Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Frank Walker on June 22, 2015 at 12:37am

My answer would be:

We do not know . . . and that's the problem!!!

This entire proceeding has been conducted in secret, with the public not being permitted to see or learn details of what's going on.  It's not a customary cabal.  Instead, Obama is teaming up with the Republican leadership!

Obama wants the power and will benefit from secret aspects of this legislation unrelated to trade.  Does this include extreme environmental aspects which would impact us?  I dunno.

The Republican leadership in working strictly on behalf of their big-business, big-money donors . . . NOT US!!!

We can thank God, so far, for the votes of patriotic Democrats, led by Nancy Pelosi, and a (relatively) small number of Conservative Republicans, also patriots.  These forces have joined together to defeat Obama and Boehner . . both of whom I detest, BTW;  couple of skunks.

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Permalink Reply by Private KeepOut on June 23, 2015 at 12:55am

Nancy Pelosi "We have to pass the bill before we find out what's in it" is far from a patriot! She just can't personally profit from this particular bill.....otherwise I'm sure she would've approved it.

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Permalink Reply by Frank Walker on June 23, 2015 at 1:20am

Private

If you dislike Nancy, I'll bet I dislike her more.  I'm a Conservative!  But I also try always to post honestly.  In this instance alone, Nancy voted with the Conservatives and against the Republican leadership . . . and Obama.  Republicans who support this travesty should be took our behind the shed and whipped . . with Boehner receiving the lash first.

Nancy is nearly always wrong.  On this one she is right, and I appreciate her support for the people and against the Republican big-money crowd led by a worthless, and often drunken, Ohio crybaby named Boehner. 

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Permalink Reply by Frank Walker on June 23, 2015 at 6:09am

Well, it's over.  Obama, the Republican leadership, and the big money donors have won.

The American people have, sadly, lost.

Special note to Ohio:

Thanks so much for Boehner.  He is a special individual.

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Permalink Reply by Mark McGrail on June 24, 2015 at 12:36am

There probably will not be much of a positive effect.

Our country already has trade deals with all but four of the countries covered by the agreement.

Those four countries are small - Vietnam, Malaysia, New Zealand, can't remember the other.

But I'm sure there will be plenty of negative effects. The agreement includes authority to change immigration policy and environmental laws without going through Congress.

Say hello to a steady stream of foreign workers and new regulations on fossil fuels.

This is NAFTA and GATT on steroids.

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Permalink Reply by Frank Walker on June 24, 2015 at 5:33am

Agreed, Mark.  Big time.

And once more, Ohioans should not forget to thank Boehner.  There are a great many people in Ohio who think they are Republicans, and who vote Republican, but who are actually Obama backers.  Hey, guys, Boehner lined up squarely with Obama and against America.  Are you even paying attention?  Do you even care?  Do you even know Obama and Boehner did not act in our best interest?

WABOA!!

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Permalink Reply by Tim Tarr on June 24, 2015 at 6:49pm

Oh let's hope 2016 is wakeup election. No RINO's and sure as hell no Boehner, McConnell and Jeb. They are all almost as bad as The POTUS. When anything is passed in secret it's not good.

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Permalink Reply by Thomas Malcolm Pendergast on June 28, 2015 at 12:54pm

We have free-trade agreements with the following countries:

Australia, Bahrain, Chile, Colombia, Israel, Jordan, Republic of Korea, Morocco  (which, incidentally, was the first country to recognize the independence of the U.S.), North American Free Trade Agreement (Canada and Mexico), Oman, Panama, Peru and Singapore

In addition to the above, the TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership) would include some very large economies with which we do not currently have free-trade agreements e.g. Japan (including its huge agricultural component; very important for us, especially in Ohio), all the Central American countries plus Ecuador (no real biggies there), New Zealand, the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Brunei, Cambodia and Malaysia (Thailand is interested but so far not committed).  The two biggies that are excluded are the Peoples Republic and Russia.  I wonder why!

I don't know where Taipei fits in, if at all.  So sad.  But, Taipei survives, and prospers!

As far as the benefits American companies would derive from TPP, you might be surprised at how little business Caterpillar did with Colombia prior to our FTA with them compared to what the company is now doing there.  And a substantial amount of Caterpillar business originates in Ohio.  With TPP, Yellow Iron (and Ohio) have a bright future.  You can bet that Komatsu has some pretty strong competition there now!

With all the valuable expertise we've developed in the U.S. in just the past five years in the oil and gas sectors (especially in the critical areas of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing [think "downspacing", "longer laterals", 'more proppants", "less/no water" etc. . . . ]  but also in the vigorously emerging field of liquified natural gas where Air Products is paramount), you can be sure that there will be huge demand for U.S. services from such upcoming oil and gas producers as Vietnam, the Philippines, New Zealand, Australia  (not to mention Israel and Cyprus [with which we don't have an FTA]; are you surprised?  You should be; it's a game-changer!) as well as the established producers such as Brunei, Malaysia and Indonesia (albeit declining at the moment).

Re your comment:  " The agreement includes authority to change immigration policy and environmental laws without going through Congress."  Where do you get this information? Congress has the final say on whether TPP will be approved, not the Executive Department.

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Permalink Reply by George on June 29, 2015 at 1:25am

The EPA can fine landowners out of their royalties for supposedly damaging the environment with their drilling/wells. Congress won't be blamed or thrown out of office by voters because the issue bypasses them.

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