Day: May 3, 2016

TTIP might not be TPP: Daily Bullshit, May 3, 2016 (update)

benfell

Updated for Ted Cruz suspending his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination following his defeat in Indiana.[1]

Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership

To the extent that Europeans stand their ground, I would just about guarantee that TTIP does not stand a chance of ever being ratified in the U.S. Alexander Hagelüken and Alexander Mühlauer report that “Europeans have made highly ambitious suggestions to avoid the lowering of social and environmental matters in the TTIP agreement.” Among other things, these are apparently in line with International Labour Organization standards that the U.S. has mostly not ratified. But, “Washington has made a counter suggestion but it falls far short of approaching the European position.”[2] Of course, failing to agree would expose Barack Obama’s oft-repeated lie that his so-called “free” trade agreements would protect workers,[3] that is, if anybody in the Hillary Clinton-loving mainstream media departed from the neoliberal consensus long enough to actually hold his feet to the fire.

Alexander Hagelüken and Alexander Mühlauer, “Could The TTIP Bring European Workers’ Rights To The U.S.?” trans. Worldcrunch, Süddeutsche Zeitung, May 3, 2016, http://international.sueddeutsche.de/post/143799286475/could-the-ttip-bring-european-workers-rights-to

Ted Cruz

“With [Ted] Cruz gone, a [Donald] Trump nomination now appears inevitable.”[4]

Sean Sullivan and Katie Zezima, “Ted Cruz drops out of the Republican presidential race,” Washington Post, May 3, 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/ted-cruz-drops-out-of-the-republican-presidential-race/2016/05/03/8f955a06-0fe7-11e6-81b4-581a5c4c42df_story.html

Jonathan Swan and Jonathan Easley, “Cruz ends presidential campaign,” Hill, May 3, 2016, http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/gop-primaries/278569-cruz-ends-presidential-campaign

Footnotes

  1. [1]Sean Sullivan and Katie Zezima, “Ted Cruz drops out of the Republican presidential race,” Washington Post, May 3, 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/ted-cruz-drops-out-of-the-republican-presidential-race/2016/05/03/8f955a06-0fe7-11e6-81b4-581a5c4c42df_story.html; Jonathan Swan and Jonathan Easley, “Cruz ends presidential campaign,” Hill, May 3, 2016, http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/gop-primaries/278569-cruz-ends-presidential-campaign↩
  2. [2]Alexander Hagelüken and Alexander Mühlauer, “Could The TTIP Bring European Workers’ Rights To The U.S.?” trans. Worldcrunch, Süddeutsche Zeitung, May 3, 2016, http://international.sueddeutsche.de/post/143799286475/could-the-ttip-bring-european-workers-rights-to↩
  3. [3]Peter Baker, “Obama Accuses Democrats of Distorting Facts on Trans-Pacific Trade Pact,” New York Times, May 8, 2015, http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/09/business/nike-to-create-jobs-if-trans-pacific-partnership-is-approved.html; Ali Breland, “Barack Obama slams Elizabeth Warren on trade comments,” Politico, May 9, 2015, http://www.politico.com/story/2015/05/obama-slams-elizabeth-warren-on-trade-117778.html; Zoë Carpenter, “Keeping a Massive Trade Deal Out of the Fast Lane,” Nation, August 22, 2013, http://www.thenation.com/blog/175865/keeping-massive-trade-deal-out-fast-lane; Julie Hirschfeld Davis and Jonathan Weisman, “Obama Pushes Skeptical Legislators Hard on Pacific Trade Deal,” New York Times, May 10, 2015, http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/11/us/politics/obama-pushing-skeptical-legislators-hard-on-pacific-trade-deal.html; William Finnegan, “Why Does Obama Want This Trade Deal So Badly?” New Yorker, June 11, 2015, http://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/why-does-obama-want-the-trans-pacific-partnership-so-badly; Spencer Kimball, “Little headway on Trans-Pacific free trade deal,” Deutschewelle, April 30, 2014, http://www.dw.de/little-headway-on-trans-pacific-free-trade-deal/a-17599592; Vicki Needham and Jordan Fabian, “WH takes on Reid over trade,” Hill, May 5, 2015, http://thehill.com/policy/finance/241097-white-house-takes-on-reid-over-trade; Greg Sargent, “Elizabeth Warren fires back at Obama: Here’s what they’re really fighting about,” Washington Post, May 11, 2015, http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2015/05/11/elizabeth-warren-fires-back-at-obama-heres-what-theyre-really-fighting-about/↩
  4. [4]Jonathan Swan and Jonathan Easley, “Cruz ends presidential campaign,” Hill, May 3, 2016, http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/gop-primaries/278569-cruz-ends-presidential-campaign↩