Trans-Pacific Pact

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[William Thornton]

[Haruo]

[KeithE]

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[KeithE]

[William Thornton]

Many public services in my local community are privatized or are being considered for privatization. Garbage collection, for example, is private, gummit merely setting some ground rules. The incentive for privatization is to keep gummit from rewarding one group at the expense of taxpayers. Gummit employees lobby and schmooze with elected officials to obtain generous defined benefit pensions. Since individual taxpayers lose little, a few bucks each per month, the system works until unfounded liabilities balloon to staggering sums.

Teachers, firefighters, and police are likely places to find such problems. The typical scenario here is that these constituencies are rewarded for certain politicians to be elected and worry about the expense later. In Keith's gummit
love fest he fails to consider that gummit has no interest of its own and elected officials have primarily self interest (being reflected) as their motivation. At the least the motivations of politicians and capitalists share that one characteristic. But capitalists in their quest for profits will increase shareholder value whereas gummit in their quest for electoral success will have picked winners and losers based on political support.

As examples, look at Detroit and other cities, bloated pensions and the gaming of benefits for employees, our congress reelection rares, the national debt and deficit spending.

...but maybe in Alabama folks don't look at 'getting on with the city or county' as a lifetime job with great retirement benefits.

[KeithE]

[KeithE]

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[KeithE]

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No, I'm not implying that Krugman is for the TPP. My post was admittedly not very clear in its argument. My claim is that Krugman pegs the hysteria over some of the claims of the opposition as "hugely overblown". That was my original contention when I jumped into this thread.

As I also noted previously, Krugman also states that the talks seem to be going nowhere and he doesn't come close to espousing some of the hysterical claims made by the folks at "communistdreams.org". Nope, they aren't the communist party...they just love centralized power like real commies.

[KeithE]

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[KeithE]

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[KeithE]

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Oh, by the way, there's also a trans-Atlantic trade deal being negotiated.

[KeithE]

[KeithE]

[KeithE]

[Dave Roberts]

One thing struck me in reading back through this topic. Both the GOP and the Democrats are controlled right now by the Wall Street Wing of both parties. The effort in each party is to provide the maximum benefits for the corporate sector. Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton are both part of that Wall Street set in their parties. They just approach how to benefit their friends and contributors a little differently.

[KeithE]

[Haruo]

[Tim Bonney]