A Lame Duck Vote on TPP Would Leave Americans Feeling Cheated

President Obama vilified Donald Trump’s lifelong behavior of leaving people with the feeling of being cheated. President Obama, what about your signing TPP into law after passage during the lame-duck session? Candidates Clinton, Trump and Stein all oppose TPP versus Johnson who recently flipped to favor TPP.

President Obama squarely placed Trump’s status as a “homegrown demagogue” in a lineup of other threats to the American democratic experiment. However, based on following quote Trump’s rise can be squarely placed on the shoulders of Presidents Clinton, Bush-43 and Obama:

“One thing I don't like about the consequences of sustained large trade deficits is I think it makes the potential for demagoguery and really foolish policies more likely over time.” – Warren Buffett

At America’s middle-class' peril, our bi-partisan political elite have ignored Buffett’s warnings contained in his Fortune Magazine Article America's Growing Trade Deficit Is Selling The Nation Out From Under Us. Here's A Way To Fix The Problem--And We Need To Do It Now. Thriftville, in Buffett’s parable, represents our trading partners and Squanderville is the U.S. which is ultimately colonized by purchase, rather than traditional conquest, but conquered none the less.

Defenders of President Obama’s position on TPP refer to his good intentions, but let us not forget the proverb: “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” In President Obama’s arguments in favor of TPP, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions, based on fragmented thinking.”  I say this because pro-TPP arguments ignore the damaging effects of imports that result from the off-shoring of American jobs.

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