Thread: Jeff Sessions To Debate Moderators: You Must Ask Candidates About Whether They Suppor

Exclusive — Jeff Sessions To Debate Moderators: You Must Ask Candidates About Whether They Support Obamatrade

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by MATTHEW BOYLE
28 Jan 2016DES MOINES, Iowa

DES MOINES, Iowa — Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) , the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s subcommittee on Immigration and the National Interest, is calling on Fox News debate moderators Megyn Kelly, Bret Baier and Chris Wallace to ask the GOP presidential candidates where they stand on Obamatrade.

“It absolutely is a critical issue for the future of America,” Sessions told Breitbart News in an exclusive phone interview late last week.

This is no little matter that needs to be decided in some secret room and secret negotiations. I don’t see how anybody that conducts a debate can fail to ask about this critical issue. It affects the long-term financial well-being of this country. People need to know how every one of these candidates, Republican and Democrat, feel about the trade agreements—and particularly the Trans Pacific Partnership and the Transatlantic agreement and the Trade in Services Agreement. Are you for them or not? Then they [voters] can decide how to cast their vote. Isn’t that what debates are supposed to be about? To give the candidates a chance to explain how they feel and how they are going to conduct themselves if elected? I think it’s a huge matter.

Sessions noted the reason why these trade agreements should be a major focus of this final debate before the Iowa caucuses is because of the impact this issue will have on American workers and American sovereignty moving forward.

“This trade agreement would provide—this Trans Pacific agreement commission for example would provide—the Sultan of Brunei with the same vote as the President of the United States,” Sessions said.

The President could go and agree to the various things he might want to see happen like President Obama would agree to expanded immigration and Congress would be powerless to stop it. It would just create a situation where it would be very difficult for the people’s voice to be heard. They go off and have some meeting somewhere to come up with these agreements and it avoids the legislative process the Constitution sets forth.

Obamatrade is the intersection of and combination of Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) with the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (T-TIP), and Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA). TPA, which was forced through Congress by now House Speaker Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) last year, is fast-track authority that greases the skids for the passage of trade deals like TPP, T-TIP and TiSA through Congress by lowering Senate vote thresholds to 51 from 60 and killing the ability for Congress to offer amendments to the deals.TPP is a 5,544-page-long trade deal with a variety of Pacific Rim nations including Japan, Vietnam and Brunei. T-TIP is a similar deal with various European nations. TiSA is a worldwide deal. Together, they would bind the United States to various global commissions that threaten U.S. sovereignty.
It’s unclear if Fox News’ Megyn Kelly, Bret Baier or Chris Wallace will actually ask candidates where they stand on this issue. While trade has come up in a minor way in recent debates, it has not received the central focus Sessions—the intellectual leader of the modern conservative movement—believes it should have.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX)was originally in favor of Obamatrade—he voted for TPA the first go-around in the U.S. Senate in 2015—but after withering public scrutiny he flipped against it and voted against TPA the second go-around. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) , meanwhile, helped Ryan champion Obamatrade’s cause. On the second go-around in the Senate, Rubio was the critical 60th vote for the TPA.Rubio claims he read the text of TPP, which was kept in a secret room in the basement of the U.S. Capitol, before he voted for TPA to fast-track it. But Rubio has for more than six months now refused to detail exactly when he went to the secret room to read TPP text and exactly how long he spent there. Since the final deal is again 5,544 pages long, for Rubio to have actually read the text of TPP before voting TPA—again, he would have needed to read it inside that secret classified reading room—he would have had to spend at least several days in there, something it’s highly unlikely he did. What’s more, Donald Trump says he doesn’t believe Rubio’s claim he went to the room to read the deal text–and nobody has ever asked Rubio the question one on one.

Fox News moderators could easily clarify this if they wanted to on Thursday evening during the debate by asking Rubio which full days he spent inside the classified reading room, but since—as Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowksi exposed on Wednesday—the Fox News executive writing debate questions has a daughter working for the Rubio campaign it’s unclear if Rubio will face any real questions at all.

Moreover, while Rubio previously stated he supports TPP passage in addition to having voted for TPA, he now says he is waiting until after most Republicans vote in primaries and caucuses nationwide in the presidential election before he takes a formal position again. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) , meanwhile, has been steadfastly opposed to the Obamatrade pacts. He fought alongside Sessions against the TPA and TPP in the Senate, one of only a handful of Republicans willing to stand up to the donor class on this issue from the very beginning.Donald Trump, the looming frontrunner who won’t be on stage on Thursday night because of his feud with Fox News and will instead be hosting his own veterans benefit across town, has also always been steadfastly opposed to Obamatrade.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is opposed to Obamatrade too, saying he doesn’t “trust” Obama to do this correctly. Ohio Gov. John Kasich, meanwhile, stands with Rubio’s original position to say he thinks Obamatrade—and specifically TPP—is “critical.” Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush also supports TPP.

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2016/01/28/exclusive-jeff-sessions-to-debate-moderators-you-must-ask-candidates-about-whether-they-support-obamatrade/

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX)was originally in favor of Obamatrade—he voted for TPA the first go-around in the U.S. Senate in 2015—but after withering public scrutiny he flipped against it and voted against TPA the second go-around. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) , meanwhile, helped Ryan champion Obamatrade’s cause.

Actually this is wrong, it was Ted Cruz who helped Ryan champion Obamatrade's cause. They went together on a PR sprint to promote the bill to the public.

Wrote a big article together promoting the TPP to the public. They went on talk radio shows and newspaper interviews together promoting it. Some time back I posted a picture of them together doing an interview on one of the talk radio shows or maybe an interview with Breitbart.

Here's an article Paul Ryan and Ted Cruz wrote together and put in the Wall Street Journal:

Putting Congress in Charge on Trade
‘Fast track’ authority will give lawmakers more say over agreements that are vital for economic growth.
By Paul Ryan And Ted Cruz
April 21, 2015 7:36 p.m. ET

The United States is making headway on two historic trade agreements, one with 11 countries on the Pacific Rim and another with America’s friends in Europe. These two agreements alone would mean greater access to a billion customers for American manufacturers, farmers and ranchers.

But before the U.S. can complete the agreements, Congress needs to strengthen the country’s bargaining position by establishing trade-promotion authority, also known as TPA, which is an arrangement between Congress and the president for negotiating and considering trade agreements. In short, TPA is what U.S. negotiators need to win a fair deal for the American worker.

There is a lot at stake. One in five American jobs depends on trade, and that share is only going to grow. Ninety-six percent of the world’s customers are outside the U.S. To create more jobs here, America needs to sell more goods and services over there. When that happens, the American worker benefits. Manufacturing jobs tied to trade pay 16% more on average, according to a study released by the independent U.S. International Trade Commission.

Right now, though, the American worker isn’t competing on a level playing field against many overseas economies. The U.S. economy is one of the most open in the world—and for good reason. Thanks to lower duties on imports, the average American family saves $13,600 a year, according to a study by HSBC. But other countries put up trade barriers that drive up prices for U.S. goods and services and make it hard to sell them there.

The American worker can compete with anybody, if given a fair chance. If you add up all 20 countries that the U.S. has a trade agreement with, American manufacturers run a $50 billion trade surplus with them. The problem is that not all countries have a trade agreement with the U.S.; American manufacturers run a $500 billion trade deficit with those nations. That is why the U.S. needs effective trade agreements to lay down fair and strong rules that level the playing field. Without such rules, America’s trading partners will keep stacking the deck against job creators in this country.

But Congress can’t just take the administration’s word that it will drive a hard bargain. We have to hold it accountable, and that is what trade-promotion authority will help do.

Under TPA, Congress lays out three basic requirements for the administration. First, it must pursue nearly 150 specific negotiating objectives, like beefing up protections for U.S. intellectual property or eliminating kickbacks for government-owned firms. Second, the administration must consult regularly with Congress and meet high transparency standards.

And third, before anything becomes law, Congress gets the final say. The Constitution vests all legislative power in Congress. So TPA makes it clear that Congress—and only Congress—can change U.S. law. If the administration meets all the requirements, Congress will give the agreement an up-or-down vote. But if the administration fails, Congress can hit the brakes, cancel the vote and stop the agreement.

Trade-promotion authority will hold the administration accountable both to Congress and to the American people. Under TPA, any member of Congress will be able to read the negotiating text. Any member will be able to get a briefing from the U.S. trade representative’s office on the status of the negotiations—at any time. Any member will get to be a part of negotiating rounds. And most important, TPA will require the administration to post the full text of the agreement at least 60 days before completing the deal, so the American people can read it themselves.

The stakes are high, because if you’re not moving forward in trade negotiations, you’re falling behind. In the first 10 years of this century, the countries of East Asia negotiated 48 trade agreements. The U.S., on the other hand, negotiated just two in that region. As a result, America’s share of East Asia’s imports fell by 42%. Every top U.S. competitor did better—every one of them.

Meanwhile, China is negotiating agreements with anyone who will listen—from South Korea and Australia to Norway. And it isn’t free enterprise the Chinese are pushing. Instead, it is their own form of crony capitalism. They’re writing rules that favor government-owned firms and hamper American job creators. So it all comes down to this question: Is China going to write the rules of the global economy, or is the United States?

By establishing TPA, Congress will send a signal to the world. America’s trading partners will know that the U.S. is trustworthy and then put their best offers on the table. America’s rivals will know that the U.S. is serious and won’t abandon the field. And the American people will know this trade agreement is a good, fair deal—because they’ll have the information they need to decide for themselves. Promoting American trade will create more opportunity in the country, and so we strongly urge our colleagues in Congress to vote for trade-promotion authority.

Rep. Ryan, a Republican from Wisconsin, is chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. Sen. Cruz, a Republican from Texas, heads the Senate Commerce Committee’s subcommittee on Space, Science and Competitiveness.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/putting-...ade-1429659409

Ted Cruz supports free trade agreements. He supports the bad free trade agreements. He supports trade agreements that harm American Workers and allow more imports into the US which is the sole purpose of these agreements. Figuring out Ted Cruz is like figuring out a white collar criminal investigation. It's not easy. But here is the deal on Ted Cruz and TPP.

1. Ted Cruz supports TPP
2. Ted Cruz promoted the TPP with Paul Ryan with personal interviews with the media to promote its advantages
3. Ted Cruz and Paul Ryan wrote an article promoting the TPP explaining its advantages to readers of the Wall Street Journal
4. Ted Cruz voted for the TPA to Fast Track TPP
5. Ted Cruz also wanted to terminate the EX IM Bank, 81 year old program that helps our US based manufacturers
6. Ted Cruz was furious when Ex Im Bank was reauthorized by the US Senate
7. Ted Cruz calls Mitch McConnell a liar on Senate floor for 20 minutes over the Ex Im Bank vote
8. Ted Cruz votes against TPA after that to get even with Mitch McConnell over the Ex Im Bank deal
9. Ted Cruz knew the TPA would pass the Senate because Marco Rubio was going to vote the 60th vote for closure
10. Ted Cruz tells public he voted against the TPA the second time because of immigration issues and provisions regarding the Ex Im Bank.
11. Ted Cruz votes against House Amendment to the TPA bill that would have authorized spending to assist US workers laid off by the trade agreement he supported.

Bottom-line:

1. Ted Cruz supported and still supports TPP without TAA (Trade Assistance Adjustment to help laid off US workers who lose their job when their factory closes and moves to another country under the TPP). This is the original version of the TPP that Ted Cruz wrote the Wall Street Journal article promoting with Paul Ryan and this is the TPP that Ted Cruz and Paul went on a big PR sprint to promote to media. At this same time, Ted Cruz is "leading the fight" to terminate the Ex Im Bank that provides export financing for US based manufacturers and believes he's won that fight. This is also the version of the TPP that Ted voted for.

2. The Ex Im Bank is re-authorized by the Senate. Ex Im Bank has nothing to do with the TPP document and never did and Ex Im Bank has now been re-authorized by the full Congress and signed into law by Obama until 2019, it comes up for renewal every 3 years. So Ted Cruz lost his "fight" to end "crony capitalism" that helps our companies export their US produced products.

3. Ted Cruz in the melee he caused trying to defeat Ex Im Bank which left it terminated for 6 months, caused Boeing who uses the Ex Im Bank program to sell its US produced airliners to decdie for the first time in its long history to produce outside the US and announced a new plant in China in September 2015 citing the loss of export financing through the Ex Im Bank as the case. General Electric also announced the closing of 2 plants due to the same thing, and I'm sure there will be many others who did likewise before it was eventually renewed in December 2015.

4. Ted Cruz supports the TPP that we don't want.

5. Ted Cruz opposes the TAA to help workers laid off by TPP that we do want if you pass a TPP.

6. Ted Cruz opposes the Ex Im Bank that US manufacturers want and thus we want because it protects US jobs and US factories in the United States, and we do want.

7. Ted Cruz supported increasing H1B visas from 65,000 to 300,000 per year and doubling green cards from 675,000 to 1.3 million, which we do not want.

8. Ted Cruz supported legalization of illegal aliens, which we do not want. He changed his position on December 15, 2015 in the GOP Debate and lied to the public about his past positions.

In sum, Ted Cruz is a menace to the United States and the American Worker.