Where Does Hillary Stand on the TPP? 45 Public Statements Tell You Everything You Need to Know

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“I’ve known Hillary Clinton for 25 years and I have a lot of respect for her,” Sanders said, but emphasized the differences between the two presidential hopefuls on several issues, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

“I frankly don’t understand how you could be a major candidate for president of the United States — Hillary Clinton, or anybody else — and not have an opinion on that issue,” he said.

From the Politico article: Bernie Sanders Accuses Hillary Clinton of ‘Cop-out’ on Trade

And with Singapore and a growing list of other countries on both sides of the Pacific, we are making progress toward finalizing a far-reaching new trade agreement called the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The so-called TPP will lower barriers, raise standards, and drive long-term growth across the region. It will cover 40 percent of the world’s total trade and establish strong protections for workers and the environment. Better jobs with higher wages and safer working conditions, including for women, migrant workers and others too often in the past excluded from the formal economy will help build Asia’s middle class and rebalance the global economy. Canada and Mexico have already joined the original TPP partners. We continue to consult with Japan. And we are offering to assist with capacity building, so that every country in ASEAN can eventually join. We welcome the interest of any nation willing to meet 21st century standards as embodied in the TPP, including China.

Hillary Clinton, November 2012

One of the most memorable political missteps of my generation came on March 16, 2004 when John Kerry stated in reference to supporting the Iraq War:

I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it.

It’s hard to look stupid when running against George W. Bush, but that did the trick. He was branded a flip-flopper and the rest is history.

Naturally, Hillary Clinton will be well aware of that gaffe, and her campaign team sharply focused on not letting it happen to her. The biggest issue on the national stage at the moment on which she could be labeled a “flip-flopper,” is undoubtably the Trans Pacific Partnership, or TPP.

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GOP Establishment Queen Mitch McConnell Introduces Patriot Act Reauthorization with Zero NSA Reforms

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Late last week, I published a post about Patriot Act reauthorization that turned out to be extremely popular. It was titled, Congress is Attempting to Reauthorize Key Patriot Act Provisions by Sneaking it Into “USA Freedom Act. Here’s an excerpt:

June 1, 2015 is a very important day for American civil liberties and the Constitution. On that day, Section 215 of the Patriot Act, one of the most egregious pieces of legislation passed in U.S. history, will expire automatically without reauthorization from Congress. Naturally, this is causing a panic attack within the heart of the NSA, FBI and all the authoritarian lackey legislators in Washington D.C. With the chances of a clean reauthorization next to none, these crafty “representatives” and their puppeteers need to figure out a way to sneak it into another piece of legislation. What better way to do this than making it a part of something that ostensibly appears to be reining in surveillance powers. Enter the USA Freedom Act.

As mentioned, it is widely believed that there isn’t enough support for straight reauthorization unaccompanied by some sort of NSA reform, but that won’t stop GOP establishment queen Mitch McConnell from trying.

McConnell is amongst the most freedom hating, constitution trampling Republican members in the Senate, sharing this distinction with John McCain and Lindsey Graham. What makes McConnell far more dangerous is his position as Senate Majority Leader. Today, the Washington Post informed us how he’s wielding such power:

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Poor Jeb Bush – Poll Numbers Plunge in Home State of Florida and Remain Dismal in Ohio and Pennsylvania

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While Hillary Clinton is undoubtably an authoritarian, crony fraud, she can at least say she’s got hapless Democrat party lemmings firmly behind her. Not so for Jeb Bush, a candidate so bad only an oligarch could love him.

What’s been so amusing about his campaign thus far, is the lengths to which big money Republican donors have gone to try to manufacture support and create a likable candidate out of someone with zero grassroots support. The best example of this came about a month ago, and was highlighted in the post, Jeb Bush Forced to Bus Supporters From Washington D.C. to CPAC as Attendees Walk Out On Him. Here’s an excerpt:

It sounds like Jeb Bush’s supporters are taking CPAC pretty seriously this year. Emails provided to Slate show that backers of the former Florida governor are busing supporters from downtown Washington D.C. to CPAC in National Harbor, Maryland, and organizing to get them day passes into the event.

One long-time CPAC insider said these organized efforts impressed him, and that he didn’t know of any other potential 2016 candidates busing backers in. Perhaps that’s because no other potential candidates are worried about the regular crowd turning against them—the Washington Times reports today that some CPAC attendees are planning “to stage an informal protest when he hits the stage.”

Unfortunately for Jeb, busing in supporters doesn’t translate into genuine support. This was recently on full display with the latest Quinnipiac University poll.

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Looks Like it’s Finally Lights Out for Lindsey Graham in South Carolina

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a thought piece about the enormous change happening in the Republican Party in an article titled: What the Ted Cruz Filibuster Really Means – It’s the End of the GOP as We Know It. That article noted the need for two of the most despicable GOP neocon Senators to be booted out of office once and for all, John McCain and Lindsey Graham. While it seems video-poker war hawk McCain may be retiring, it appears Graham plans to fight it out. It’s going to be an epic battle as he already has three contenders in the 2016 primary: Lee Bright, Nancy Mace, and Richard Cash.

More from Breitbart:

“Graham, who is facing competition from the libertarian wing of the party in the June primary, was liked by 53 percent of those polled,” Shain added. “More than one-third of GOP voters had an unfavorable opinion of the Seneca Republican.”

Clemson University political scientist Dave Woodward suggests that Graham could be unseated by one of his three primary challengers: State Sen. Lee Bright, businesswoman Nancy Mace, or pro-life activist Richard Cash. “Republican primaries regularly attract about 20 percent of the registered voters, and they are more conservative and more ideological than voters in the general election,” Woodard said. “It often happens that popular incumbents are derailed on the way to re-election by upstart challengers in GOP primaries.”

“Most incumbents have a ‘re-elect regardless’ number in the 30s, so the governor’s numbers are quite strong,” Woodard added. “That cannot be said about Graham, his numbers show that more than two-thirds of the base GOP voters are unhappy with him.”

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What the Ted Cruz Filibuster Really Means – It’s the End of the GOP as We Know It

There is a tide in the affairs of men, which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune.  Omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows and in miseries.  On such a full sea are we now afloat.  And we must take the current when it serves, or lose our ventures.

– Brutus in William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar

A misguided, decrepit, corrupt, warmongering, and surveillance-happy Republican Party was already stumbling around the room; hammered drunk on its decades old power trip, led by mindless cronies with zero direction when Ted Cruz came by and gave it a charitable push to the ground. It fell swiftly with a pathetic thud. The establishment Republican Party died this week. Good riddance. 

Personally, I haven’t put in enough time to look into Ted Cruz to say how I feel about him, but I can certainly support his efforts to destroy the current GOP leadership. More importantly, I can see when political winds are a changin’ and they are blowing with a typhoon’s tempo in 2013.

It all really started in back in March, when freshman Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky started the recent GOP filibuster trend by standing up against Barack Obama’s (and indeed bipartisan Congress’) drone policy. I spent a lot more time writing and commenting about the Rand Paul filibuster as opposed to Ted Cruz’ because it is far more significant for a Republican to stand against aggressive, unconstitutional military action than for a Republican to stand against ObamaCare. The latter they are expected to do, the former not so much. At the time, I wrote a post that got a huge amount of traction titled: #StandwithRand: The Filibuster that United Libertarian and Progressive Activists. Back then I wrote:

What Rand Paul did yesterday was finally bring the public debate to where it needs to be.  In doing so, he united activists that are quite opposed on many issues (less than they think, but that’s for another day).  This is extremely significant and we need this momentum to continue.  Those of us that care about the core principles that made this country great need to stick together, find common ground and not allow the establishment to control the debate any longer.

It’s quite fitting that as Rand Paul stood for 13 hours in an impassioned attempt to call attention to the systematic dismantling of The Bill of Rights occurring in America, President Obama was having dinner with many establishment Republicans.  These included the two Senators that have done more to destroy the GOP than any one else; John McCain and Lindsey Graham.  Two guys who would drone their own grandmothers if it made them feel tough for a minute.

Fortunately, the momentum of libertarian and progressive activists to defend the Bill of Rights has continued, largely thanks to the revelations of Edward Snowden, as decent folks from both sides of the aisle have stood up to protect the 4th Amendment. ObamaCare is not one of those issues, nor should we expect it to be. While I think many Democrats understand the bill was basically written by insurance companies and is another crony capitalist handout, many in the party feel they need to support their puppet President Obama on something and they’ve decided ObamaCare is it. Everyone gets that. What is really significant about Ted Cruz’ filibuster is that it has finally exposed the Republican establishment for what it is. A rotting carcass of nothingness. No matter what happens with the cloture vote later today, it doesn’t really matter. It’s already over. The knives are in. The GOP leadership is dead.

The best article I have read on the subject of what the Cruz filibuster really means was written by Michael Walsh in the National Review. He wrote:

In the aftermath of Senator Ted Cruz’s epic performance on the Senate floor, a few observations:

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