In the State of the Union speech on Tuesday, President Obama is expected to tout his plans to combat growing U.S. inequality. But at the same time, he is pushing measures that would only make inequality worse.
Obama is trying to fast-track the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a massive trade pact with 11 Asian and Latin American nations, through Congress.
Data from 20 years of NAFTA and subsequent deals show us that these pacts send good-paying jobs elsewhere and depress wages in the jobs that remain.
The president wants Congress to grant him fast-track trade authority so he can sign the TPP before Congress even gets to vote, then railroad the pact through the legislative branch with limited debate and no amendments.
We cannot afford to let the American dream slip away along with the jobs that would be lost through the TPP.
