Trade deals cost money. The TPP that is barreling its way through the corridors of Washington is going to be expensive to implement, and even more expensive once it starts taking its toll on the US economy.
That’s why politicians many years ago created the Trade Adjustment Assistance Program. It is a fund that is designed to help provide short term benefits for workers who lose their jobs because of free trade agreements.
The very fact that Congress had to create a program to help workers that lose their jobs from trade deals proves that they understand how disastrous deals like NAFTA and CAFTA and the TPP are for American workers.
And now that the TPP is getting closer to becoming a reality, Congress is getting scared about how to fund the Trade Adjustment Assistance Program because they know that the job losses are going to be massive.
But fear not – they have a plan to bring in an additional $700 million to the program – a program that requires a grand total of $2.7 billion dollars, which translates to enormous job losses. But that $700 million is going to come from Medicare, the program that helps the elderly afford healthcare.
This was originally a Republican plan since the Democrats in the Senate demanded that they fund the program, but it became bipartisan once 14 Democrats decided to hop on board with the plan to rob the elderly to pay for their disastrous trade deal.
So instead of scrapping the TPP as a too-costly piece of legislation that could destroy the American job market, they’ve decided to let elderly Americans who are already on fixed incomes forgo medical treatment, allow millions of Americans to lose their jobs, all in the name of corporate profits.
Sadly, that is the America that we live in today. People can die, lose their way of life, and have no money to seek medical care – all of that is perfectly fine to our elected officials if it means a few extra dollars in the pockets of their corporate donors.
Its up to you to change this cycle – go to the polls and vote them out. That’s the only way to restore good government. It’s all up to you.
