Hillary Clinton Speaks Out in Iowa on TPP: "I’ve been for trade deals, I’ve been against them"

[KoKo]

Hillary Clinton: I’ve been for trade deals, I’ve been against them

By Gabriel Debenedetti

5/19/15 12:14 PM EDT

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa - Hillary Clinton said on Tuesday she is reserving judgment on the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal until she sees the final version, again declining to take sides in Washington’s brewing trade debate.

“I have said I want to judge the final agreement,” said Clinton in response to a question about the deal from an Iowan sitting next to her at a roundtable at a bike store and repair shop. “I have been for trade agreements, I have been against trade agreements.”

The Democratic front-runner’s repeated punting on this issue has frustrated both supporters and critics of the trade negotiations that President Barack Obama has made a central part of his last two years in office.

Clinton on Tuesday acknowledged that the trade issue is “obviously a very hot topic right now” and reiterated that any final pact must increase jobs, wages and economic security.

She also expressed concern about currency manipulation and a provision to give corporations “more power to overturn health and environmental and labor rules than consumers have.”

“I’ve been very clear on this,” Clinton said.

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/05/hillary-clinton-trade-deals-reaction-tpp-118089.html?hp=l4_4

[yallerdawg]

1. President Obama says wait and see the actual trade deals.

Hillary concurs. She wants to see the actual trade deals. With some guidelines.

This is a punt?

Or just no newsworthy drama and conflict, until it gets ginned up.

[cali]

2. and yet.... she didn't reserve judgment on it in her book, the ironically titled

"Hard Choices":

<snip>

She argued for TPP as secretary of state and in her 2014 memoir, "Hard Choices" but has been noncommittal since. She has said on this issue only that "any trade deal has to produce jobs and raise wages and increase prosperity and protect our security, and we have to do our part in making sure we have the capabilities and the skills to be competitive."

<snip>
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/10-questions-for-hillary-clinton/
So, after leaving office she professed support for it in her book, but now she needs to suddenly reverse course and she claims she's reserving judgment.

How is that not a lie?

Clear on it? yeah, right

[eloydude]

7. Clinton represents the monied 1% and makes it clear...

and she has helped draft some of the TPP language...

So yeah, I trust her absolutely zero on this issue, and would prefer an open dialogue about the TPP to see if it'll just yet more job killing agreement that'll crash the economy.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

33. It depends on the meaning of "and... and... and."

[TheNutcracker]

3. Hillary's campaign talking point is Trumka says any trade deal is better than no trade deal.

So there you have it fellow dems.....total bullshit!

[Bluenorthwest]

8. Uh. That's not what Trumka says. He said a bad trade deal is worse than no deal at all. Yesterday.

http://news.yahoo.com/afl-cio-president-bad-trade-deal-worse-no-233528993--finance.html

[Exilednight]

23. Let's see what he says tomorrow, or next week,

Or next month.

[840high]

38. You are very wrong in what he said.

[tularetom]

4. "First I was for it and then I was against it and I've been very clear both times"

"right now I'm for any trade deal that's good and against any one that's bad and I don't know how I could be anymore plain than that".

[TBF]

5. That's fine - as long as America gets to see it as well.

The lack of transparency is astounding.

[Wilms]

6. What!?! And no butter or syrup to go with that?

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

9. Duck, bob, weave, maybe, some, if, context, etc. Weasel words.

Yes? No?

Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please. Mark Twain

[sabrina 1]

10. Could she tell us when SHE gets to see the Final Version, which right now appears to have an

amendment, cut millions from Medicare to pay for lost jobs, but whatever, I guess addressing something she KNOWS about isn't in the plans for her campaign.

Anyhow, when will she get to see the final version? AFTER it is Fast Tracked? Because then all she can do is say 'OMG, I WISH I had seen this when I could have DONE something about it'.

I know they think we are all stupid.

What we are thanks to trusting them all for so long, is NOT stupid, but powerless now.

[cali]

11. it's TPA that cuts $700 milion and it's from Medicare, not Medicaid

but anyway, we know she's gung ho on the TPP

[sabrina 1]

13. I said Medicare, I went to correct it, but didn't see where I said 'Medicaid'. The fact is that

she said nothing constructive about what she plans to do about all these issues she SAYS we have. 'We are going to have to do something about inequality'. Okay, we know that. I just listened to Bernie on Wolf Blitzer. When asked similar questions, he has a PLAN.

Anyhow, she is not my candidate, I'm just glad we have one who doesn't just list the problems, he also lists his solutions to the problems.

And that is where the focus needs to be. Getting Bernie's name out there so that it becomes as well known as Hillary's, because from what I see so far, that is the ONLY advantage she has right now.

[KoKo]

14. That's what's puzzling

and if Obama gets "Fast Track Authority" what difference does it make if she reads it "after the fact" when it's a Done Deal?

Will she say: "Elect Me" because if I'd known what was in that Agreement...I, as President, would have never asked for "Fast Track Authority." Which would be more a jab at Obama than why we should vote for her.

[sabrina 1]

15. And that question should have been asked of her. 'But, wouldn't that be too late for you to do

anything about it'? And WHY is she not chomping at the bit, like Warren and Brown and Sanders and others to KNOW what is in it so they CAN do something on behalf of the American people?

Sorry, but the phoniness is just too obvious for me, and the failure of our media to ask the right questions, it's like a watching badly behaved, spoiled children (politicians) being allowed to get away with more bad behavior by their adoring parents (our media) and then wondering why they behave the way they do.

[KoKo]

16. She seems to be pushing the:

"I am Entitled" line of thought. Because of all they went through with the RW during their Administration....she maybe feels that's a "Selling Point?" I could see it if she was promoting what Bernie Sanders & Elizabeth Warren are stumping for. But, not what she is currently doing in her Campaign, so far.

[AtomicKitten]

12. “I’ve been very clear on this,” Clinton said. Clear as mud.

[woo me with science]

17. What a contrast to this:

I am Senator Bernie Sanders, Democratic candidate for President of the United States - AMA
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026696283

What a breath of fresh air Bernie's honesty is.

[KoKo]

18. I know! It's been "Too Long, Coming." Isn't there a great Decade's past Tune

with that as the Title?

Was it Marvin Gaye? B.B. King?

I don't know....whatever...

[woo me with science]

20. And people are HUNGRY for it.

Did you notice the shock and appreciation that a candidate was ACTUALLY ANSWERING THEIR QUESTIONS?

People have become so used to the scripted non-answers they routinely get from corporate politicians now that they are SHOCKED when a politician actually treats them with respect and answers honestly and with specifics:

Rooonaldooo99 105 points 2 hours ago
Answering questions this deep down? Shit, if I'm honest I wouldn't do that. With every answer I like this guy even more. And on top of that he wants to cut student debt? Sign me up.


SmeeMaiMen 464 points 2 hours ago
Wow, I respect the fact that you can answer the hardball questions. This says a lot about your character


ViperRT10Matt 2814 points 2 hours ago
Whelp, you actually answered the non-PR-friendly question. This puts you way ahead of most of the AMAs around here.


the_ak 822 points 2 hours ago
As a non American, please America elect this guy president. Please.

[font size=2]Bernie is doing this nation a deeply important service. He's re-teaching American citizens what we have a right to expect from candidates in a representative political process.

His honesty and clarity re:policy expose by sheer contrast how corrupted into vapid, empty, fake democracy our elections have become in the hands of corporate politicians.[/font size]

[KoKo]

21. YES! And I found the TUNES...Here...Sam Cooke & Otis Redding.."A Change is Gonna Come"

(Separate Videos Different Styles!) 's

Sam Cooke - A Change Is Gonna Come (THE REAL VERSION; CD QUALITY; LYRICS)

Uploaded on Mar 30, 2009

I was born by the river
In a little tent
And just like the river
I've been running ever since

It's been a long, long time coming
But I know a change gonna come
Oh, yes it will

It's been too hard living
But I'm afraid to die
I don't know what's up there beyond the sky
It's been a long, long time coming
But I know a change gonna come
Oh yes it will

I go to the movie, and I go downtown
Somebody keep tellin me "don't hang around"
It's been a long, a long time coming,
But i know a change gonna come
Oh yes it will

Then I go to my brother
I say brother help me please
But he winds up knocking me
Back down on my knees

There's been times that I thought
I wouldn't last for long
But now I think I'm able to carry on
It's been a long, long time coming
But I know a change is gonna come
Oh, yes it will


--------------AND-----------------

Otis Redding - A Change Is Gonna Come

POWERFUL TOO.....

BLUES VERSION:

[woo me with science]

24. Perfect. Just perfect.

Thank you for that.

[KoKo]

29. And to you!

's and

Did you check out the Otis Redding rendition below Sam Cooke on Post with that You Tube version?

A contrast of Hope and Angst!

[woo me with science]

41. YES!

A contrast of Hope and Angst!

To steal from another thread...."Something's happening here..."

[lovemydog]

19. That's a fair answer, imho.

[reddread]

22. Clear as mud, safe as milk

[darkangel218]

27. Lmao!!!

[KoKo]

30. Safe as Milk...........

It does make a statement for sure when one listens to her speak... We hope for better.

sigh.

[marmar]

25. triangulation nation

[Autumn]

26. Clear as a bell. “I have been for trade agreements, I have been against trade agreements.”

Don't get much clearer than that.

[840high]

39. Heehee I like you.

[Autumn]

40. You may very well be one of the few that does.

I like you too.

[hatrack]

28. What trade agreements has Mrs. Clinton opposed, in any official capacity?

I'll wait for an answer.

On edit - as Senator, she did vote against CAFTA (which passed anyway).

Since 2001, Clinton has backed pacts with Jordan, Chile, Singapore, Australia, Morocco and Oman that were opposed by numerous labor, farming and environmental groups concerned that the deals contained insufficient safeguards for American workers and consumers.

As recently as November (Ed. - 2008 dateline), Clinton supported a free trade agreement negotiated by the Bush administration with Peru.

http://articles.latimes.com/2008/apr/12/nation/na-trade12

Not voting, of course, but as SOS loved TPP (apparently):

Obama's biggest hurdle in getting the trade deal approved was always his own party, as my colleague Russell Berman pointed out last week, when negotiators reached a deal to fast-track the TPP. What's changed is that the TPP has collided with the presidential race—in ways that are risky for Hillary Clinton. The problem for Clinton is that she has historically backed free-trade deals, and as secretary of state called the TPP "the gold standard in trade agreements." Yet her campaign's big push over the last week or two has been to prove her liberal bona fides. Many progressives still don't like NAFTA, a product of Bill Clinton's administration (actually, many Americans don't like NAFTA), and while Hillary Clinton still looks like a prohibitive favorite in the Democratic primary, rivals like O'Malley and Senator Bernie Sanders oppose it, as do the labor unions that are a major part of the Democratic coalition.

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/04/democrats-produce-trade-discord/391224/

So, that's one she's on the record as opposing, seven (including NAFTA) she's supported, and one where we can't tell.

[Thinkingabout]

32. Which trade agreements came up while Hillary was a Senator?

Locate that information and see how she voted and you can get your own answer.

[KoKo]

42. ...!

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

31. Wow! Way to go out on a limb.

[Thinkingabout]

34. I concur with Hillary, when the final agreement is reached then I will make my determination.

To make a decision before the final agreement is premature.

[ucrdem]

36. It's a very reasonable position.

And I have no doubt that TPP is being given extra "consideration" by the anti-Clinton crowd as it's a great wedge issue to beat any serious Dem over the head with.

[ucrdem]

35. Translation: take your crappy Benghazi stunt and shove it.

She wasn't born yesterday and evidently she's not going to make this one easy for the swifties. Great, I support her statement. K'n'R

[brentspeak]

37. "I've been very clear on this"

Yeah, clear as mud.