TPP Bans Buy American and Buy Local

The Trans-Pacific Partnership Could Ban "Buy American" and 

"Buy Local" Procurement Preferences

From the workers who manufacture the materials to upgrade America’s bridges and highways to those who build the cars driven by our government officials, Buy American creates U.S. jobs by recycling U.S. tax dollars back into our economy. Buy American policies require that most federal government purchases of goods go to American firms, unless a product is not made here or the U.S. product is much more expensive. Buy American is supported by four out of five U.S. voters – Republicans, Democrats and independents alike.

But Buy American would be gutted, and American jobs lost, under TPP rules requiring “national treatment” in government procurement. To implement this TPP requirement, the United States would agree to waive “Buy American” procurement policies for all firms operating in TPP countries, offshoring our tax dollars to create jobs abroad.

Some corporate TPP proponents argue that these rules would be good for the United States because they would allow U.S. firms to bid on procurement contracts in TPP countries on equal footing. The notion that this is a good trade-off for waiving Buy American preferences on U.S. procurement is ridiculous. The U.S. federal procurement market is larger than the combined national procurement markets of all other TPP negotiating parties. Even more, U.S. firms already have equal procurement access in most TPP countries under existing deals. Counting only TPP countries in which this is not true, the U.S. federal procurement market is more than 14 times the size of the total “new” TPP procurement market.

TPP Bans Buy American and  Buy Local
http://www.exposethetpp.org/TPPImpacts_BuyLocal.html

Political Girls and Guys Like Me

Political girls and guys like me are somewhere and everywhere in the USA. We know we have the right to vote. The right to freedom of expression and religion. We know we are the greatest country in the world because, we are America.

Lately politics has become more about what freedoms we don't have any more instead of the rights to enjoy the freedom we do have. Violence in horrific situations is up. Terrorists are threatening our world with their extremist views both domestic and foreign terrorists are making their statements by killing, maiming and horrifying innocent civilians, innocent Americans who just want to live their lives, make their families safe and secure and find a way to enjoy all that we have.

It's easy to say everyone has the right to freedom of speech. It's easy to say the government should not be invading our privacy. It's easy to say just get rid of the extremists and trouble makers. But it isn't really that easy to do. Bad guys do not identify themselves as bad guys. They disguise themselves as any guys. They infiltrate our lives, schools, politics and playgrounds. They may or may not be American citizens. Those who are innocent and would never do harm protest they have the right to be protected by the government. Yet at the same time so many are angry because they don't want the government tapping into their social media, their phone calls, surveillance cameras in the streets. I guess what I'm trying to say is, how do you want those who are determined to protect us to find the bad guys if you don't allow them these abilities? 

Since I'm not guilty of anything and don't expect they really care about my everyday, very ordinary life, I don't really care if Big Brother is watching me, but I do care that they are watching for the bad guys who will kill innocent people. Who will inflict their extremist hostile views on children, students, teachers, movie goers, marathon runners and everyone else who does not subscribe to their religions, beliefs, mentally unbalanced way of thinking and viewing the world.

With our economy in the tank, really our money today is worth barely nothing, even the banks won't give you much interest on your money, real estate used to be worth gold. To live in, to afford, to sell someday and make a wonderful profit. Not any more. It is now, more important than ever before I think, to get involved in what is going on around you. Get involved by watching political debates. Read the newspapers. Watch the news channels. Go to a rally and listen to what people are saying.

Check your sources. Know where the info is coming from. There are a lot of bogus Facebook pages out there calling themselves news sources. Check your facts and those you read. See what is going on.

Listen with your ears, your mind, your freedom of American citizenship, not with your pre-determined Republican or Democrat same old, same old.

That's what this little blog in the great big world is all about. I'm listening. I'm learning. I'm using the every day to hopefully help shape a better day. I'm just a citizen in America, maybe just like you. Working hard. Trying to save a buck. I would rather watch TV, work on my laptop or iPad than worry about the safety of my children, my money, my freedom of speech. But every one of us everyday political girls and guys make a difference and deserve to know how to do that.