When it comes down to it, the president has a problem. No one doubts that he is wicked smart. And there's the rub when it comes to the Trans Pacific Partnership: if he was, say, Sarah Palin-level intelligence, you'd say the whoppers coming out of the White House emanate from a dope. But, if whoppers keep coming from a wicked smart man running the show, you have to say he's lying.
Secrecy is secrecy. No matter how they want to spin it. And it is having a corrosive effect on the ability of the White House to ram through the TPP because, basically, on the subject of TPP secrecy, the Democrats are calling the president a liar...in nice terms. Silver lining: this could end up killing the putrid deal.
Today's expressions of, uh, the lack of faith in the White House credibility come here:
If you want to hear the details of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal the Obama administration is hoping to pass, you’ve got to be a member of Congress, and you’ve got to go to classified briefings and leave your staff and cellphone at the door.
If you’re a member who wants to read the text, you’ve got to go to a room in the basement of the Capitol Visitor Center and be handed it one section at a time, watched over as you read, and forced to hand over any notes you make before leaving.
And no matter what, you can’t discuss the details of what you’ve read.
“It’s like being in kindergarten,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), who’s become the leader of the opposition to President Barack Obama’s trade agenda. “You give back the toys at the end.”
For those out to sink Obama’s free trade push, highlighting the lack of public information is becoming central to their opposition strategy: The White House isn’t even telling Congress what it’s asking for, they say, or what it’s already promised foreign governments.[emphasis added]
Lloyd Doggett:
“The access to information is totally at the whim of Ambassador Froman,” said Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), who’s a hard no on fast track but says he’d like to see other ways of promoting international trade. “He likes to make available information that he thinks helps his case, and if it conflicts, then he doesn’t make the information available,” Doggett said.
Doggett, like other critics, pointed out that the cover sheets of the trade documents in that basement room are marked only “confidential document” and note they’re able to be transmitted over unsecured email and fax — but for some reason are still restricted to members of Congress.
“My chief of staff who has a top secret security clearance can learn more about ISIS or Yemen than about this trade agreement,” Doggett said.
Alan Grayson:
“We know when we’re being suckered,” said Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.), who said he believes that the USTR quotes percentages instead of absolute values on trade statistics that give an overly positive impression. “It’s not only condescending, it’s misleading."[emphasis added]
And from Keith Ellison:
“He’s indignant when we say it’s secret,” said Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.). “Maybe there’s some definition of secrecy he knows that I don’t know."[emphasis added]
Truthfully,
there are much bigger lies coming from the White House on TPP, as I documented here. Even if this wasn't done in secret, TPP would be bad for the people.
But, the lying about secrecy is costing the president votes. And that's a good thing.