by Mark Linnhoefer – On Tuesday, Obama started a sales pitch that included a call to farmers to urge their congressmen to pass the treaty that he considers “an enormous achievement.”
The president is looking to gain support from the Republican-led Congress and, according to the White House, will be making numerous appearances to try and do so. Obama himself is optimistic, says that “ultimately, we’re going to get this done”, and refers to the treaty as “a generational deal”, whatever that’s supposed to mean.
Opposition to the TPP remains strong in Congress, with many congressmen seeing “troubling parts” in the treaty, but also waiting on details to get a clearer picture of TPP’s contents. One of the main worries is that certain industries like dairy and tobacco production will face hardship as a result of the trade agreement. The tobacco industry would, for example, lose the right to combat the passing of anti-smoking laws.
TPP has much worse to offer than this, but the Republicans seem more focused on the negative impact for certain large industries than that for the people, which is significantly worse.
But whatever their reasons, on this one I am with the Republicans for once – please don’t let TPP be fully passed and implemented!