President Obama Weekly Address: Fighting for Trade Deals that Put American Workers First

[sabrina 1]

17. First of all, the trade deal HAS been negotiated in secret. But our Reps on the Trade Commission

should have been involved in that secret process. To deny them any input, is more than an insult to our system of Government, it is undemocratic. They asked for years to be allowed to see the drafts, which they have a right to do, and were denied.

So now that it HAS been secretly drafted, it is time to put it before Congress with the ability for them to take out anything that is damaging to this country. And forthe American people to know what is being planned for their future.

But they can't. That part that allows 6,000 Corporations to sue us, and other countries with good Environmental laws, and not even in a regular court, in a Corporate Tribunal where Corporate Lawyers will determine the outcome. Does anyone think that Corporate Judges will rule in favor of the people of ANY country? THAT cannot be changed.

If you want Obama to get this authority from Fast Tracking this bill, fine, but it is a six year term so whoever is the next president, will have all that power he is fighting for. I don't like the odds for the people here.

As for how to deal with the trade deficit, the US needs to be producing more. To make that happen, outsourcing of manufacturing jobs has to be addressed. Jobs have to be returned to US Workers.

We are buying, but not making much of anything to sell.

So, is outsourcing, cheap labor, addressed? We don't know.

Is export and import addressed? We don't know.

Does Congress know? We don't know that either. They know some things and what they know they have told us, 'if the American knew what is in this, they would oppose it'. That doesn't sound too good.

This is not a Democratic process.

Democracies don't fall over night, it happens incrementally.

Ours began to fall a while ago, the Drug War eg, took away many of our rights.

That began the incarceration of millions of Americans, the Privatization of the Prison System, cheap labor from those prisons, taking away more jobs as Corps make use of prison labor.

It hurtled forward after 9/11 when more of our rights were destroyed.

And this bill, will move it forward in a very big way.

And then, one day, people will wake up and wonder how we got there.

Same as it always happens, until it's too late, step by step, democracies die.

Which is why I am for not waiting for the next step.

I am for stopping each step before they take the next one.

We are already apathetic about the loss of our rights.

People are adjustable, they get used to living in fear, or living in a country where nearly everyone knows someone now who has spent time in jail.

There isn't much outrage over the militarization of our police, in fact there is support for it.

So don't expect it to come with a bang, it doesn't.