Test for the Tea Party!

   EP link today to 'Economy In Crisis' article (Dustin Ensinger, 16 August 2011) cites to The Hill about that Reps. Dennis Kucinich (OH) and Mike Michaud (ME) are trying to make sure lawmakers know that the proposed South Korea trade deal - notoriously supported both by Obama and by GOP's John Boehner - will result in the loss of tens of thousands of American jobs.

   If Kucinich and Michaud are successful in rallying fellow Democrats and if the Tea Party shows that it is other than the same old bought-out GOP by getting square with the American people about trade issues, maybe another disastrous 'free' trade deal can be halted in the current Congress.

   If that happens, we will be able to upgrade our estimate of the IQ (Integrity Quotient) of the Tea Party faction of the GOP significantly. We will also be able to do the same for progressive Democrats in the House.

   Forget the labels, we need to track our congress critturs individually and vote accordingly in November 2012! Call now and let them know. Write your local opinion section. Congress thinks that nobody is watching them, now they've put on their great show over the budget. Are they Americans, or are they mice?

“As the U.S. continues to struggle and recover from the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, it is unconscionable that we would consider passing an FTA that puts the rights of investors and multinational corporations over the rights of American workers,” the lawmakers wrote Monday in a letter to House colleagues.

According to the Economic Policy Institute’s estimates, in the first seven years of the agreement, it could cost as many as 159,000 American jobs and increase the trade deficit by $16.7 billion.

The trade deal, much like previous bilateral trade deals signed by the U.S., will also slowly sap American sovereignty.

http://www.economyincrisis.org/content/house-dems-lobbying-colleagues-kill-korean-fta