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Air Date: February 5, 2015
Host: Jim Schneider
Guest: Rick Manning
This program dealt with details concerning a document that is making its way through the halls of Washington called the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Some are calling it the largest trade deal in history accounting for 40% of the world economy yet there is much secrecy surrounding it.
Joining Jim to discuss this treaty was Rick Manning. Rick is president of Americans for Limited Government. They are a non-partisan organization working to identify, expose and work with Congress and state legislatures to prevent the continued expansion of government.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership is a treaty that is being negotiated between the Obama administration and 12 Pacific Rim nations. It includes Canada, Mexico, Peru, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam, Japan and others. What this does is basically give most favored nation trading status to these nations. As a result, they’ll have better access to our markets, lower tariffs for the goods they sell here and that will allow them to be able to increase exports to the United States.
Looking at this treaty from a religious liberty perspective, Rick indicated that there are nations in this deal such as Brunei (that practices Sharia law), Malaysia (that has a very poor human rights record) and Vietnam that would be given access to U.S. markets for economic reasons with no concessions for religious liberties and the expansion of freedom in those nations.
This treaty would have an impact on many aspects of American life from labor to environmental, the clothing you wear, Internet use and more and as a result Rick is concerned that Congress is considering not giving this trade agreement full vetting using the constitutional required power to ratify it with a two-thirds vote in the Senate. He’s concerned that legislators are attempting to slip this through by casting something called the Trade Promotion Authority. This allows a simple majority vote in the House and the Senate rather than the normally required two-thirds vote.
Keep in mind that Congress cannot amend this. Also, if passed, a treaty overrides all other laws in the U.S. therefore the Trans-Pacific Partnership would become the law of the land.
Why would this new Congress suddenly decide to grant fast-track trade authority to President Obama when there’s been controversy over his use of executive amnesty? Rick pointed out that this is not free trade, it’s managed trade so why does there appear to be excitement about this partnership even among some Republicans when it hasn’t been fully drafted yet? Find out more when you review this Crosstalk broadcast.
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To express your concerns regarding the Fast Track Trans-Pacific Partnership contact your elected representative at:
202-225-3121 (Congressional Switchboard)
202-224-3121 (Senate Switchboard)
