Today, the three
leaders of North America: President Barack Obama, President Enrique Peña Nieto of Mexico and Prime Minister Stephen Harper of Canada, meet in Mexico to
supposedly discuss issues of trade between the three nations. This on the 20-year anniversary of the North
American Free Trade Agreement, commonly known as (NAFTA), which was signed into
law by Bill Clinton in January of 1994.
Before the meeting, it
could have easily been guessed that the agendas of each leader were similar yet
different. I am certain Obama wanted to
discuss security and immigration, and that Mr. Harper wanted to discuss the
Keystone pipeline to
take Canadian oil
to the Gulf of Mexico,
and that President Enrique Peña Nieto wanted
to discuss immigration. But I also suspect that all wanted to get down to the
nitty gritty with respect to the on the proposed trade agreement known as the
Trans-Pacific Partnership.
The concern the average
thinking American should ask is why is the US involved in another far reaching,
sovereignty reducing trade pact that will supersede constitutional parameters
that benefit the people over large, and in many cases foreign corporations? Although
some purport the divinity of NAFTA, what we do know is that it was responsible
for more than a million jobs
leaving America for Mexico by incentivizing U.S. manufacturers to move production
to lower-cost Mexico and that through Chapter 11 of the agreement, allows
corporations or individuals of foreign governments to be placed on the same
footing as Americans. As a consequence, many of the manufacturing jobs that
once used to be in states like Michigan left and consequently, allowed
companies that did stay in America to suppress wages of workers. So regardless
of all the good it was supposed to do, what America really got was massive
unemployment and a massive U.S. trade
deficit especially in the manufacturing sector with respect to Mexico of
about $100 billion which is still
growing.
What President Obama
should have mentioned was the concern with the criminal justice system in
Mexico and the problems of violence perpetrated by the numerous drug cartels in
the region, but he didn’t? He should
have discussed openly, that he wants the Keystone pipeline, but it would be hypocritical
for him to do such given the oil from the Canadian Tar Sands would produce more
of what he calls “carbon pollutants” and because much of the oil will not be
used in the U.S. but rather sold and shipped abroad. And lord knows Obama didn’t want to go on the
record saying he supported foreign corporations like Trans-Canada having the
right to claim imminent domain in America.
After I read the releasedjoint statement, it was obvious that this was just a waste of time. It had
nothing to do with real issues, but more about show and photo ops. I should have known Obama would not go on the
record about the TPP, an agreement he is keeping so hush-hush, that he won’t
even share it with the American citizenry openly and no one yet knows the broad
scope of its reach. An agreement so hidden that we wouldn’t even know about its
breath if it wasn’t for Wikileaks. All we do know is that Wall Street and the big banks and all associated with it are racking up big bonuses and it aint even law yet.
But as, unusual, I
actually expected a meeting to be productive, and that American leaders should (the
conditional) work on the best interest of U.S. citizens. But I was wrong, all
this was it seems was a ten hour glorified lunch meeting, I just wonder how
much tax payers spent for this, seeing that it could have been conducted via Skype.
