Many of the same leaders who complain about Chinese censorship quietly accept the censorship themselves. Ten years ago I wrote a book called “That’s China.” It told the story of how the magazine publishing business that I built in China, fighting all the way, mostly with the government bureaus that controlled media, was taken…
Michael Froman, the United States trade representative, is confident he can persuade Congress to approve a long-pending agreement that encompasses 12 countries. WASHINGTON — For Michael B. Froman, President Obama’s chief evangelist for expanding global trade, skepticism comes with the territory. [by Mark Landler and Jonathan Weisman | December 30, 2014 | NY Times]…
When Congress comes back to work early next year, Trade Promotion Authority (“TPA”) is likely to be high up on the Congressional agenda, and it is something the President and Congress can work together on. The basic concept of the law is simple. [Reposted from the Huffington Post | Gil Kaplan | December 30, 2014]…
Jobs are slowly coming back to Ohio from abroad after decades of offshoring that devastated the manufacturing industry and the middle class. [by Steve Bennish | December 21, 2014 | Dayton Daily News] It’s not clear yet when — or if — a tipping point will be reached when reshoring catches up to offshoring. But…
OFU calling on Ohioans to call their U.S. Senators and Representatives “This is an egregious abuse of power conducted in the dark of night with no public hearing or scrutiny on policy that greatly affects both consumers and family farmers,” said Ohio Farmers Union President Joe Logan. (ifoh.org) COLUMBUS , Ohio — At…
The other day, President Obama spoke to 100 top CEOs from the Business Roundtable. He was asked about two huge new trade deals, favored by global companies, known as TPP and TTIP. The President taunted critics of our failing trade policy, telling them, “Stop fighting the last war.” [by Stan Sorscher | December 26,…
President Obama is preparing a major push on a vast free-trade zone that seeks to enlist Republicans as partners and test his premise that Washington can still find common ground on major initiatives. [Reposted from The Washington Post | David Nakamura | December 26, 2014] It also will test his willingness to buck his own…
Christmas is a national holiday and has been since 1870. The holiday has a long history, not uncontroversial in its secular and religious versions. As Historian David Barton pointed out: “In colonial America, the southern regions that were more directly linked to High-Church traditions (e.g., Anglicans, Catholics, Episcopalians) celebrated Christmas; but the northern regions especially…
As soon as the new Congress is sworn in next year, the fight over Fast Track will begin. Start preparing now. [Reposted from the Campaign for America’s Future blog | Dave Johnson | December 23, 2014] David Cay Johnston, explains in “Full Speed Ahead On Secretive Trade Deal”: (Note the ‘t’ in his last name.…
It is worth examining how the process was rigged to push that budget deal through Congress over the weekend that contained Citibank-written derivative deregulation and all kinds of other goodies for the rich and powerful. That’s because the “cromnibus” formula will be formalized in the next big deal, in a process called “fast track.” [Reposted…