During a speech in Texas today , President Obama said:
…I don’t mind being called a warrior for the working class. You guys need someone working for you.
And then he did this:
Today President Obama sent Bush’s NAFTA-style trade deals with Korea, Colombia and Panama to Congress asked for approval. Votes are expected on all three pacts next week.
Next week, the House will vote on these three damaging Bush-era NAFTA replicas. If we do not get a majority to vote no and stop these deals, we know that they increase our trade deficit and kill more U.S. jobs — at a time when 25 million Americans are still searching for full-time jobs and unemployment is 9 percent.
Elwood P Dowd – Democratic Underground
So, how does the working class view this move?
Obama Just Flip-Flopped Right off the Trade Cliff; Congress Must Slam on the Brakes
Statement of Lori Wallach, Director of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch
By asking Congress to approve three NAFTA-style trade deals signed by former President George Bush, President Barack Obama has completely flip-flopped on his campaign promises to fix America’s failed trade policy and has cast his lot against the majority of the American people who oppose more of these job-killing deals.
At a time of 9 percent unemployment and broad public opposition to more NAFTA-style trade agreements, it’s a fairly shocking shift away from the president’s job-creation message to suddenly call on Congress to pass three old Bush trade deals that the federal government’s own studies say will increase the U.S. trade deficit.
http://www.citizen.org/...
During a speech at the Take Back The American Dream summit today, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka gave Obama's decision a thumbs down:
But it wasn’t on behalf of benefits that Trumka called upon the audience to call their Congress members. Instead, he rattled off a toll-free number for listeners to use to express their opposition to the still-pending Korean, Colombian and Panamanian free trade agreements and then encouraged them to call House Speaker John Boehner’s office and demand that he bring up for a vote the recently-passed Senate bill denouncing China’s currency manipulation.
http://www.rawstory.com/...
Susie Madrak from Crooks and Liars elaborated on the story this way:
My father used to say, "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all." So I have no comment:
President Obama submitted three free trade bills with South Korea, Colombia and Panama to Congress today after a years-long holdup of the deals since the most recent Bush administration. Speaker John Boehner announced immediately that the House will act on them quickly along with Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) for displaced workers.
"Now that all three agreements have been transmitted, they will be a top priority for the House," Boehner said in a statement. "We will quickly begin the required process to consider these bills and intend to vote on them consecutively and in tandem with Senate-passed TAA legislation."
Earlier today, Majority Leader Eric Cantor told reporters "we intend to address this and hopefully put a win on the board for the people of this country."
http://crooksandliars.com/...
Well, at least the Republicans like it.
Perhaps Susie Madrak is correct when she says "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all," but it doesn't matter anyway because I don't know how meaningful it is to keep pointing out that this president has a penchant for saying one thing and then doing the opposite. I fear that this will be just another reason for some progressive voters to sit out the next election.
(All bold emphasis is mine)