Elizabeth Warren Against Obama’s Trade Deal
May 24, 2015
Senator Elizabeth Warren and President Barack Obama have found themselves in an argument over the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Obama plans on making a trade deal involving 11 other nations across the Pacific; however, the details of the deal have not been officially released and many are suspicious of the exploitation of workers overseas. Elizabeth Warren leads the opposition, with much of the Democratic party following behind her.
Previous trade deals give Warren some ideas on what this trade deal could include. Warren made a report mentioning that of the 20 countries the U.S. currently has trade agreements with, 11 have documented reliance on child labor, forced labor, or other human rights abuses. Zach Carter of the Huffington Post details that, “Since Obama finalized a labor action plan with the government of Colombia in 2011, 105 union activists have been murdered. Obama called the Colombian deal ‘a win-win for workers’ at the time.” According to Warren, Obama and his administration appear to be involved in a questionable business that has and may again exploit and harm workers for the outsourcing of jobs.
Obama, angered by these accusations, has called out the senator. He has deemed her points as false, and his administration claims that they are trying to alleviate the nations’ poor working conditions and discourage labor violations. Warren still remains actively against this deal. Her current ideas and work present a fiery image for a possible campaign for the 2016 presidential election.