Senator Sessions (R-AL) rips the lid off TPP

[99th_Monkey]

This is rather odd, especially the Breitbart part, but hey ... actually it's rather cool that there is growing bipartisan opposition to the TPP. Is Obama going to arrest & jail Senator Sessions now? Maybe this will embolden more and more Congress peeps to speak out loud about the travesty called TPP.

```` * ```` * ```` * ```` * ```` * ```` * ```` * ```` * ```` * ```` * ```` * ```` *

Sen. Sessions Takes a Bold Step: Tells the Truth About TPP
May 18, 2015 * by Kevin Zeese * Popular Resistance

Sessions Reads the TPP and Exposes Its Contents, Other Elected Officials Should Do the Same

Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) is one of the few members of Congress who has taken the time to jump through the hoops and read the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). But, he has gone a step farther than other members – he told members of Congress what he read. He told the truth about what the TPP says and why Congress should oppose it in a five page letter to his colleagues.

Sessions’ action flies in the face of the threats made by the US Trade Representative to prosecute elected officials who tell people what is in the trade agreement. Others should follow his example and get out the truth about the TPP.

The debate in the Senate begins on Tuesday, May 19. This is an opportunity for Senators to tell their colleagues the truth about what is in the TPP. Sessions’ “Dear Colleague” letter was leaked and reported in Breitbart. Senators from both parties may want to take a similar approach. Even better, during the debate on the Senate floor there will be an opportunity for amendments that expose problems with the TPP. Senators can tell their colleagues and, through C-SPAN, their constituents the truth about what is in the TPP.

How Senator Sessions Exposed the Truth about TPP

Breitbart has written two articles on Sessions’ revelations. In “Critical Alert: Jeff Sessions Warns America Against Potentially Disastrous Obama Trade Deal,” they report:

“’Congress has the responsibility to ensure that any international trade agreement entered into by the United States must serve the national interest, not merely the interests of those crafting the proposal in secret,’ Sessions’ team writes in a document that lays out the top five concerns with the Obama trade deal. ‘It must improve the quality of life, the earnings, and the per-capita wealth of everyday working Americans. The sustained long-term loss of middle class jobs and incomes should compel all lawmakers to apply added scrutiny to a ‘fast-track’ procedure wherein Congress would yield its legislative powers and allow the White House to implement one of largest global financial agreements in our history—comprising at least 12 nations and nearly 40 percent of the world’s GDP.’ . . .

“The Sessions document then goes point-by-point for five full pages through the TPA trade deal, laying out why it wouldn’t help Americans—rather, it would likely hurt American workers—and why the deal doesn’t in fact provide Congress with more power over trade despite talking points from the Obama trade deal’s proponents . . .”

https://www.popularresistance.org/sen-sessions-takes-a-bold-step-tells-the-truth-about-tpp/

[arcane1]

1. I'd love to see some Senators get arrested for leaking this. I care not from which party.

Talk about "optics"!

[99th_Monkey]

3. Finally! THIS is the kind of bipartisan action I can totally support. -nt-

[tritsofme]

17. Any member of Congress could discuss any details on the floor and be immune

From any sort prosecution. They could read the whole damn thing into the record if they got their hands on it, and would have absolute immunity.

That being said, such a member would not likely be invited to any further meetings with the USTR.

[wildbilln864]

21. and those 28 pages concerning Saudi funding of 911 also! n/t

[arcane1]

23. Yes!!!

[Jesus Malverde]

67. Bingo boom shakalaka

[KamaAina]

2. Holy moly!

[99th_Monkey]

4. LOL Let's hear it for "bipartisanship".

[hay rick]

27. "Bipartisanship" usually means surrender.

LOL indeed.

[StopTheNeoCons]

5. President Obama is secretly against the TPP, so....

He comes out supporting it so that the rethug majority ends up shooting it down, which is what The Pres really wants.....

[QC]

6. Chess, baby!

[Autumn]

8. Candy Land baby, it's sweeter than the rest.

[99th_Monkey]

7. did you forget the sarcasm smilie?

Here, you can use this one

[CharlotteVale]

9. ROFL. It could happen.

Not.

[stopwastingmymoney]

22. That did occur to me...nt

[Spazito]

10. Wow, an OP touting the rabidly racist, climate denying Sessions as a truth-teller...

I thought I had seen it all lately, obviously I was mistaken.

[99th_Monkey]

12. Broken Clocks and all.

I don't give a rats ass what else a congress Rep. does or says at this point about anything else .. just vote against the TPP, for all our sakes. Ultimately it's the GOP's country too, in that very few have anything to gain by this TPP travesty dressed-up like a 'trade bill'.

HINT: bipartisan opposition will be needed to kill the TPP in it's tracks.

You know that. I know that.

nice try though, to slime a messenger of good tidings.

[Spazito]

14. Says it all, sadly....

As long as he touts your view on ONE issue, it doesn't matter if he is a rabidly racist, global denying, food stamp cutting, immigrant hating POS. Got it.

[99th_Monkey]

19. I didn't say that at all ^YOUR^WORDS^NOT^MINE

What I said was I don't give a rats ass about Sessions in the sense that his vote is important, not in the sense at all that I condone or agree with Sessions re: his racist views or whatever.

Please don't conflate my words like that, as it distorts my meaning seriously,

[Spazito]

20. Your words....

"I don't give a rats ass what else a congress Rep. does or says at this point about anything else."

Couldn't be clearer. Again, says it all.

[arcane1]

24. You are being incredibly unfair. n/t

[Spazito]

25. LOL!

Repeating a poster's own words back to them is now "incredibly unfair" when they try to say they didn't post what they clearly did. Not unfair at all.

[Bobbie Jo]

34. Yeah

Stop that.

Holy crap.

[Spazito]

37. Boogles the mind!

These days, though, much of what I read here, especially threads like this one, can only be responded to with and/or

[GoneOffShore]

29. People forget that sometimes the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

And that adversity makes for strange bedfellows occasionally.

[arcane1]

31. Strange bedfellows indeed. And the TPP seems to make people act strangely.

Republican agreement is just fine if one is pro-TPP, for example.

Strange days indeed.

[Joe Turner]

55. That's is what politics is all about

Unfortunately some people don't understand it. We need all the help we can get to shut down this monstrosity.

[libdem4life]

11. Two thoughts...One is that Obama knows what is in it and is lying out his ears, the other even

worse possibility is, as mentioned in the article, that maybe he hasn't even read it himself.

I had not heard of him comparing Warren, a Law Professor/Senator to the idiocy of Sarah Palin. Sexist dominant male.

I'm thinking this is going to get messy. What will Hillary do...this has to tighten the sqeeze on her candidacy.

[99th_Monkey]

13. Third possibility

That O's either being blackmailed or seriously threatened from High Places who have the means.

[libdem4life]

15. Yeah, I've tried to steer clear of that, but something has him fighting to the death for secrecy and

"fast track" against all rational reasons. Things like that seem pretty ho-hum for the Beltway...pay for play...but this is Huge Stakes.

[Wilms]

16. ^

[99th_Monkey]

18. .

[Buns_of_Fire]

26. The President has succeeded! Bipartisanship at last!

And the country watches approvingly as Mike Papantonio and Rush Limbaugh, together, light the ceremonial bonfire to destroy all copies of the TPP while congress joins hands in a circle around the fire to sing Kumbaya.

Tomorrow, we will return to our regularly scheduled programming.

[MaggieD]

28. Will you be voting republican now?

Our hero, Jeff Sessions. LOL!

[GoneOffShore]

30. Sessions (R-Grifter) has obviously seen a light.

Stop being an absolutist.

And doing logical fallacies.

[arcane1]

33. A perfect example! This is like beginner-level discrediting.

But it seems to be the only contrary position. Not what I'm used to seeing

[MaggieD]

35. I am an absolutist about republicans

Nothing is going to change that. Jeff Sessions is a batshit crazy asshole, by the way. And I don't mean metaphorically batshit either. I mean literally batshit.

[GoneOffShore]

40. Well thanks for your concern.

And you don't find anything redeeming in the fact that he has come out against the TPP. Cool.

I'll agree that he's crazy.

But occasionally crazy people get things right.

Not too often, but sometimes.

Perhaps you want to think about the whole "enemy of my enemy" scenario.

And before you go off on me: I'm 67 years old. I resisted the draft in the 60's. Moved to the UK in 1970 to avoid said draft. Came back in 1981. Have voted straight Democratic ticket ever since. Protested the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq. Worked the phones for John Kerry and Barack Obama. And I'll vote for the Democratic nominee in 2016 along with supporting qualified Democrats in local, state and national elections.

[MaggieD]

41. You couldn't pay me to say....

.... something nice about Jeff Sessions. He's a complete ahole.

http://www.rightwingwatch.org/category/people/jeff-sessions

[GoneOffShore]

45. As we say in my business: End scene.

[Aerows]

59. George Bush pressed for the TPP

If you want Bipartisan, there is Bipartisan support for TPP opposition. There was when George Bush proposed and pushed it.

Are you going to vote for Jeb Bush since George Bush also pressed for the TPP?

[MaggieD]

60. I'm not in favor of the TPP

You'll have to ask someone who is.

[Aerows]

61. I'm asking you

And that is identical to asking someone who is.

[MaggieD]

62. How so?

[Aerows]

63. I read your posts.

-_-

[MaggieD]

64. Great - link to where I said I was in favor of TPP

[Aerows]

65. Great, please comment here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026698690

[MaggieD]

66. That's a link to something you posted

So where is the post you claim I made favoring the TPP?

It does not exist. I never said any such thing. And no, I'm not going to kick your thread.

[madville]

32. House Democrats and a bunch of Tea Partiers have teamed up

The House Democrats are opposing fast track because it could harm American workers, the Tea Partiers are opposing it because they don't want to give Obama the additional authority.

If it works to defeat te fast track authority then so be it, I don't care where the votes come from as long as it doesn't pass.

[99th_Monkey]

44. Don't try to reason with the pro-TPP crowd

Apparently they gave up thinking very clearly awhile ago.

My OP was trashed because .. well .. Sen Sessions did something right for a change
which was 'wrong' in their book from the get go, to not support their precious TPP.
So .. horrors .. that Sen Sessions name is deigned to be even mentioned.

[sendero]

36. WOW...

... I've never held for Sessions but I have to say this is very impressive. I'm sure I would disagree vehemently with him on most issues but he knocked this one out of the park.

[trumad]

38. Note the emphasis on the "Obama trade Deal"

Why not the McConnell trade deal?

Why not an article blasting repubs for supporting it.

Oh yeah....it's fucking Briebart.

Fuck Sessions and Fuck Dead Briebart.

[MaggieD]

43. Right wing links should be against the TOS.

Good lord. Rah rah Jeff Sessions?? WTF?

http://www.rightwingwatch.org/category/people/jeff-sessions

[99th_Monkey]

49. Get real.

popular resistance dot org is NOT a RW website.

[MaggieD]

51. And uses Deadbart as its source

[Jackpine Radical]

54. Briebart?

Is that some kinda fancy cheese?

[ucrdem]

39. This post deserves thousands of kicks!

Kicked to the curb that is. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, just . . .



wow.

[MaggieD]

42. No kidding

DU has officially jumped the shark now.

http://www.rightwingwatch.org/category/people/jeff-sessions

[GoneOffShore]

47. No, it hasn't.

Are you for or against the TPP?

Sometimes allies are found in odd places.

And they don't have to turn into a BFFE. Sometimes it's only a hook-up.

[MaggieD]

48. He's not against trade

He just hates Obama. Damn - some people are easily played.

Voted YES on promoting free trade with Peru. (Dec 2007)
Voted YES on free trade agreement with Oman. (Jun 2006)
Voted YES on implementing CAFTA for Central America free-trade. (Jul 2005)
Voted YES on establishing free trade between US & Singapore. (Jul 2003)
Voted YES on establishing free trade between the US and Chile. (Jul 2003)
Voted NO on extending free trade to Andean nations. (May 2002)
Voted NO on granting normal trade relations status to Vietnam. (Oct 2001)
Voted NO on removing common goods from national security export rules. (Sep 2001)
Voted YES on permanent normal trade relations with China. (Sep 2000)
Voted YES on expanding trade to the third world. (May 2000)

[GoneOffShore]

52. Don't care what his motives are on this. The deal is bad.

Doesn't mean I'd vote for the pogue.

[MaggieD]

56. Could've fooled me

You seem pretty taken with him.

[ismnotwasm]

57. I didn't want to kick this

But this is disgusting. Sessions is a opportunistic pig. And a nut job. And a homophobe.

[Bobbie Jo]

46. + an entire shitload

[Marr]

50. lol @ trying to use this as a cudgel when the rest of the Republicans agree with *you*. /nt

[99th_Monkey]

53. +100 nt

[neverforget]

58. Amazing how that is conveniently forgotten