Matthew Russell: “TPA, TPP, TTIP, WTO, GATT, fast track, to the American people, we have made the ability to understand trade relations…”

“TPA, TPP, TTIP, WTO, GATT, fast track, to the American people, we have made the ability to understand trade relations with other nations nigh on impossible. Politicians, pundits, and prophetic economists are issuing clarion calls to free trade. We all like free trade, but these same advocates insist that we do it fast, you know, put it on a fast track with ``trade promotional authority.'' Listening to these experts, they insist that we cannot do trade without it. Never mind that for 160 years we negotiated without it under the guide of the Constitution and the watchful eye of the Representatives of the people. Now, they want the negotiations to be secret: Don't worry. The trade agreements are complex. They will give us the final agreement, and we will have a little bit of time to look it over. Can't change it. Just look it over, and then you can have a simple up-or-down vote that could bind America to the terms of other nations. ``But it will create jobs?'' they say, just like NAFTA, just like the world trade agreement, just like CAFTA. We were reassured then that those would fix everything. We passed them. We are still waiting for those jobs. Americans need to ask a few questions of us in this body before we commit to something that could have decades of impact. The Pacific Partnership includes a transnational commission with a living agreement clause to change it.…”