Obamatrade Deal

In 1994, I was completely disengaged from politics. I read the newspaper and voted but paid no attention to campaigns – until I saw a televised debate for the 1st Congressional District Republican primary on Backtalk – With Bob Waters.
A young candidate named Mark Sanford completely stood out among the 8-candidate field. I remember telling my wife, “Hey, you’ve got to see this guy running for Congress!”
Sanford was talking about things like term limits, balancing the federal budget and preserving Social Security while the other candidates sounded like business as usual. While I didn’t get involved in the campaign (still out of my comfort zone), I enthusiastically told people to vote for Mark Sanford. He beat the better-known primary opponents and handily won the general election.
During the next two election cycles, Rep. Sanford didn’t even draw Democrat opposition. He was a strong advocate for allowing people to opt for personal Social Security accounts and create wealth and teamed with other Republicans from the Class of ’94 to balance the federal budget for the first time in decades.
True to his word, Sanford only served 3 terms in the House. I can remember seeing him at a Riverdogs game in 1999 and asking him if he would consider running for Governor. To my delight, he decided to run in 2002 and defeated incumbent Gov. Jim Hodges. I enthusiastically joined his campaign.
Now back in Congress after winning a special election in 2013, he has voted consistently on the side of the taxpayers. He serves on the House Budget Committee and wants to push colleagues to move toward a balanced budget. He is also among the 70 co-sponsors for the FairTax Act (HR-25), which would eliminate the income tax.
I disagreed with Rep. Sanford’s vote to re-elect John Boehner as House Speaker. He explained his vote, and I accepted his reasoning. Now I disagree with him on voting to give President Obama authorization to negotiate a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement with 10 other countries.
TPP, also known as ObamaTrade, is a secretive process. In order to learn the details, members of Congress have had to check into a classified reading room and sign a non-disclosure agreement to not discuss it with anyone. They can’t bring notes on the trade agreement out of the reading room.
Looking back to a previous multi-national trade agreement, the North American Free Trade Alliance (NAFTA), I predict ObamaTrade will be a terrible deal for America. When NAFTA was enacted in 1993, America had trade surpluses with Canada and Mexico. Now we run $130 Billion annual combined trade deficits with our North American neighbors. The Economic Policy Institute estimates that NAFTA caused the loss of 3.5 Million American jobs.
Americans For Limited Government has garnered some details on ObamaTrade and projects that it would allow foreign-owned companies operating in America to avoid our financial and environmental laws. It also reports that American companies would be at the whim of a foreign tribunal if other countries violate the terms of TPP.
Rep. Jeff Duncan from our 3rd Congressional District in the Upstate is among the few Republicans opposing ObamaTrade. “I don’t trust Washington to get this right,” Duncan writes. Conservative Oklahoma Congressman Jim Bridenstine told Breitbart.com, “Every time this President negotiates with foreign governments, it ends up being a bad deal.”
I support the concept of free trade and expanding access for American products in foreign markets. ObamaTrade is too big and too complex to fully understand. And like the Affordable Care Act, Congress will have to pass it to find out what is in it. It also appears to contain provisions which have nothing to do with trade, such as restrictions on CO2 emissions and relaxed immigration policy.
Presidential candidates Donald Trump, Gov. Mike Huckabee, Gov. Rick Perry and Sen. Rand Paul have all come out in opposition to ObamaTrade. I hope they can use the national stage to prevent its passage. I also hope Rep. Mark Sanford and both of our U.S. Senators will vote against the final version of TPP..
John Steinberger is the former chairman of the Charleston County Republican Party, a leading Fair Tax advocate, and a West Ashley resident. He can be reached at John.steinberger@scfairtax.org.