Democrats Warn Obama They Don’t Have His Back On Trade Plans

In my opinion, both the TPP and TPPIP agreements and future environmental policy decisions are the biggest issues in 2015 because their resolutions will have the strongest long term implications for our future and once those decisions are made and implemented there is no going back. In terms of the TPP and the TPPIP, my concerns with both lie in the complete secrecy surrounding the negotiations and in my mind, secrecy is a red flag and for that alone, if I were in congress I would vote against Fast Track. President Nixon introduced the Fast Track authority and while he did many good things as President especially for the environment, he loved secrecy far too much and we should keep that knowledge with us to remind ourselves what secrecy in government unleashes, bad policy and far reaching negative consequences. We have proof positive evidence that NAFTA, now in its 20th year, has been a boon for corporations, but an economic penance for workers all around and if the TPP is NAFTA on steroids, there cannot be any question that our economy doesn’t need more gifts to corporate America, in fact it is time for economic gifting to be done to the working class of America, they most certainly deserve it. Now regarding our environmental policies we have to band together and keep our lawmakers informed that our national public parks are not for sale, that the Keystone Pipeline is not a job creator, is not safe and especially now that they voted down a measure calling for American Steel to be used and that the oil cannot be exported, it shouldn’t be allowed whatsoever because there is not a single valid reason to allow for that pipeline to be built through American land for external use. Moreover we need to write to congress ad nauseum to force them to lay off the E.P.A and let that agency to do its job, safeguarding our water, air and soil. On a happier note, I was pleasantly surprised that the Senate acknowledged that climate change is real even though it fell short of admitting that it was due to human intervention, but still this was a big step forward. As an electorate, it is our job to keep our lawmaker’s feet to the fire and I hope that we, as a collective, continue to keep pushing our thorns into the sides of the Koch brothers, Wall Street, the Tea Party and any one else who puts greed before the well being of our society.
read the article:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/21/obama-trade-agreements-democrats_n_6518212.html?utm_hp_ref=politics

Tags: Keystone Pipeline, postaday2015, trade agreements