The
Michigan primary results on Tuesday signal a quantum shift in GOP voter attitudes
on “free trade” policies that have served corporate crony agendas leaving the
American people behind.
That’s
not just analysis, it is fact based upon a just released Americans for Limited
Government survey conducted by independent pollster Patrick Caddell. The
stunning results of the Caddell study showed that GOP voters reject the global
trade agenda at an even higher rate than Democrat voters, throwing conventional
wisdom on its ear.
The
ramifications for President Obama’s ill-conceived Trans-Pacific Partnership
(TPP) could not be more ominous. When asked in an informed question about
whether the TPP should be passed in a lame duck Congress, Republican voters
oppose it by a 66 to15 margin, far outstripping Democrat or Independent
opposition.
This
represents a quantum shift in anticipated political party attitudes on an issue
where Republican members of Congress could be counted upon to salute in almost
lock-step in favor of any legislation labeled “free trade.”
The
conversion point for Republican voters comes from a strong sense that the
system is rigged against them in favor of the corporate cronies who manipulate
the law to benefit themselves at the expense of everyone else.
Caddell
found that GOP voters view the results of the free trade agreements over the
past two decades serve as the primary indictment against any new agreement with
a 59 percent saying that previous deals were “more of a benefit to other
countries”, and a startlingly low 4 percent agreeing that free trade deals have
been “more of a benefit to the U.S.” and only 14 percent who said they were
“equally beneficial to all.”
The
economic facts over the past two decades bear out GOP voters dismissal of the
notion that trade deals help the United States. The year 2000 was the
last year that the U.S. economy grew at 4 percent or above, and not
coincidentally, the same year the U.S. granted China permanent normal trade
relations.
What
makes the current skepticism even more acute is the fact that the U.S. economy
has not even grown at a 3 percent level since 2005, and the past ten years have
had the worst level of GDP growth since the Great Depression as labor
participation among working age adults has collapsed.
When
asked in an informed question about whether Congress should pass the
Trans-Pacific Partnership in a lame duck session as has been proposed by Senate
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, GOP voters answer with a resounding no,
opposing passage of the deal by a 66 to 15 percent margin.
Republican
power brokers, consultants and elites have been confounded by the utter
rejection of every presidential candidate who has chosen to take on their
mantle in this election season with Marco Rubio’s last place finishes in both
Michigan and Mississippi providing the latest evidence. Caddell finds
that GOP voters flat out don’t trust their leaders to look out for the national
or their own individual interests with 85 percent agreeing with the statement
that, “political leaders are more interested in protecting their power and
privilege than doing what is right for the American people.”
This
stark wake-up call for GOP leadership is devastating, but it is survivable if
they are willing to take stands that demonstrate that they are fighting to
restore America.
In
this regard, the GOP Senate’s decision to stand firm against allowing President
Obama to fundamentally change the make-up of the Supreme Court rather than
relying upon a vote of the people to make that decision is a great first step.
Every
Republican candidate for President and Congress, should forcefully reject the
notion of passing Obama’s Trans-Pacific Partnership with a particular disdain
for bringing it up in a lame duck when many of their colleagues will be looking
for their next jobs rather than looking out for the interests of the American
people.
By
rejecting the status quo trade agenda of the D.C. elites, Congress will show
the independence that their political base is looking for, reconnecting by
taking a stand against those who are pulling the strings with no regard for the
plight of Americans or America itself.
It is
no secret that Republican voters are in outright revolt, they are tired of
their prosperity being traded away and their children’s futures being
diminished as our nation’s wealth gets transferred around the world to benefit
corporate cronies with the pull to gain favor, and nation’s that don’t like us
very much.
They
have caught on to the big lie that these trade agreements benefit them or
America, and now it is time for GOP leaders to follow them and reject the
Trans-Pacific Partnership, the latest in a long line of bad trade deals.
Richard Manning is president of Americans for
Limited Government. Follow Americans for Limited Government on Twitter@LimitGovt,
find them on Facebook and visit their website.
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2016/03/10/why-republican-voters-are-in-revolt-over-corporate-crony-trade-deals.html
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