Media Reports from the Convention Floor:
Russ Feingold knocks TPP in speech to Wisconsin unions
JESSIE OPOIEN, The Capital Times
Democratic former Sen. Russ Feingold railed against trade deals like NAFTA and the Trans-Pacific Partnership to labor union members on Monday, pledging to oppose “lousy, unfair” deals if re-elected.
Feingold’s speech at the Wisconsin AFL-CIO’s biennial convention in downtown Madison centered on trade as he drew a contrast between himself and Republican Sen. Ron Johnson, who has not said whether he supports or opposes the TPP.
Johnson, who voted to give the president fast-track authority on trade deal negotiations, has supported such deals in the past. His campaign accused Feingold of making a snap decision, arguing Johnson is taking time to consider the text of the deal and opinions of his constituents.
Johnson confirmed in July he doesn’t plan to share his stance until he takes a vote on the deal. Feingold came out against it in May 2015.
Johnson’s campaign argued there are major differences between the draft that was available when Feingold came out against the TPP and the final version made public in November.
“Sen. Feingold is a career politician who has never created a job, and now he’s jumping to conclusions based on incomplete information — without allowing anyone to give him input on the thousands of pages of the complex deal,” said Johnson spokesman Brian Reisinger. “Ron is a manufacturer who is doing the hard work of putting facts before politics. That’s why he based his ongoing review on the final version and has been talking with Wisconsin families, farmers, small businesses and all others concerned with how this deal would affect Wisconsin workers.”
Feingold didn’t hold back on Monday, calling agreements like NAFTA and the TPP “corporate handshakes” that send workers into a “dark spiral” of job insecurity and job loss.
“In my view, it doesn’t matter if it’s a Democrat president or a Republican president. If they want to shove through one of these deals, I’m going to oppose it if it’s another corporate handshake,” Feingold said.
The deals, he said, have been “a tragedy and … a betrayal to the people of the state of Wisconsin,” telling union members they know “better than anybody the violence that is done by these trade deals.”
The former senator quipped the only good thing he could say about the TPP is “you might have more choices” at the store.
“I would prefer not having 15 choices of golf clubs — I would prefer having a job,” he argued.
Feingold also praised pay equity legislation and paid family medical leave, and lauded a recent court decision lifting restrictions on early voting. He also spoke in favor of Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s proposal to allow refinancing of student loans — an issue he said leads to the “denial of the American dream.”
Original article at The Capitol Times
