MOUNT VERNON, Iowa (AP) — Hillary Rodham Clinton says she opposes the big Pacific Rim trade accord backed by President Barack Obama.
The Democratic presidential candidate says in an interview with PBS there are too many “unanswered questions” about the Trans-Pacific Partnership. She says, “What I know about it as of today, I am not in favor.”
The free trade deal backed by the administration has been opposed by liberal Democrats and labor unions.
Clinton helped lay the foundation for the deal as Obama’s secretary of state.
She joins Democratic rivals Bernie Sanders and Martin O’Malley who warn it could lead to lost American jobs.
The pact is central to Obama’s attempt to engage with Asia to offset a rising Chinese influence in the region.
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Well “free trade = Bad Thing” is a known truth for much of the Democratic base. Which is not to our party’s credit, IMO. FWIW Krugman is now a little softer on the TPP than he was, given some more recent info (or ‘leaks’ I guess). Basically pharma, tobacco, and R’s are angry at recent changes, so that’s a good thing.
http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/10/06/tpp-take-two/
Surprised the poll testing took so long…
Seeing which way the wind was blowing shouldn’t have taken this long…
Iraq redux.
I guess she changed her mind (ie NAFTA). Better late then never, and good move on her part. Let’s hope it’s genuine, because it;s a significant shift from the political HRC I’m used to.
I really like this move on so many levels. Quite apart from the TPP itself, its reach, its mechanics, its details, from a STRATEGIC standpoint it works great for HRC: