Flogging the dead TPP horse
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- Date published:
12:55 pm, November 11th, 2016 - 24 comments
Categories: capitalism, class war, Globalisation, national -
Tags: he's dead Jim, tpp, TPPA
There aren’t many up-sides to a Trump presidency, but here’s one – McConnell dashes hopes for Pacific trade deal vote before Trump takes office
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday dashed any remaining hopes that President Barack Obama’s signature Pacific-Rim trade deal would come up for a vote before President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January.
“It’s certainly not going to be brought up this year,” McConnell said of the 12-country Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) at a news briefing in Washington.
But the strong vote for Trump in industrial states made it unlikely Republicans would be willing to go against him on trade policy, analysts said.
“It’s fair to say that TPP is now in the dustbin of history,” said Gary Hufbauer, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, a pro-trade think tank in Washington. “I don’t see a path forward for the United States to join.”
Key is determined to keep flogging that horse no matter how dead it is – Trade Minister ‘patron saint of lost causes’ on TPP
The government is soldiering on with its Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) legislation, despite the strong likelihood the trade deal is already dead.
But Labour’s Megan Woods was worried about National’s state of mind.
“And it feels a bit like we’re taking part in a joint therapy session for the members opposite. Denial is the first stage of grief, I get that, but something happened yesterday … the TPP is over, it’s not going to happen.”
The third reading of the Trans Pacific Partnership legislation will continue on the next available sitting day.
What a waste of Parliament’s time.
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Nice work President-elect Trump. Effectively trashing the TPP without even taking the office yet.
Let’s see if he can sort out the corrupt and lobbyist infested Congress and Senate. It will be hard work.
He could support this, be a good start.
http://www.wolf-pac.com/
Given that Trump is probably more corrupt than most congressmen, it certainly will be hard work. And given his dislike of hard work, he probably won’t do it.
Well said.
@ Guerilla Surgeon
+ 1
The satisfaction of seeing Key looking like he is going to cry about his precious TPPA
and now more money wasting by a Tory Government that is out of touch trying to bring something back from the dead
@ Michelle ,
Absolutely nailed it.
He wanted this country to pay through the nose with loss of sovereignty and slave wages , – now he cant admit that his beloved treasonous TTPA deal is a dead duck.So now he wastes even more of the public’s time and money trying to resurrect a ghost – just like he did with the flag issue.
Perhaps both Key and Obama can console themselves on the gold course over in Hawaii regarding their corruption and devious motives…
And the ironic thing about it all?
It took an anti globalist nationalist in a far away country to stomp all over it, – and the guy hasn’t even assumed Presidency yet.
Thats what Key gets for being an anti democratic , anti sovereign and anti nation state globalist – egg all over your manicured shirt front.
Thank you , Mr Trump.
TPP has just been approved by the Japanese Govt.
It “has been one of the key points in the economic program of Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, who wanted to boost the country’s exports. However, experts view the TPP approval by Japan as a more of symbolic gesture”.
So that’s where we’re heading to… symbolic gestures’.
Though its weird that Key admitted as much on Paul Henry.
Still maybe it’s just a micro representation of our current Capitalist model….doomed, but we’re going to soldier on with it anyway because no one wants to be the guy who pulls the emergency Stop cord.
It’s not a waste of time from National’s and the elite’s perspective. It’s forwarding the agenda in preparation for the next stage/onslaught, depending on your perspective.
+1
@ The Chairman,
Dead right.
These fun and games have been around for decades and theres no way itll be given up that easily. The politicians may change , but the game plan doesn’t. And as far as outfits like the Rothchilds banking elite and Bilderbergers are concerned?
Politicians are expendable.
Key and McClay will be hoping to salvage the deal without America after all everyone else signed.
If they can find a way they will.
If only Key could put in as much effort in addressing the huge poverty gap instead of pushing bad trade deals that will marginalise our citizens even more in the future.
Key is addressing the poverty gap – he’s actively making it wider. After all – can’t have rich people without lots of poor people.
We already did that when we unilaterally dropped almost all of our trade barriers back in the 1980s. It didn’t do us any good then either.
:LOL:
Pretty sure that if I look through all the videos from the House I’ll find that Mitchell’s been doing that every time he thinks that National landed a hit on Labour.
Isn’t it, at the very least, time to renegotiate the thing without all the crap the Americans shovelled into it? why rush to pass an American TPPA that wont have the Americans in it
No because, as we’ve learned over the last few decades, FTAs don’t work as promised.
Unless corporates have suddenly lost their power, I imagine they will be back with a new plan sooner or later. Just a different name and different costume.
Between BREXIT and whats just happened in the USA , global corporatization of independent sovereign nations has taken a set back. It wont stop them , however.
I would suggest there will be another deliberate crashing of the markets to try and force the agenda – and make it harder for protectionism… to soften the people up into accepting their globalization .
When in doubt, remember the Parrot Sketch. If the Nats hadn’t nailed it to the perch it’d be pushing up the daisies.
The other view is that with the TPP (almost) gone its one less thing for the opposition to try to hit the government and National can say to the supporters of the TPP (which included how many former Labour leaders?) that it was Trumps fault
So the silver lining for National is pretty good
Quick answer to that is why is National / Key wasting OUR tax dollars on it when its dead?
Thats not very ‘minimum govt’ / neo liberal of them , is it ….
Must be all those donations that makes them try to save face, methinks…
TPP or some other probably much more one sided agreement, National are setting the table to be able to sell us out to a new much more aggressive US imperium.
Donald Trump is not against Trade Deals he has said that he will renegotiate them in America’s favour.
USA, USA, USA.
How many TPPA’s are there?
Key was reported in stuff.co.nz the day after Trump’s win saying that the TPPA was “dead”.
And yet the National government is in parliament carrying on as if nothing has happened.
What the f… is going on?
Now that the TPPA is all but dead the focus should turn to TISA.
TISA is just an insidious as the TPPA, if not more so.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade_in_Services_Agreement