100% corporate. 100%. All of the advisors to the admin on upcoming trade deals.

[pampango]

54. Trade is good for everyone, if (IF) you have a progressive tax policy, legal support for unions and

a strong safety net. Of course without those liberal policies you have a regressive, unequal society no matter what your trade policy is.

I think that our trade policy is the least of our problems. Progressive countries have the above-mentioned tax, union and safety net policies have the most strongest middle classes and most equitable distributions of income in the world. The fact that they trade more than a regressive country like the US may not be the reason for their strong middle classes. It may be that progressive countries simply choose to trade extensively because they think it benefits society and they already have the policies in place to make sure that everyone shares fairly in the proceeds of trade.

If we do not deal with our regressive tax system, anti-labor labor policies and nonexistent safety net, nothing we do with trade policy will help. Republicans in the US and conservatives in other countries have proven that they can construct a regressive, unequal society with high tariffs or low tariffs. FDR dismantled the republican-created high tariff version of corporate rule with lower tariffs, tighter regulation, a stronger safety net, progressive taxes and legal support for strong unions.

He realized what Germans and other Europeans understand today - it is how you structure your society from the inside, not your trade policy, that determines how fair and equitable your society is. Until we follow FDR's lead on this, we are just tinkering around the edges.