General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsMultiple polls show that majority of Americans are against NAFTA-type "free trade" deals
Suppose someone -- some oily individual who wanted you to submissively cave in and not petition your representatives to oppose the Obama/GOP TPP deal-- in the course of their propaganda attempts, cited to you a poll that showed the majority of Americans believed that "trade with other nations is good". That is, this person or persons cited to you a poll showing that Americans believe that the pure ideal of buying and selling of goods between nations -- international commerce -- is a good thing.
Would it then necessarily follow that that same polled majority also approved of today's "free trade" deals (i.e. NAFTA, CAFTA, KORUS, now TPP) -- corporate-written and sponsored deals which have little to do with the pure ideal of the buying and selling of goods between nations and more to do with simply relocating US manufacturing overseas?
Absolutely not:
[div class="excerpt"']
https://www.citizen.org/documents/memo-us-polling-shows-nafta-style-trade-deals.pdf
U.S. Polling Shows NAFTA-style Trade Deals Becoming Even More Unpopular
Recent polling indicates that American public opinion over the past few years has intensified from broad opposition to overwhelming opposition to NAFTA-style trade deals.
In 2011, for the first time in history, a majority of Americans believed that China not the U.S. is the worlds leading economic power. That belief held firm in 2012, with China outweighing the U.S. by a full twenty percentage points as the recognized economic leader (53% vs. 33%). Eighty percent of Americans in 2011 believed that the global economy has a great or a fair amount of influence on the way things are going in America, while 63 percent believed that Americas ability to compete economically is less than good.
How did this come to pass? Polls have consistently shown that Americans believe our trade policy plays a major role in putting our workers behind. In January 2011, most Americans said they believed that the trend towards a global economy was a bad thing for the country, compared with 60 percent who said it was a good thing in 2001.
Trade deals modeled on the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) have become particularly unpopular. A May 2012 Angus Reid Public Opinion poll found that U.S. respondents who believe that the country should renegotiate or leave NAFTA outnumbered by nearly 4-to-1 those that say the U.S. should continue to be a member of NAFTA (53% vs. 15%). Support for the leave or renegotiate positions dominated among Republicans, Independents, and Democrats alike. Underscoring this anti-NAFTA sentiment was the finding that just 1 in 3 U.S. respondents thought that NAFTA benefitted the overall U.S. economy, and only 1 in 4 saw the pact as having benefitted U.S. workers.
Given such results, it is not surprising that the NAFTA-style free trade agreements (FTAs) passed by Congress in 2011 with Korea, Panama, and Colombia bring political liability. Immediately after passage, a plurality of U.S. voters expressed opposition to the FTAs in an October 2011 National Journal survey, with Republicans and Democrats showing equivalent levels of opposition. Republicans without a college education opposed the FTAs by a nearly 2-to-1 margin. Women also expressed especially high opposition in an election cycle where the presidential candidates have devoted special effort to luring women voters.
This poll was conducted in 2011, you ask? Ok, how about something even more recent, like last year: http://www.ibtimes.com/trans-pacific-partnership-tpp-poll-only-strongest-obama-supporters-want-him-have-fast-track-1552039
Erich Bloodaxe BSN
(14,733 posts)He had an OP up somewhere this morning claiming that polls show most Americans like free trade deals, and think they've 'helped' their families.
underthematrix
(5,811 posts)showing the majority of Americans can identity the three branches of US govt
pampango
(24,692 posts)the idea." (From your second link.)
Polls show that most of the opposition to fast track and TPP come from republicans, particularly from the most conservative wing of their party. Tea partiers have a name for it: Obamatrade.
On the issue of trade agreements, divisions within the Republican Party are again apparent. Staunch Conservatives are strongly opposed to granting the president fast-track authority: 76% oppose, only 22% favor. Moderate Republicans and Populist Republicans also oppose this proposal; however, their opposition is more muted. Among Moderate Republicans, 53% oppose, 43% favor; among Populists, 57% oppose, 35% favor.
Democratic groups are more united on this issue. Roughly 50% of Liberals, Socially Conservative Democrats and Partisan Poor favor fast track.
http://www.people-press.org/1999/11/11/section-6-issues/
brentspeak
(18,290 posts)Nominally "non-partisan" think tank; in practice, issues chop-shop paid for by groups and individuals pimping trade liberalization scams.
Bruce Stokes is Pew's carefully chosen tool to come up with the phony polls showing alleged Democratic "support" for TPP.
Get ready for more info on Bruce Stokes...
pampango
(24,692 posts)"both conservative and moderate republicans oppose it by a ratio of 85 percent or higher." Again that comes from the link you provided.
Bruce Stokes is Pew's carefully chosen tool to come up with the phony polls showing alleged Democratic "support" for TPP.
Can't argue with logic like that. Don't like the results of their polls? Call them an "issues chop-shop" that publishes whatever poll results you pay for. Proof? Don't need it. A good ol' accusation should suffice.
Why don't "they" pay Bruce Stokes to show alleged republican support for TPP? Or does Pew have a different "tool" in charge of coming up with phony polls showing republican support for TPP. That "tool" had better get busy. No polls, from Pew or anywhere else, show much republican support.
At least know we know that poll results we don't agree with must be bought and paid for. That does make life simpler. Thanks.
HooptieWagon
(17,064 posts)...they wouldn't need paid shills to propagandize them.
valerief
(53,235 posts)SoapBox
(18,791 posts)That is all.
Response to brentspeak (Original post)
Rex This message was self-deleted by its author.