Congressional Republicans really showed their true colors this past Friday. Even though the bill did not pass, 191 house GOP members sided with President Obama and voted to grant him fast track authority over the Trans Pacific Partnership Treaty. As you may well know, this fast track authority would have given the president the power to negotiate any trade deal with any nation, without congressional approval of any kind. This is a scary proposal as for weeks we have heard report after report of congressmen having to be escorted into the basement of the capital building just to view the bill. Even though many have not read it, they still supported it because of its alleged “free trade” proponents. The most disappointing aspect of Friday’s vote is knowing it was Nancy Pelosi, who will always be remembered as saying “we have to pass it to see what’s in it” when it came to Obama care, is the one who ultimately killed the bill. It is highly likely that Pelosi’s actions are motivated by the fact that the unions were strongly opposed to this trade agreement. Whatever the case may be, the Republicans support for this trade authority proves beyond a reasonable doubt that there are very few in Washington who are truly working for the American people and that most support the money powers, even the President.
President Obama easily won the 2008 presidential election because many Americans saw the actions of the Republican Party being motivated by “corporate greed.” Liberals have accused the conservatives of caring about nothing but profits and corporate power. This tactic endured throughout the duration of Obama’s presidency and was successful in bringing the Republican Party into alignment with many of the Presidents goals. The support for fast track authority and the Trans Pacific Partnership Treaty not only proved the liberals making these accusations were right; it also brings into question the true motivations and loyalties of President Obama. While many liberals have fallen for the false notion that Obama is about protecting the poor and middle class, his actions have consistently proven otherwise. President Obama has proven over and over again that he is a stooge for big corporate power and that his policies actually do more to redistribute wealth from the poor and middle class to the wealthy elite he conditions you to hate. The best example is how he enabled Jeffrey Immelt, president of G.E, to pay no taxes and ship jobs overseas while serving as his “jobs czar.” This action alone should have shown the liberals who Obama really is. While the Republican establishment may support this kind of corporate greed, real conservatives certainly don’t. Unfortunately, the Republican Party is stacked with those that pose as conservatives and support this type of corporate power under the guise that it grows the economy.
Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz are two Republican Presidential contenders who were in favor of granting fast track authority to Obama. As I mentioned in my article “The Application of Social Science through a Ted Cruz Presidential Run,” Ted Cruz’s wife is an executive at Goldman Sachs, who would obviously have a big interest in seeing this trade agreement finalized. Rubio and others support the bill because it expands on the nation’s H1-B visa program. This program allows companies to bring in foreign workers who have degrees in high tech fields and hire them on a temporary basis. This actually displaces American workers as those motivated by higher profits are firing current employees and hiring foreigners, mostly from India, to do the work at less than half the cost. Even Disney is in on the action. Does this sound like something that a politician who has America’s best interest at heart would support?
The Guardian.com released a damning report citing the amount of money U.S. senators received to support the Fast Track Authority and Trans Pacific Partnership Treaty. According to the report, a total of $1,148,971 was given to the senate. Of that amount, the average senator that voted yea to support the bill received $17,676.48. Breaking it down further, the average Republican, that includes Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, were paid a total of $19,673.00 while Democrats only received $9,689.00. Well, at least Republicans held out as long as they could.
As it stands right now there are a whopping 92, 898,000 Americans who are not participating in the labor force. This is the highest number in over 37 years according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In the seven years since Obama took office over 12 million American workers have left the work force and that number continues to grow despite the claims that the economy is improving. According to the Center of Immigration Studies the number of jobs held by immigrants whether legal or illegal has increased since 2007, while the number of jobs held by American citizens since that time has actually decreased. This essentially means that much of the job growth in the United States has gone to immigrants while American workers continue to drop from the labor force. From The Center of Immigration Studies-
The BLS reports that 23.1 million adult (16-plus) immigrants (legal and illegal) were working in November 2007 and 25.1 million were working in November of this year — a two million increase. For natives, 124.01 million were working in November 2007 compared to 122.56 million in November 2014 — a 1.46 million decrease.
Although all of the employment growth has gone to immigrants, natives accounted for 69 percent of the growth in the 16 and older population from 2007 to 2014.
The number of immigrants working returned to pre-recession levels by the middle of 2012, and has continued to climb. But the number of natives working remains almost 1.5 million below the November 2007 level.
More recently, natives have done somewhat better. However, even with job growth in the last two years (November 2012 to November 2014), 45 percent of employment growth has gone to immigrants, though they comprise only 17 percent of the labor force.
America does not this treaty. It is due time to put American workers first and stop these insane policies that enable corporations to seek the cheapest labor possible. There is a point where it is no longer excusable to claim the cost of paying labor is “too expensive” and that point is when you sell out your own country in order to fatten your own wallet.
For those Americans who find themselves enamored with false conservatives like Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, it is time to do some real soul searching. They are the establishment that is selling out your children’s future with their support for big corporate policies. In fact, it is safe to say the vast majority of people sitting in the halls of the people’s government are voting for their own interest, not yours. This vote for fast track authority and the Trans Pacific Partnership Treaty proves that. Forty four house Republicans voted against the trade vote on Friday, of which I am proud to say my representative, Congressman Jim Bridenstein is one of them, and for that he deserves a thank you from his constituents, as do all of those that voted no. It is a safe bet that this fight is not over. There is little chance, seeing the amount of money that was paid to the senate, that the big corporate players will just let this fall to the wayside. Watch closely America and don’t let them get away with selling out your children’s future so big corporations can profit a few extra dollars.
Be sure to check out my new book “Not on my watch: Exposing the Marxist agenda in education.”
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