clinton's campaign website.)
"You know, I have been a critic of NAFTA from the very beginning. I didn't have a public position on it, because I was part of the administration, but when I started running for the Senate, I have been a critic. I've said it was flawed. ... you don't have all the record because you can go back and look at what I've said consistently.....
( I have to interject here...
....oh my she is too funny....)
2010:
"First, let me underscore President Obama's and my commitment to the Free Trade Agreement. We are going to continue to work to obtain the votes in the Congress to be able to pass it. We think it's strongly in the interests of both Colombia and the United States. And I return very invigorated ... to begin a very intensive effort to try to obtain the votes to get the Free Trade Agreement finally ratified." (June 11, 2010: On RCN Television. She also flew her husband in for dinner in Bogota, Colombia, with key players. Bill Clinton has always been in favor; his foundation has taken money from people with business interests there, as reported and written about in a forthcoming book by Peter Schweizer.)
2011:
"Getting this done together sends a powerful message that America and Korea are partners for the long-term and that America is fully embracing its role as a Pacific power. ... I want to state as strongly as I can how committed the Obama Administration is to passing the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement this year. ... This is a priority for me, for President Obama and for the entire administration. We are determined to get it done, and I believe we will." (April 16, 2011: In a talk to a business group in Seoul, South Korea.)
2012:
"We need to keep upping our game both bilaterally and with partners across the region through agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership or TPP. ... This TPP sets the gold standard in trade agreements to open free, transparent, fair trade, the kind of environment that has the rule of law and a level playing field. And when negotiated, this agreement will cover 40 percent of the world's total trade and build in strong protections for workers and the environment." (Nov. 15, 2012: Comments in Australia.)
2014:
"One of our most important tools for engaging with Vietnam was a proposed new trade agreement called the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which would link markets throughout Asia and the Americas, lowering trade barriers while raising standards on labor, the environment, and intellectual property. ... It was also important for American workers, who would benefit from competing on a more level playing field. And it was a strategic initiative that would strengthen the position of the United States in Asia." (From her second memoir, Hard Choices.)
2015:
"Hillary Clinton believes that any new trade measure has to pass two tests. First, it should put us in a position to protect American workers, raise wages and create more good jobs at home. Second, it must also strengthen our national security. We should be willing to walk away from any outcome that falls short of these tests. The goal is greater prosperity and security for American families, not trade for trade's sake."
Specifically regarding TPP: "She will be watching closely to see what is being done to crack down on currency manipulation, improve labor rights, protect the environment and health, promote transparency and open new opportunities for our small businesses to export overseas."
http://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2015/04/21/401123124/a-timeline-of-hillary-clintons-evolution-on-trade
small businesses. 
Why wasn't he forming a coalition while he was an active legislator? Why didn't he close loopholes while in the Senate or the House? Isn't that where laws are passed?
How would being president change the power of the opposition? because all I've heard is well, Mitch McConnell's in-box will be full of emails demanding change. Ok, good plan. But then what?
What would Bernie's first 100 days look like? What do his supporters imagine he will get done? Where's the path? What's the plan?
