Score one for the labor unions, as Democrats in the House locked arms with some Republicans to torpedo the so-called TPP free-trade agreement.
MOst Republicans, however, agree with the President on the trade deal, creating the unusual spectacle of the beleaguered Democratic President allied with his GOP critics.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-06-16/house-republicans-seek-more-time-to-rescue-obama-s-trade-agenda
The trouble is that Obama, like Clinton before him, seems dazzled by the big money interests. Clinton repealed the Glass-Steagall Act, which action in no small way made the 2008 Great Recession possible.
Obama for his part compounded this travesty by choosing not to prosecute the Wall Street thieves who walked away with their ill-gotten gains, rather than into jail cells, while leaving both Wall Street and Main Street in a shambles.
As for these free-trade deals, the evidence that they help American workers is mixed at best. Some industries have benefitted from NAFTA over the last two decades. And the 100,000 jobs sucked out of Michigan in that time period were lost for many reasons, NAFTA at most being just one. However, bottom line, I think the unions have good instincts and are correct that the TPP, if enacted, will --- like NAFTA --- result in a net loss of American jobs.
And in 18 months, Mr. Obama, like Mr. Clinton before him, will leave the White House to bask in the heady atmosphere of the the Super Rich. I can only hope that his legacy, Obamacare, can survive whatever government follows his.
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