Barack Obama went to China and America did not even get a lousy t-shirt. America did get a lousy deal.
Barack Obama negotiated a deal with China over green house gases. In a nutshell, the deal said over the next 10 years, America would be forced to dismember its coal fired power plants while over the next 15 years China would be forced to think about what it might do.
Americans are rightfully upset with this agreement. What does America get out of it? The answer is nothing.
As Congress enters the lame duck session, many groups are pressuring Congress to pass what is called Trade Promotional Authority, or fast track. Barack Obama has been working on the Trans Pacific Partnership free trade agreement.
The idea behind fast track is to change the constitutional requirements for a treaty. Instead of needing two-thirds of the Senate to ratify a treaty, fast track mandates that only a majority is required. Further, it mandates that after a treaty is negotiated, when it goes to Congress, there is only a limited time for debating the treaty and the treaty cannot be amended by Congress.
Where have we seen this before?
Congress has to ratify the treaty if we want to know what is in the treaty.
There is a lot of argument within the conservative movement over the entire issue of these so-called free trade agreements. Some in the conservative movement are militant free traders. Attach the name free trade to an agreement and they want it, regardless of the content of the agreement.
Some of the big think tanks inside the Washington Beltway are free trade’s biggest cheerleaders. They want a treaty no matter what.
Really?
Does any sane person want Barack Obama negotiating any treaty for America?
Just look at the green-house-gas agreement. Could that be any worse for America? What about Barack Obama’s negotiations with Iran? How great have those negotiations turned out?
Can anyone name a single treaty or international agreement that Barack Obama has negotiated that worked out well for America? Barack Obama gave America a very bad strategic arms treaty with Russia. He has signed the U.N. Small Arms Treaty.
Barack Obama screwed up the Iraq status of forces agreement, which forced an American withdrawal from Iraq. That directly led to the unrest in Iraq today.
So why would anyone trust Barack Obama with a major treaty?
Why would any Republican or any conservative want Barack Obama negotiating a treaty, now that he is officially a lame duck? Can anyone argue with a straight face that Barack Obama will negotiate a good treaty?
At best, he is incompetent. At worst, he wants bad treaties for America.
Free trade is a hot button issue for conservatives. Many conservatives have lost faith in these free trade agreements because the promises have not been met. Instead of free trade, these agreements become special interest trade, with the American people being the losers.
While there should be a debate on the merits of these free trade agreements, there can be no debate on one issue: If Barack Obama is given the authority to negotiate a free trade agreement, it will be a disaster for America.
Given his track record, does any sane person want Barack Obama to negotiate anything more significant than what is for dinner?
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