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Forum Post: "Free Trade" Bills Pass Congress

Posted 13 years ago on Oct. 12, 2011, 9:38 p.m. EST by SwiftJohn (79)
This content is user submitted and not an official statement

The U.S. House, the same body that can neither pay for existing spending without apocalyptic language nor find the time to debate job losses in the U.S., has quietly and quickly passed three more "Free-Trade" bills with Korea, Panama, and Colombia. All bills were backed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. While Obama and others touted potential gains to exports and potential jobs the actual employment gains are less clear. The Senate is expected to quickly pass them later tonight.

In short, when it comes to hiring Americans or paying our existing debts Congress and the White House cannot even speak civilly let alone make progress. But when it comes to pleasing the Chamber and big businesses they seem to do so quickly, and quietly.

While I am not against trade it is not clear to me that these increases will do anything other than aid existing multinationals further. Yes they all include extensions to a Kennedy-era job retraining program that is supposed to help displaced workers but clearly, given the current standing of our manufacturing sector, that training program is a band-aid not a cast.

16 Comments

16 Comments


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[-] 3 points by Ernest99 (16) from Aurora, IL 13 years ago

More cheap labor for the multinational corporations to exploit, and for the poor Americans, you get the shaft again thanks to BOTH political parties and a lying news media.

[-] 2 points by looselyhuman (3117) 13 years ago

Fuckers.

[-] 1 points by Lork (285) 13 years ago

bumped up for relevance

[-] 1 points by mindhawk (175) from Jefferson City, MO 13 years ago

Whenever they pass a bill quietly,

Look out! It's coming straight for us!

[-] 1 points by Lork (285) 13 years ago

FUCK!

We're screwed...goodbye Bay Area tech jobs....goodbye tech industry...

Oh and -

"these increases will do nothing but aid existing multinationals further."

A slight error that could be misinterpreted by a reader so I fixed it.

[-] 1 points by SwiftJohn (79) 13 years ago

What do you mean "Fixed it" You altered my post?

[-] 1 points by Lork (285) 13 years ago

xD

No I mean I quoted the line and then I reposted it in my post.

[-] 1 points by SwiftJohn (79) 13 years ago

Ahh.

[-] -1 points by Misguided (373) 13 years ago

Worse yet the senate passed a bill that would increase tariffs on Chinese goods. The bill is not in the house yet but the Chinese have already responded by inflating their yuan and devaluing it thus causing our debt to them to increase. If that bill passes the house it will almost certainly cause a trade war which almost always leads to a physical war. Our government is screwing us daily. We need to focus more on the role they play in our oppression, wall street is powerless without Washington's help. The problem is in Washington.

[-] 1 points by looselyhuman (3117) 13 years ago

FFS. Cross-purposes people. Don't you even see it? Sidle up to the progressive "idiots," nod and pretend you share OP's concern about free trade, then hijack with your radical save the corporations (of course I know you wouldn't characterize it this way), abolish govenment, anti-tariff, free market, free trade fundamentalist BS. Of course YOU see it, I just wish others would. Maybe us progressives really are stupid. Definitely too trusting and too focused on getting along.

[-] 0 points by Misguided (373) 13 years ago

I don't get it was that a jab at me? or freedom? or just venting of frustration?

[-] 1 points by looselyhuman (3117) 13 years ago

Yes.

[-] 0 points by Misguided (373) 13 years ago

Interesting.

[-] 0 points by FuManchu (619) 13 years ago

it should be occupy Washington.

[-] 0 points by Misguided (373) 13 years ago

I don't understand why people fight against other people either. All this talk of unity yet hatred for fellow citizens when it's government wronging us and loving the fact that we are infighting instead of looking in there direction. Can't people see it already? I mean the Tea party was trashed by the left and co-opted by the right. Why when they were not there to do anything but tell them they both suck. The reason is to divide us. Now this movement is being co-opted by the left and trashed by the right when the sentiment if not the message is close to the same. Why again to divide us so we continue to fight instead of looking in their direction. Once people realize it's not the middle class against the rich or the poor against the middle class or any of that crap and that it's really the government against us that's when something will get done. That's when you will see real change in Washington and then wall street and everywhere else for the better....