Senator Feinstein Says TPP Is Not For Corporate America, Critics Should ‘Take A Good Look’

Top Dem: Trade bill not for big business http://t.co/7CtcqHtoE5 pic.twitter.com/UJbzI655u6 — The Hill (@thehill) May 17, 2015

The rhetoric for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is hitting new levels of absurdity. Though all available evidence – including leaked portions – shows the TPP is a massive give away to corporate interests, the agreement is being framed by Democratic advocates as some sort of bizarre achievement for working people.

First the White House called the TPP the “most progressive trade agreement in history” and now Senator Dianne Feinstein has claimed that TPP is not for Corporate America.

Instead, Feinstein offered that small businesses will be the real beneficiaries and that critics of the measure should more closely examine the proposed agreement.

“I want to straighten one thing out, and that is that most people think this is a bill for corporate America,” Sen. Dianne Feinstein said on ABC’s “This Week.” “In California, 95 percent of the trade is carried out by companies and business of less than 500 people.”… Feinstein also said Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who’s been criticized for dodging the debate on the issue, should “take a good look” at the measure.

Aye, there’s the rub. Can we “take a good look” Senator Feinstein? The answer, of course, is no. That lack of transparency from the “most transparent administration in history” is exactly why people are skeptical about other claims. That and the history of so-called free trade agreements which, to put it lightly, is unimpressive.

But if the White House and corporate Democrats really do believe what they say about how progressive this deal is then they should be committed to showing it to the public shouldn’t they? Anytime now.