Hillary Clinton comes out against TPP. Things that make you go "Hmmm."

Courtesy of HuffPo: 

Hillary Clinton came out against the Trans-Pacific Partnership Wednesday, breaking with President Barack Obama on the 12-nation trade deal that is set to become a key part of his legacy. 

"As of today, I am not in favor of what I have learned about it," Clinton told Judy Woodruff of "PBS Newshour." 

"I have said from the very beginning that we had to have a trade agreement that would create good American jobs, raise wages and advance our national security. And I still believe that's the high bar we have to meet," she said. "I have been trying to learn as much as I can about the agreement. But I'm worried. I'm worried about currency manipulation not being part of the agreement. We've lost American jobs to the manipulations that countries, particularly in Asia, have engaged in. I'm worried the pharmaceutical companies may have gotten more benefits -- and patients and consumers fewer. I think there are still a lot of unanswered questions." 

Progressives have been pushing Clinton for months to take a position on TPP, since Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley (D), two of her rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination, came out against it long ago.

If you have been paying attention to the news you probably know that this position is being interpreted by almost everyone as political opportunism, and as a way to woo some of Bernie Sanders supporters.

Especially since Clinton once praised the deal as "the gold standard in trade agreements,"  and spoke out in favor of it at least 45 times in the past.

I don't know enough about trade deals to have a real firm point of view about this one, however I do understand politics, and this makes me more than a little uneasy concerning Hillary and her campaign moving forward.

TPP fails as Nancy Pelosi pulls her support.

Courtesy of the Washington Post: 

President Obama suffered a major defeat to his Pacific Rim free trade initiative Friday as House Democrats helped derail a key presidential priority despite his last-minute, personal plea on Capitol Hill. 

The House voted 302 to 126 to sink a measure to grant financial aid to displaced workers, fracturing hopes at the White House that Congress would grant Obama fast-track trade authority to complete an accord with 11 other Pacific Rim nations. 

“I will be voting to slow down fast-track,” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said on the floor moments before the vote, after keeping her intentions private for months. “Today we have an opportunity to slow down. Whatever the deal is with other countries, we want a better deal for American workers.” 

The dramatic defeat could sink the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a sweeping free trade and regulatory pact that Obama has called central to his economic agenda at home and his foreign policy strategy in Asia. Obama’s loss came after a months-long lobbying blitz in which the president invested significant personal credibility and political capital. 

Republican leaders, who had backed the president’s trade initiative, pleaded with their colleagues to support the deal or risk watching the United States lose economic ground in Asia.

Bernie Sanders was against it, Elizabeth Warren was against it, and with Pelosi jumping to their side this thing was dead in the water. 

It is also worth noting that Hillary never really took a firm position on this deal.

I think that can hurt her as many people in the country are clearly tired of politicians who do not seem to have the strength of their convictions. Or any convictions at all even.

I think that is why so many were clamoring for Elizabeth Warren, and now for Bernie Sanders.

Agree with them or not, they are forceful advocates for their agendas.

Senate votes no to fast tracking the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP.)

Courtesy of RT:  

Lawmakers in the United States Senate have thrown a wrench in a plan that would have given President Barack Obama “fast track” authority to advance a 12-nation trade deal between the US and Pacific Ring partners. 

In a 52-45 vote on Tuesday afternoon, the Senate opposed moving forward for now on the Trans-Pacific Partnership. A procedural vote required at least 60 “ayes” in order to let the Senate host discussions on whether or not to give the president so-called “fast track” authority on the matter. Failure to reach that threshold puts the future of the trade agreement in jeopardy. 

Had the vote gone the other way, lawmakers would have hosted a debate to decide whether to give President Obama the power to approve the potential deal on his own, before asking Congress to either ratify or reject any agreement. Ahead of Tuesday’s vote, Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, told Reuters the possibility of expediting the process as the White House had requested “may be dead” due to lack of support soon after the procedural vote failed.

Well that's Senator Warren-1 and President Obama-0.

That may seem a little unfair as Warren was not alone in her opposition to his proposal, however the fact that she was so vocal with her criticism that the President called her out by name is certainly going to add to her political credibility and power within Democratic circles.

By the way after reading through Salon's "10 biggest lies told about the TPP" I am going to suggest that this vote is a good thing.

President Obama's response to Senator Elizabeth Warren's attack over TPP: "She's absolutely wrong."

Courtesy of Yahoo News: 

“She’s absolutely wrong,” Barack Obama said, before I could even get the question out of my mouth. 

He was talking about Elizabeth Warren, the Massachusetts senator and populist crusader whom Obama helped elevate to national prominence. Warren generally reserves her more acid critiques for Republicans and Wall Street, but in recent weeks she’s been leading a vocal coalition of leftist groups and lawmakers who oppose the president’s free-trade pact with 12 Asian countries.

Earlier this week Warren made this dire prediction about giving the President the ability to "fast track" trade negotiations: 

U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren warned that granting President Barack Obama trade-negotiating authority will help Wall Street in its long campaign to roll back rules imposed on banks after the 2008 financial crisis. 

“This is hardly a hypothetical possibility: We are already deep into negotiations with the European Union on a trade agreement and big banks on both sides of the Atlantic are gearing up to use that agreement to water down financial regulations,” Warren, a staunch opponent of granting the president “fast-track” trade powers, said in a speech in Washington Tuesday.

That is what Obama is responding to in the above quote. And he had even more to say:  

“Think about the logic of that, right?” he went on. “The notion that I had this massive fight with Wall Street to make sure that we don’t repeat what happened in 2007, 2008. And then I sign a provision that would unravel it? 

“I’d have to be pretty stupid,” Obama said, laughing. “This is pure speculation. She and I both taught law school, and you know, one of the things you do as a law professor is you spin out hypotheticals. And this is all hypothetical, speculative.” 

“The truth of the matter is that Elizabeth is, you know, a politician like everybody else,” he said. “And you know, she’s got a voice that she wants to get out there. And I understand that. And on most issues, she and I deeply agree. On this one, though, her arguments don’t stand the test of fact and scrutiny.”

Okay well I certainly don't think the President is "pretty stupid" in fact I have often been amazed at how he has outmaneuvered this critics on issue after issue, sometimes purposefully leaving bread crumbs for them to follow in seemingly one direction, before doubling back and surprising them in another.

However my respect for Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders knows no bounds, so how is it that they can be so diametrically opposed on this deal?

From what I have read about the deal, and what has been explained by Robert Reich, it seems abundantly clear that this is a bad idea for the American people.

So I am left, like many people I imagine, to either believe that perhaps the best President in my lifetime is trying to screw the American worker, or that some of the smartest people I know are dead wrong on this issue.

They should rename this trade deal "Liberal Migraine" because that is what it is giving me.

President Obama VS Senator Elizabeth Warren on TPP.

Courtesy of Politico:  

President Barack Obama said Tuesday that Elizabeth Warren is “wrong” in her criticisms of the Asia-Pacific trade agreement he’s trying to reach — an unusually direct criticism of the senator whose support he has courted on other issues that are increasingly shaping his party’s economic agenda. 

“I love Elizabeth. We’re allies on a whole host of issues. But she’s wrong on this,” Obama said in an interview with Chris Matthews to air Tuesday night on “Hardball.” 

Obama bristled at the suggestion that his trade agenda would hurt the middle class, a criticism he has faced from key union allies as well as Warren. 

“Think about it. I’ve spent the last six and half years yanking this economy out of the worst recession since the great depression. Every single thing I’ve done from the Affordable Care Act to pushing to raise the minimum wage to making sure that young people are able to go to college and get good job training to what we’re pushing now in terms of sick pay leave,” Obama said. “Everything I do has been focused on how do we make sure the middle class is getting a fair deal.” 

“Now I would not be doing this trade deal if I did not think it was good for the middle class. And when you hear folks make a lot of suggestions about how bad this trade deal is, when you dig into the facts they are wrong,” Obama said. 

Here is video of the President's Hardball appearance yesterday:

Now I have a confession folks, your Uncle Gryphen is by no means an expert on trade deals, so I feel this whole thing is above my pay grade.

Not only that but we don't have enough information to even assess if this is a good deal or not. Which of course seems to be Warren's major concern. (Though it appears that she herself HAS seen the deal.)

And since I have nothing but respect for both President Obama and Senator Warren, I am quite torn over all of this.

Yes it is inconceivable to me that Obama would do anything to hurt the middle class. However it is equally inconceivable that Warren would have her facts wrong.

To be honest I kind of feel like a little kid who just wants his parents to stop fighting.

I think President Obama should simply invite Warren to the White House for a beer and pick her brain. After all if you want a good deal it can't hurt to have a former Harvard law professor take a look at it and give her recommendations, now can it?