Most conservatives support free trade in general, like Ronald Reagan did. In his article he wrote today for Breitbart, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), reaffirmed his support for it, as well. But a great deal of mystery surrounds the back-room negotiations between the White House and Congress on the so-called Trade Promotion Authority (TPA, or “fast-track”) bills and amendments. President Obama, himself, has given the public no information at all about the initiative except to assure us that he has our best interests in mind and that he “spend[s] most of [his] time focused on … the Economy.” So we can trust him. Perhaps that’s what he’s thinking about all day, every day, out on the golf course.
I can tell you what I trust. I trust that when Sen. Ted Cruz writes an article that criticizes his own Republican leadership in order to express his reservations about the initiative, in a way that will cause him to suffer punishment, then we can probably believe some of what he has to say. So, from him and other Congressmen, we can conclude some fairly bombproof statements about TPA:
1. It’s not secret because of China. It’s secret because YOU can’t handle the truth. Though it’s been hinted that the whole thing must be negotiated behind closed doors to keep it from our trading partners, this is a bit like saying that we need to whisper around the children so that God doesn’t hear. China is more sophisticated and cut-throat in their trade strategy than we could ever hope to be, and they already know what Obama is planning before the NSA does. And they don’t hide it, or expect us to pretend, either.
2. It changes our immigration laws. As Cruz complained: “Despite the administration’s public assurances that it was not negotiating on immigration,” it turned out otherwise.
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