General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsNOW Third Way is admitting NAFTA was a BAD deal for US workers...but the TPP will be GOOD.
You can't make this stuff up...
2/12/2015
The Democratic think tank Third Way has long defended centrist, pro-business policies -- including the North American Free Trade Agreement, which allowed many U.S. companies to ship jobs to Mexico.
Now, in arguing for a new trade pact being negotiated by the Obama administration, Third Way is making what appears to be a surprising concession about NAFTA, the most famous trade deal in American history: It hurt some blue-collar workers, the group says.
...Kessler and Horwitz say that NAFTA, the Clinton-era agreement which expanded trade with Canada and Mexico, "fell short" in its promises to middle-class American workers. But they argue that more recent agreements, such as those with Panama (2012) and Singapore (2004), have proven much better for workers and the U.S. economy as a whole, improving the United States' balance of trade in goods with 13 of 17 countries.
...Progressive groups that have clashed with Third Way over trade -- and which oppose the TPP -- criticized the analysis, arguing that its too simplistic just to tally up each trade agreement as a win or a loss.
The magnitude of losses from NAFTA far outweigh gains from the later trade agreements, they say, and TPP has the potential to do the same, especially if it doesnt include a way to prevent trading partners from subsidizing their industries by cheapening their currency. That has long been the worry with China.
Public Citizens Lori Wallach said the TPP most closely resembles the Korea framework. "The Korea FTA actually has the improved labor and environmental standards, and we are getting slammed by a massive new trade deficit since that one went into effect, she said.
The AFL-CIOs Celeste Drake argues that Third Way isnt looking at the distribution of the gains from trade, which tend to favor business owners and shareholders, rather than workers....
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/02/12/now-even-supporters-of-new-trade-deals-are-bashing-nafta/
I guess those posters here trying to sell us on the myth that NAFTA was a good thing (when we KNOW it wasn't/isn't because we're still hurting from it) will have to adjust their talking points...
bob & weave...spin baby spin!
marym625
(17,997 posts)I will take the, they won't adjust anything. Maybe say something like, "this one thing....but on a whole. .."
aquart
(69,014 posts)If anyone, for some reason, needed definitive proof our elected reps work for corporations and not US citizens, these trade deals that send our jobs overseas is it. And almost just as bad, our federal govt grants said corporations the ability to bypass local courts & local govt laws for their profits...
Really sad.
JEB
(4,748 posts)right here in Nebraska.
Glassunion
(10,201 posts)We haz a sad....
Here, this kick to the nuts should givez the happeez!
AtomicKitten
(46,585 posts)nationalize the fed
(2,169 posts)But the likes of Laura D'Andrea Tyson couldn't have been bothered
Clinton took a baseball bat to the knees of Democrats and now it's a knife in the back.
Next Step: Droids. Soon the people of the US will have NO jobs, not even flipping burgers or carrying bags. It's coming and no one cares. But they will.
World's First Robot-Staffed Hotel to Open in Japan
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026191321
RiverLover
(7,830 posts)I hope it bombs.
Maybe that will stem the tide.
arthritisR_US
(7,300 posts)from the piggy party.
RiverLover
(7,830 posts)Still a pig.
arthritisR_US
(7,300 posts)MisterP
(23,730 posts)RiverLover
(7,830 posts)on the wonderful TPP.
I read that this corporate plunder proposal has a 5 year shelf life, so they could also be thinking ahead if it doesn't pass now. It could be the next president's global corporate takeover to sell....
Jack Rabbit
(45,984 posts)[center][font color="red"][size="8"]- OR -[/font][/center]
2. They knew what NAFTA was all about and lied about it with a straight face. I don't trust them. Maybe they should hire Brian Williams as a spokesman.
Mnpaul
(3,655 posts)more Third Way failed policies. Their track record is as bad as the Republicans.
aspirant
(3,533 posts)that the Third Way command post has been hoodwinked by a mesmerizing PUSH POLL and will regain consciousness soon.
Trillo
(9,154 posts)Yeah, we tricked you in the past, but really, we won't ever do that again.
Maybe it was Lucy, tricking Charlie Brown once again.
Populist_Prole
(5,364 posts)They can go back and forth and cloak their malevolence in wonk-ish, technocratic speciousness, and the argument will go back and forth until the BS is rendered down until the issue is shown at its most base dynamic:
Their "trust me" really means "the hell with you", but only after you've pointed out ( after the fact ) that our trust in them is ill-founded.
Oh they won't say "the hell with you", they'll tap dance with an adroitness that puts Fred Astaire to shame in telling you your pain is illusory or of no consequence: in pursuit of some other greater, nebulous, good
It's the same pattern I've seen with every FTA pushed since I began paying attention in the early 90's.
bemildred
(90,061 posts)Fumesucker
(45,851 posts)And not a single Third Way fan has checked in to tell us how wrong it is.
Things that make you go "hmmm...."
MannyGoldstein
(34,589 posts)Within an hour or two, a bunch will check in with their sensible adult views.
That's my guess; although this post might create a Heisenberg-uncertainty-ish situation.
dirtydickcheney
(242 posts)NAFTA - BAAAAADDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD!!
TPP - GOOOOODDDDDDDDDDD!!!
Jamastiene
(38,187 posts)"Obama would never do that," they will say. Then when it becomes clear he IS doing just that, they will say he always said he was going to do that and anyone who didn't know that and agree already wasn't paying attention and doesn't know Obama as well as they do. Then, when it actually happens, they will swear up and down everything is going to be ok. Then, after we give it a while and find out things are really NOT ok, they will tell us to STFU, bend over and take it.
They follow the same pattern every single time.
Autumn
(45,120 posts)Yep. NAFTA was good for the country and had nothing to do with lost jobs. A monkeys uncle too.
rec