Obama chides Democrats criticizing trans-pacific trade deal: ‘I take that personally’
Source: Reuters
President Barack Obama fought back on Thursday against the biggest domestic obstacle to the Pacific trade pact he wants to conclude before he leaves office: the trade skeptics in his own Democratic party.
Trade unions, environmental groups and high-profile Democrats like Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts have come out swinging against the Trans-Pacific Partnership, saying it would send American jobs overseas.
When people say that this trade deal is bad for working families, they dont know what theyre talking about, Obama told a group of about 200 volunteers and donors with Organizing for Action, an advocacy group formed by his former campaign team. I take that personally. My entire presidency has been about helping working families. The Chamber of Commerce didnt elect me twice working folks did, he said.
Obama argued it would be illogical for him to sign a trade deal that would hurt middle-class jobs given his efforts to expand health care insurance, bail out the auto industry and overhaul Wall Street regulations. I spent a lot of time and a lot of political capital to save the auto industry, Obama said, banging the lectern with a pointed finger for emphasis. Why would I pass a deal that would be bad for U.S. auto workers?
-snip-
Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/2015/04/obama-chides-democrats-criticizing-trans-pacific-trade-deal-i-take-that-personally/
msongs
(67,405 posts)candelista
(1,986 posts)To reduce wages and thereby increase profits for auto manufacturers? That might be one reason.
Skittles
(153,160 posts)wasn't that part of the "saving the auto industry" deal?
candelista
(1,986 posts)Eventually big business cuts wages so much that it impoverishes its own customers, and we get a depression.
MannyGoldstein
(34,589 posts)Joe Worker
(88 posts)Try running for office without coming off like a fraud!
Tace
(6,800 posts)Lots of hope and change during the successful campaign, then the sellout became obvious, and awful, when the rubber hit the road.
BlueCaliDem
(15,438 posts)snooper2
(30,151 posts)MADem
(135,425 posts)This place is starting to look like the underside of a bridge, lately. Low post count + assholish comments abound.
ann---
(1,933 posts)he can't run again.
daleo
(21,317 posts)But people can sincerely do the wrong thing, thinking it is the right thing.
Erich Bloodaxe BSN
(14,733 posts)I'd actually prefer to think he is sincere and mistaken, just as in his choice of Republican economic advisors, who steered 93% of the 'recovery' to the obscenely wealthy, and made sure the people who crashed the economy walked away without any jail time, while so many of the 99% lost homes and what meagre accumulated wealth they had.
stillwaiting
(3,795 posts)He would say that it's unacceptable that the economic recovery has played out the way that it has, and he would be proposing policies and legislation that would actually help to rectify that situation instead of exacerbating it.
Obama talks proudly of the economic recovery without speaking about who has benefitted from the recovery and who has not (i.e. just about all of us).
So, we get fucking Republicans getting the chance to talk about income and wealth inequality because Democrats (with very few exceptions) are not acknowledging the reality of what's happened throughout the Obama Administration (i.e. the continuing increase in wealth/income inequality and the continuing loss of financial security for more and more people). Democrats should be BLASTING Republicans for blocking legislation that would actually help turn around the unrelenting trend of increasing income/wealth inequality and the continuing loss of economic security and freedom for the masses). Instead, they pretend there has been a miraculous economic recovery and our country is doing swimmingly. That's not a recipe for political success.
kath
(10,565 posts)RKP5637
(67,108 posts)daleanime
(17,796 posts)Populist_Prole
(5,364 posts)He wants to talk about angry? If he's not aware of populists disdain for the party's 3rd-Way direction, he's so tone deaf, he'll never get it.
Plus. he's using the same exact condescending tone Bill Clinton used against those opposed to NAFTA.
Joe Worker
(88 posts)I feel shortchanged that Willy didn't shake a bony finger at the camera though. LOL!
Angel Martin
(942 posts)my favourite argument that they made in favour of NAFTA was when they said that we had to pass it, or there would be a flood of illegal immigrants coming across the southern border.
RKP5637
(67,108 posts)marym625
(17,997 posts)fredamae
(4,458 posts)DJ13
(23,671 posts)Not that you seem to care.
yurbud
(39,405 posts)yurbud
(39,405 posts)GoneFishin
(5,217 posts)life sustaining medications will take it personally. People who have fracking fluids in their drinking water will take it personally. People who want safe food for their kids to eat will take it personally.
So suck it up.
wildbilln864
(13,382 posts)appalachiablue
(41,131 posts)marym625
(17,997 posts)Show it.
Response to marym625 (Reply #11)
1000words This message was self-deleted by its author.
And it's so transparent, we can see right through him.
boomer55
(592 posts)I've been very disappointed and fossil listed with president Obama for quite a while
Joe Worker
(88 posts)I have really stuck my neck out to defend him and this is what he does..
marym625
(17,997 posts)And a few others, so have I.
JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)ment, but the full text of the agreement.
Does he expect us to take his word for the vague proposition that the agreement doesn't hurt us?
NAFTA was a horrible lesson. We don't trust even Obama on the TPP.
If we want enforceable, fair agreements, we should negotiate them one on one, one by one, with each of our trading partners.
These group agreements are not enforceable. We should have learned that by now.
I will believe that currency manipulation is ended with this agreement when I see it. The only way to end currency manipulation is to end trading with a country that does it.
marym625
(17,997 posts)I just don't understand getting into any agreement like this as a catchall.
davidpdx
(22,000 posts)I think that is the ONLY way to get it passed. Sure everyone is going to be pissed about something in it, but it would be a lot easier to support if we knew the exact details.
Also I think it would inadvertently help Secretary Clinton because she could come out against the TPP and state that it would cost too many jobs and that we need to get a better deal. That would probably make be one thing that would sway people to her side.
RKP5637
(67,108 posts)of TPTB anymore.
marym625
(17,997 posts)I don't care if god himself was ruling the world, we should question authority.
I don't believe in god but it's the best example I could come up with
RKP5637
(67,108 posts)newthinking
(3,982 posts)He genuinely seems to think this stuff works.
MindMover
(5,016 posts)Politics sucks bigtime and my father was right about politicians, they become politicians because they can't do anything else.
JoePhilly
(27,787 posts)At least that used to be the common wisdom on DU.
And that he'd never end DADT.
And that he'd make all the Bush tax cuts permanent.
And that Obamacare would kill us all.
appalachiablue
(41,131 posts)tularetom
(23,664 posts)Are you shitting me? He promised to implement a crappy treaty that would send American jobs overseas, tilt the balance of trade even further away from us, grant gianormous corporations permission to destroy the environment, and cause a ton of other problems that would adversely effect 99% of the population of the country, so he would get elected?
SamKnause
(13,103 posts)1. You didn't hold the Bush administration accountable. (you continued his failed policies) You interfered
when other countries tried to hold them accountable. You referred to torturers as patriots.
2. You didn't hold Wall Street accountable. (Too big to fail, too big too jail) Eric Holder has
been a total failure.
3. You kept trying bipartisanship with the INSANE people.
4. You filled the White House with Wall Street and Federal Reserve cronies.
5. You referred to the Wall Street thieves as 'The Best and the Brightest'.
6. You didn't stand up for the protesters in Wisconsin. (couldn't find your walking shoes ?)
7. You ignored and insulted your base.
8. You didn't fight for the public option.
9. It took you 5+ years to address raising the minimum wage.
10. It took you 5+ years to address police brutality.
11. You ordered drone strikes that killed 4 U.S. citizens ( one was an innocent 16 year old boy)
12. You campaigned for Rahm Emanuel.
13. Your treatment of Edward Snowden, Chelsea Manning, and Julian Assange. (the
worst administration for protecting whistle blowers)
14. Your failure to address the ridiculous and immoral war on cannabis. You laugh and
smirk every time the issue is brought up on social media.
15. The failed Free Trade Deal that you signed with South Korea, that to date has cost the
U.S. 75,000 jobs and added billions to our trade deficit.
16. You signed a Free Trade Deal with Colombia. Columbia, a country that kills union
organizers.
17. Your administration pushed Charter Schools.
18. 2009, you squandered your mandate and refused to use the bully pulpit.
19. 2009, you didn't take advantage of the short time the Democratic Party had control
of the Senate, the Congress, and the Presidency.
20. You offered up CPI for Social Security.
21. You promised transparency. (your definition of transparency must be different than mine)
22. You have disenfranchised young voters.
23. You represent the needs of the wealthy and super wealthy. (you ignored the cries of
the 99%)
99th_Monkey
(19,326 posts)SamKnause
(13,103 posts)cosmicone
(11,014 posts)"Yes we can" and "Change you can believe in" my ass.
SamKnause
(13,103 posts)DonCoquixote
(13,616 posts)how I see people talk about Obama being a disappointment because he was not the liberal he should have been, but then they have Hillary signs up. Not denying anger at Obama, but honestly, is Hillary going to walk to his left? She sure did not in 2008.
Call it picky, but at least when I see someone with the Liz Warren signs, or Bernie Sanders signs, or even the socialist signs, I at least know that person wants liberal politics, or at least wants to steer towards the left. When I see people support Hillary, aka the person who got into power by helping to drag what used to be America's liberal party to the center, slam Obama for following in Clinton footsteps, I am a little confused, then amused.
cosmicone
(11,014 posts)Obama ran as someone different than he actually purported to be and ran to the right when he had no reason to do so.
At least we know that Hillary is running as a centrist (because that is how people get elected) and considering her history, she is more likely to make a left tern from the center.
Also, methinks Hillary is only interested in making history as the first woman POTUS and may not run again (considering her age) - in which case she can afford to take more populist positions to leave a legacy.
She will also position her VP for an 8 year term if she doesn't run again in 2016. Her pick for a VP will be the key.
DonCoquixote
(13,616 posts)"At least we know that Hillary is running as a centrist (because that is how people get elected) and considering her history, she is more likely to make a left tern from the center. "
What in her history shows she is willing to turn leftward?
"Also, methinks Hillary is only interested in making history as the first woman POTUS and may not run again (considering her age) - in which case she can afford to take more populist positions to leave a legacy. "
Or she can follow the bad examples set by Maggie Thatcher, Angela Merkel and Golda Meir and try to preove she can be as much a right winger as many man.
"Obama ran as someone different than he actually purported to be and ran to the right when he had no reason to do so. "
Except for many Hillary voters that kept saying that Obama was too far to the left and therefore could not win. I read the Huffington post in those days, where Mark Penn got to strut his stuff.
You are right about one thing, WYSIWG, and when I SEE a Hillary sticker, I know that person will support Hillary when she does what made her famous, be a centre-right pol.
Angel Martin
(942 posts)watch what they do.
i have to just shake my head when i see people on this site writing things like: "Hillary is finally showing her true liberal nature."
Hillary / Rahm 2016
Embrace the Suck !
Joe Worker
(88 posts)I would just like to add one more.......
21. He let a rider written by Citigroup to be attached to the omnibus spending bill that let trustees off the hook for pension plans with some last minute canvassing for votes. He put thousands of workers retirement in jeopardy while bailing out Wall Street. (I don't know what he has against the elderly)
He is also too chummy with Paul Ryan.
cui bono
(19,926 posts)SamKnause
(13,103 posts)that disgusting statement.
Thank you.
SamKnause
(13,103 posts)cui bono
(19,926 posts)BeanMusical
(4,389 posts)ut oh
(895 posts)said it way better than I could.
RKP5637
(67,108 posts)is was all about.
Jackpine Radical
(45,274 posts)leave us hoping for change.
RKP5637
(67,108 posts)Morely Dotes
(8 posts)but a guy named Bernie.
I trust him to bring the real hope and change to the Democratic Party. He will make the switch and make himself well-known. He knows how to play the media and get the right-wingers to shut up and let him say his messages.
I do believe that Bernie can deliver to the 99%, and should be seriously considered. He's the One.
Erich Bloodaxe BSN
(14,733 posts)I'll have to bookmark the page just for that.
SamKnause
(13,103 posts)sendero
(28,552 posts)... now we are supposed to "trust" you? That's rich. This is the FIRST ISSUE I've seen you actually get up and FIGHT for. The public option wasn't important enough. Rolling back disastrous tax cuts wasn't important enough. Actually doing something real about the bankers, who are going take us down again thanks to your inaction, wasn't enough.
But a $#%^#$% "trade" bill IS important enough.
It doesn't take a swami-guru to see where your priorities lie, and it is not with working Americans.
SamKnause
(13,103 posts)It is truly disgusting.
Javaman
(62,530 posts)best summation of this presidency yet!
thank you for that list.
SamKnause
(13,103 posts)Feel free to spread it far and wide.
840high
(17,196 posts)list to everyone I know.
SamKnause
(13,103 posts)yurbud
(39,405 posts)Marrah_G
(28,581 posts)delrem
(9,688 posts)He wouldn't be pressuring for fast-track before we've even seen it if he cared about listening.
We would have the whole thing in front of us NOW, with no unreasonable time pressure to pass it before the world has even seen it.
FreakinDJ
(17,644 posts)Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)SoapBox
(18,791 posts)oasis
(49,383 posts)Welcomed him to come on his show to discuss it.
Joe Worker
(88 posts)because he only knows the "facts" not what Wall Street lobbyists are writing into it.
pa28
(6,145 posts)Next time they invite him to the White House for lunch.
SamKnause
(13,103 posts)You will know them by the company they keep.
Tace
(6,800 posts)not words.
Response to DonViejo (Original post)
Post removed
youceyec
(394 posts)you should have voted for God. Obama is not a perfect pres, but hes damn close to being one relative to anyone since Carter (who was even more perfect than Obama).
Joe Worker
(88 posts)You mean as in fraudulent?
Angel Martin
(942 posts)remember this on NAFTA:
blkmusclmachine
(16,149 posts)Fearless
(18,421 posts)Like the average person would be.
RandiFan1290
(6,232 posts)Scuba
(53,475 posts)ut oh
(895 posts)Allowing us to see it would give the middle class to ability to see if it was for or againsts them. What little information we've been able to get out of it so far seems to go against what he is claiming.
RKP5637
(67,108 posts)Baitball Blogger
(46,705 posts)reason to be optimistic given the track record of these trade deals. I think Obama is the best president in my life time, but I think he's wrong on this one. First, if he really felt that sure about this treaty he wouldn't have needed to operate in secrecy. And second, when it begins to fail as NAFTA did, he won't be in the oval office to take the heat for the failure.
Deadbeat Republicans
(111 posts)The Democratic Party will have to wear the TPP around our necks for decades because of your support.
stillwaiting
(3,795 posts)The Chamber of Commerce and nearly all Senate Republicans support the TPP Mr. President.
The TPP is MASSIVE and deals with many different areas of our lives (in addition to trade issues).
And, The Chamber of Commerce and Senate Republicans have a HORRID track record in lobbying for legislation that helps working families.
So, to reduce opposition to the TPP down to a personal affront is outrageous.
Alkene
(752 posts)I imagine you will get over it, someday, somehow, and go on to live a fairly comfortable and contented life.
As for many of the rest of us "working folks"*...
*would you like fries with that?
rock
(13,218 posts)You are the person that's on that end of the stick. So I'd say that's a good assessment of the situation. You're a politician and angry that we the voters don't trust you to make a secret deal when it would be just as easy to tell us what that deal is.
BlueCaliDem
(15,438 posts)It just baffles me why some are attacking him and the TPP (but not the TTIP, for some reason - perhaps because the TPP is Asia and South and Central America trade while the TTIP is about U.S. and European trade?) while President Obama has always, always stood up for and fought for us working folks. And this is documented FACT.
So why this undeserved distrust of him and his motives now?
Cha
(297,210 posts)bring out their gd pitchforks.. frothing out their mouths while lighting their torches.
My money is on the President and not those who think they know so gd much but are ever so woefully ignorant.
BlueCaliDem
(15,438 posts)and this country. Those people who constantly harp on him that he hasn't given them their rainbow-farting unicorn would rather embrace feel-good rhetoric over real actions that actually help American workers and the American economy. President Obama will never be good enough, do enough, or dictate enough for them. They'll embrace each and every one of his public detractors as if they're flawless gods...just as long as they can attack him.
So I share your opinion on "the usuals", Cha.
Cha
(297,210 posts)BlueCaliDem
(15,438 posts)Sgt Preston
(133 posts)DisgustipatedinCA
(12,530 posts)We ignorant liberals will sit here in the corner while you make common cause with those who love the TPP. And you and the President and the GOP clowns can continue to call us names.
What other Boehner/McConnell-approved legislation do you support? Or is TPP the only issue on which you agree with Republicans? If so, why?
BlueCaliDem
(15,438 posts)Good thing they're in the MINORITY and losing the debate as the TPA has passed a key Senate committee and is on to pass in the Senate.
The president has every right to chide those Democrats, especially Elizabeth Warren. And Big Union is not always right. I mean, the biggest Unions were pro-Keystone XL while the president vetoed the bill passed through a Republican-controlled Congress because he SAW the adverse environmental impact it would have. Yet these staunch ObamaCritics - supported by gratuitous trolls - take the words of Big Union against this president??
ann---
(1,933 posts)And for Obama to say that is condescending to those who are intelligent enough to
disagree with him on this.
BlueCaliDem
(15,438 posts)And anyone who believes themselves to be intelligent enough to know the facts, based on his past accomplishments that has helped American workers and the American industry, agrees with him. Anyone worth their political sauce understands that he's not going to do anything to jeopardize 61 months and 12.1 million net job growth. To think otherwise is beyond comprehension.
I don't think it is "personal." And, I'm on Warren's side on this.
BlueCaliDem
(15,438 posts)BlueCaliDem
(15,438 posts)You clearly aren't part of that group. Oh well.
840high
(17,196 posts)off some time ago.
BlueCaliDem
(15,438 posts)840high
(17,196 posts)BlueCaliDem
(15,438 posts)Larkspur
(12,804 posts)of earned Social Security benefits as they got older and needed it most. Obama was defeated in that by Congressional Dems and Progressive groups.
Obama did NOTHING to get card check passed to help Unions increase membership when he said that he'd support it during the campaign. Obama is dishonest about helping the middle class.
BlueCaliDem
(15,438 posts)I don't know if you can recall, but Republicans won the majority in the House two years prior (thanks Dems!), where the budget is supposed to originate. For some strange reason, M$M and pundits on the Left had begun to believe that the president, not Congress, was obligated to propose and draft the nation's budgets. But that's not the president's job.
Congress, however, was once again dragging their collective feet while taking advantage of the humongous deficits they had helped create but the president was being blamed for. They presented "entitlement reform" while completely ignoring the growing deficit caused by Bush's tax cuts to the wealthy and rushing to be on teevee everywhere demanding that the president present a budget while taking the advantage of not being called on and reminded by these same "journalists" that it's their job, not the president's to pass a budget.
Anyway, since the Republican House wasn't doing anything (so that they can run to the mics and teevee cameras to once again complain that "the president hasn't presented a budget!!), the president decided to present one himself - as a strategy.
The offer of chained CPI was part of the budget package that would raise taxes on the wealthy - significantly, btw. He damned well knew, just like you should know, that Republicans would never go for it, therefore, there was NO real threat of any chained CPI ever coming to fruition. So all that "hair on fire" from the Left was unnecessary, and they should've known better since the Left is the most informed, most analytical in the political spectrum. Unfortunately, they actually believed that House Republicans would go for the chained CPI which would require them to raise taxes on the rich. Mindboggling, really.
Now, you ask, how do I know that President Obama merely used the chained CPI card in order to get Republicans to raise taxes on the rich and to shut them up that he hasn't proposed a budget? The fact that he's never presented it again afterward. If you think it's because of the anger from Democrats and just about everyone from the left-of-center, you forget that when President Obama does what he thinks is best even if he angers a lot of people. So if he were serious and wanted chained CPI - as you allege - then he would've presented it in the 2014 budget - and he didn't. Chained CPI was forgotten.
That's called strategy.
Larkspur
(12,804 posts)attacking Senator Warren, the Unions and the Left today over TPP and Fast Track.
Obama has always been dishonest. He just wants to make millions in dollars like the Clintons are after his term as President expires. He's not fighting for middle class families. He's fighting to make millions in dollars for himself.
BlueCaliDem
(15,438 posts)Now you sound like a Tea Partier.
Larkspur
(12,804 posts)so he has to please his Wall Street donors.
Larry Engels
(387 posts)And accusing someone of being in the Tea Party just because he criticizes your idol is evidence of your lack of understanding of political reality. There is a left in this country, and there are people who criticize President Obama from the left.
Brickbat
(19,339 posts)WTF is this shit right here?
elzenmahn
(904 posts)...as in "how dare you NOT TRUST ME"?!?!?!?!
I don't care how insulted/hurt/whatever the POTUS is on this deal. If the TPP is so damned great, then declassify the details and LET US SEE IT!
And BTW - Warren and the critics know DAMNED WELL what they are talking about, and I'll take their word on this over anything that our "just trust me" POTUS says on this issue.
Cha
(297,210 posts)pot shots thrown around here.
840high
(17,196 posts)Cha
(297,210 posts)elzenmahn
(904 posts)...and what you think she can possibly gain from it?
Remember the old saying, "Follow The Money"? Who is supporting this trade deal? And how much money and lobbying are they throwing behind this effort? A LOT of those banks and corporations contribute to the Dems, and have contributed to Obama's campaigns. Lose this trade deal, and where do you think that campaign cash is going to go?
On the opposite end, who is opposing this deal? The constituency opposing TPP (which is becoming increasingly bipartisan, BTW) does not NEARLY have the financial muscle nor the access to the media that the supporters do. They're the underdogs in this.
And if you think trade deals like this benefit American workers - think again.
President Obama has the burden of proof in this matter. All he has to do is release the details of the proposed agreement to the PUBLIC (who pays his salary and to whom he ultimately answers). I would submit that if the TPP was really as great and beneficial to the middle class as he says it is, he would have no problem with releasing this information. But his response at these requests is, essentially, "trust me - take my word for it." His reaction, to me, only implies that he's hiding something.
I'm sorry - but we were burned before by NAFTA. I'm not interested in being burned again by what Thom Hartmann calls SHAFTA.
Larry Engels
(387 posts)BlueCaliDem
(15,438 posts)Remember...we are entering a presidential election year. Some are sent out to tear down President Obama so that they can damage the other Democrat who is poised to run for the White House. Do it from the Left, and no one will be the wiser. In fact, much like many disruptors who had received their pizzas, too many DUers support anyone who tears into President Obama.
But you're correct...Senator Warren is lying about this and she still gets the benefit of the doubt from her known supporters - something that President Obama could only dream of ever getting (but never got) from the same self-proclaimed "base".
840high
(17,196 posts)ann---
(1,933 posts)Then take the hint - it's wrong.
winter is coming
(11,785 posts)If you want to change people's minds, prove them wrong. Show them the details.
asiliveandbreathe
(8,203 posts)to answer the question you pose..Why would I pass a deal that would be bad for U.S. auto workers?
You need to answer the questions the American people have concerning the corporate TPP and fast track...spell it out..
There was a time you said you couldn't do it alone...okay, you want our support then tell us what we should be fighting for...
This TPP just doesn't fit your SOP - should the current SOP re TPP continue..then, expect push back....from sea to shining sea...sorry sir - but unless we only have leaks, and no transparency, we march against TPP and fast track.....
Why is Obama pushing the TPP so hard, when it obviously is going to damage US workers who are supposed to be the Democratic base? The reason is that Obama knows that Bill Clintons made tens of millions after his presidency from corporations. A similar payoff waits for Obama.
It is mind blowing that Obama who campaigned on creating the most transparent Presidency is now keeping the details of TPP secret due to the fear that it will energize its opponents. It is hard to oppose something without knowing what it is.
The TPP is going to push the US worker down even further. Free trade agreements like NAFTA and MNF for China are the reason why workers wages are stagnant while corporations make record profits.
Back in 2008 voters had a lot of illusions about Obama, but I felt he could not be trusted. His dealings with Exelon had shown he would do corporations bidding.
McCain would have led the US into new foolish wars, but he is too honest to try to pass secret trade agreements. The damage to US workers from free trade agreements is practically permanent. The rotten economy has led to a spike in suicides, especially among middle aged white males. Expect this sorry situation to continue.
Obama likely cares about the US workers, but just not enough to forsake the post presidency millions that wait for him.
Those who fantasize that Warren is the savior should go back and read the things Obama said before the 2008 elections, it sounds a lot like what Warren is saying now.
malthaussen
(17,195 posts)"Why would I pass a deal that would be bad for U.S. auto workers?" is what we call a non-response response. Coincindentally, it is exactly the question we are asking you, too.
-- Mal
Larkspur
(12,804 posts)Obama is dishonest when he says he fights for middle class familes. He did nothing to help middle class families keep their homes in the wake of the economic meltdown but he made sure that the banksters who caused the greatest economic catastrophe since the Great Depression got their multi million dollar bonuses and were not prosecuted.
Obama is for his legacy and for making millions in speaking fees like the Clintons do.
840high
(17,196 posts)ALBliberal
(2,342 posts)cantbeserious
(13,039 posts)Sgt Preston
(133 posts)ibegurpard
(16,685 posts)the same shit he pulled with the ACA...strong-arming progressives who were insisting on a public option.
Doctor_J
(36,392 posts)You decide to sign on with Republicans and against Dems in this fight, then expect us to shut up after 6 years of appeasement and betrayal. Maybe you shouldn't have killed the party and ignored all of its traditional groups. Reap what you sow.
Bradical79
(4,490 posts)Plus the top secret nature of the deal, make it difficult for me to get on board.
Trillo
(9,154 posts)It's all in the Declaration of Independence, the powerful executive was known as "King."
President Obama, don't take it personally. One of Congress' jobs is to keep executive-branch actions within reason, to act as a check on King-like power. In the same way governments empower cyber-warriors to infiltrate discussion boards around the world to act as a check on threatening ideas, changing the nature of the Internet as it existed as little as 15 years ago from one of camaraderie to today's open warfare and hatred, your office is held in check by the Legislative Branch. It is their job, it's not personal. It might not feel good, but it's not personal.
yurbud
(39,405 posts)TexasBushwhacker
(20,187 posts)and open for review, ie. NO fast tracking. If it's as wonderful as he says it is, it will hold up to rigorous scrutiny. Considering that NAFTA and CAFTA cost thousands of American jobs, I would think he would understand that a quick rubber stamp approval is inappropriate. He takes it personally? Being POTUS isn't for sissies.
snappyturtle
(14,656 posts)bowens43
(16,064 posts)Obama despises the middle class.
Marrah_G
(28,581 posts)He doesn't get a pass because he is a Dem. Clinton signed a shitty deal also.