One of the important findings of the early voting studies of the 1950s and 1960s was that many voters don’t study the pros and cons of issues, but rather base their votes on people they trust, called “opinion leaders.”
I really don’t have the time or inclination to study all the details of the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, the one President Obama wants fast-track authority to negotiate. What I do know is that Elizabeth Warren, Jim Hightower, and Bernie Sanders all oppose the Partnership as it stands. Those three people are among my “opinion leaders.” If they oppose fast-track authority, then I’ll trust their judgement.
One of the Congressmen pushing to grant the President fast track authority on the agreement is Paul Ryan. He is not one of my opinion leaders.
What gets me about the TPP is that it is being negotiated by corporations in secret. That is not good. The number one purpose of corporations is to make as much money as they can. That alone will cause the working people to lose jobs to the Pacific rim countries because their wages are very low. Of course if the American worker is willing to work for 50 cents an hour with no health care or vacations, then they can keep their jobs.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I heard from Senator Warren, is that members of congress and Senators can read what has been negotiated but they are not allowed to talk about what they read. That alone is enough for me to doubt that it is good for the American people, I urge all of the voters to wake up and call their representatives, tell them to vote no on any fast track authority. The American people deserve to know what is in this deal! Think what NAFTA has done for the working person. Nuff said.
You make an excellent point. The negotiations are in secret. If this is such a great idea, let us know what is in the deal.
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