Vote down Fast Track trade bill
[Reposted from the Denver Business Journal | Asa Beck | June 12, 2015]
There have been several times in the past where we have granted Fast Track Authority to presidents and it did not work out too well for us—Free Trade is the label they all use in Washington to describe what they want to pass and anyone that opposes them is against free trade.
I like free and fair trade, but in order for that to happen there need to be provisions in the” agreements that deal with issues like copyright protections, currency manipulations, continued national sovereignty, work conditions; product safety, etc.
U.S. companies are required to make safe products, keep to strict environmental standards, create a safe and non-child labor workforce, and many other things our foreign competitors do not all have to do. We need trade agreements to go through the constitutional process that our founders established. This is not a good time to grant the president express powers to negotiate a top secret trade agreement to which only a majority in each house need to vote for and which cannot be amended.
We have suffered enough under free trade agreements that are not fair and balanced agreements. We need to urge our representatives today to vote down Fast Track. We need to know what is in this secret agreement and it should be debated openly and publicly. If it is truly in the best interest of the country, then after debate and public review, it will pass.
