Political Quotes

“Mr. President, as President Obama has noted in his State of the Union, the American economy is growing again. We are creating jobs at the fastest pace since 1999, and unemployment is lower than before the financial crisis. American businesses are posting large profits and boosting the stock market along with them. Yet for many working Americans, this good news is only that, news-- something they see in the paper or on TV, not in their paychecks or at the kitchen table. Many of the Wisconsin workers I hear from every day are struggling to make ends meet. They are working more, taking home less, and worried that for the first time in American history their kids will have fewer opportunities than they did. For the last 5 years the Obama administration has been negotiating with 11 nations in the Asia-Pacific region on a free-trade agreement known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Some of these countries have values similar to ours and some do not. I fear this agreement could allow some nations to take advantage of the values we as Americans place on our environment, on labor laws, on human rights, and on free enterprise rules. These nations would be competing against American workers on an uneven playing field. This unfair game would continue the downward pressure on wages that has plagued American workers since before NAFTA. The interests of Wisconsin workers are being represented in these negotiations by unelected officials in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.…”