MORE FROM HUFFPOST
MORE FROM HUFFPOST
Sandy Levin
The May 10th Agreement struck the right balance between the need to promote innovation and the need to protect public health. TPP must meet the standards set in the May 10th Agreement. Right now, it does not.
I have deep concern -- and some dismay -- when the president says that "we are just wrong," or we are "satisfied with the status quo," or worse, we are "making this stuff up" when we express concerns about the status of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade negotiations.
Repealing the estate tax isn't just a boon for the 5,500 wealthiest Americans; it is a bust to federal taxpayers, who would be on the hook for its quarter-of-a-trillion-dollars cost. And it gets worse: Combined with other tax bills approved by House Republicans so far this year, our debt would grow by $584 billion to finance tax cuts for the wealthy.
WHAT'S HAPPENING
WHAT'S HAPPENING
Republicans feared that trying to pay for their tax cuts by shifting to the highly uncertain dynamic scoring may not be enough. So they are further trying to rig the system with baseline games and make permanent tax provisions outside tax reform.
The IMF Guidelines demonstrate that the United States is not manipulating its currency and would not be at risk of losing a dispute. The far greater risk is that more middle class jobs will be lost in the United States as a result of foreign governments' currency manipulation. We need strong and enforceable disciplines in TPP to help prevent that from happening.
The major reversal from deep decline to economic growth occurred despite Republican opposition to President Obama's proposals, repeated GOP threats to default on our debt obligations, and an incredibly harmful 16-day government shutdown. And not only have Republicans stood in the way of Democratic policies, but they're now attempting to take credit for the recovery itself.
Americans want quality, affordable health insurance and have found it within the Affordable Care Act. Indeed, new enrollment numbers offer the firmest evidence yet that the health care law is working.
