Michael Froman, USTR and chief pusher of the TPP is a Liar. Lie, after lie after lie

Don't for one second fall for any puff pieces about him.

On Tuesday, President Obama's appointee went to the normally off the record weekly meeting between liberal leaders and administration officials and told one lie after another.

5 folks took notes and shared:

Big fat whopper #1:

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"As a candidate for president, then-Senator Obama said he would renegotiate NAFTA, put labor and environmental standards at the core of trade agreements and make those standards enforceable like any commercial commitment," Froman said at CAP. “That’s exactly what we’re doing in TPP."

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Big fat whopper #2:

Froman attempted to quell critics by explaining on Tuesday that organized labor had been given more access to trade documents and staff briefings than other special interests -- a contention one meeting participant told HuffPost is "just downright silly."

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"When you go on a charm offensive, it's probably not helpful to tell the targets of your seduction a bunch of lies, that if they knew better, they'd agree with you, and any time they call you on your lies, they're being hostile," said one attendant.

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Froman's most concrete offering to the progressive community of late is a new Public Interest Trade Advisory Committee, which would give liberal nonprofit groups privileged access to further briefings and negotiation documents, which they would be barred from sharing with other groups or the public. Hundreds of corporations and a handful of nonprofit groups already have this access through the administration's Industry Trade Advisory Committees.


But representatives of some groups believe Froman's panel will result in little policy-making leverage. Indeed, the idea for a dedicated nonprofit committee was initially put forward by corporate interests, which presented it as an alternative to including progressive groups on the existing committees. Business groups worried that including nonprofit organizations would dilute the influence of corporate interests.

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Several groups, including the Sierra Club, according to sources, declined to be a part of Froman's new committee, dealing a further blow to administration efforts to include liberals

UPDATE: An additional meeting participant, who like the others requested anonymity, wrote in to provide more color. "You missed my favorite Froman quote that night when he told us that based on our logic that we should all go home and just throw away our computers and get rid of automation," he said. "To say that he did profound damage would be an understatement when you now have progressive groups that weren't tracking this or engaged now asking what they can do to fight it - all because of his demeanor and performance." The story was also updated to include USTR's comment.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/20/michael-froman-democrats_n_4820363.html