July 1, 2014
As anyone who reads The New American knows, the are several fronts in the plutocrats’ war to eradicate our fundamental liberties and the Constitution that protects them. It is sometimes difficult to keep up with the manifold threats to the prosperity and perpetuation of the American Republic.
Of all the weapons aimed at our freedom and founding documents, though, there is perhaps none more potent than the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). So imminent is the harm hiding within the still-secret “trade pact” that one author recently described the TPP as “The greatest threat to American sovereignty.”
That’s quite a claim, but, a close scrutiny of the details (scant though they may be) of the 12-nation agreement reveals that the accusation is accurate.
Since his second inauguration, President Obama has kept his foot on the TPP pedal, pushing for the quick culmination of the deliberations and the ratification of the same by the Senate.
Since his reelection in 2012, President Obama has been forced to focus on domestic issues, chief among which was the ObamaCare rollout debacle. Not that foreign policy hasn’t had its time in the foreground, speaking specifically of Syria, Ukraine, and Iraq.
Now, however, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) will be brought front and center, and the president reckons the time is right to renew his effort to solve the problems plaguing the approval of the 12-nation regional trade pact.
President Obama used the State of the Union address in January as an opportunity to request Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) from Congress. TPA is a tool that the president demands be in the U.S. trade representative’s bag when he sits down with his colleagues from the other TPP participant nations.
Not so fast. The Washington Post reported on February 19 on the pressure the president is feeling from his own party to pump the brakes on the TPP and fast track authority:
Already, Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) are opposed to moving forward with granting Obama fast-track authority.
"Everyone would be well-advised just to not push this right now," Reid said in March. He's generally opposed to large global trade agreements.
Resistance from Reid and Pelosi usually would be enough to at least ease the White House push. But Obama and Vice President Biden have also been directly confronted on the issue in recent weeks by rank-and-file members. And 151 House Democrats — more than half of the caucus — co-signed a letter late last year written by Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) to voice opposition to fast track authority and the TPP.
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