We must not be bystanders when darkness descends

 Rabbi Jeffrey Myers, right, of Tree of Life/Or L'Simcha Congregation hugs Rabbi Cheryl Klein, left, of Dor Hadash Congregation and Rabbi Jonathan Perlman during a community gathering held in the aftermath of a deadly shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh on Sunday. |(AP Photo/Matt Rourke
By Jesse Jackson          10/29/2018
These are dark times.
Thirteen pipe bombs were sent to two former presidents and other political and cultural leaders. In Kentucky, a white man shot and killed two elderly African-Americans at random in a Kroger grocery store, after failing to force his way into a black church. In Pittsburgh, in what is believed to be the deadliest attack on the Jewish community in U.S. history, a gunman walked into the Tree of Life synagogue and massacred 11 during Sabbath services.

What time is it? In Isaiah, chapter 21, verse 11-12, the watchman in his tower is asked: “Watchman, what from the night?” The inquiry comes from an occupier and oppressor of the Israelites. The watchman replies: “The morning cometh, and also the night.”

What time is it?  Is it dusk moving toward midnight, or dawn moving to the day? We are not bystanders in this drama. It will not be an act of nature that decides, nor a matter of fate.

What is clear is that seeds of violence have been strewn across this country. Hatreds that lay fallow have been roused. Divisions have been sharpened.

Rain comes from the top, never bottom up. The president rouses fears of an invasion of an alien caravan coming this way. He invents the claim that terrorists have infiltrated the caravan. He lies that Democrats are to blame for not fixing our laws, although he torpedoed a bipartisan reform bill.

 He ignores the fact that these are people seeking asylum, who will gain entry only after their applications are reviewed and accepted. His appeals to fear are echoed and augmented by allies for partisan purpose.

Their cynicism is clear. “It doesn’t matter if it’s 100 percent accurate. This is the play,” an administration official told the Daily Beast.

Furious, the murderer in Pittsburgh, who raged about a Jewish humanitarian group that helps resettle immigrants in America, arms himself with an assault rifle and three handguns and assaults the synagogue. The president says the answer is to arm synagogues and churches and schools.

Sowing division is not an accident; it is a strategy. President Barack Obama attacked as illegitimate with the lie about his birth certificate. Neo-Nazi rioters in Charlottesville, Va. — chanting “Jews will not replace us” — praised as including some “fine people.” The American media assailed as “the true enemy of the people,” the claim of “fake news” used to discredit reporting on the inventions and lies of the president. Political opponents slandered before mass audiences. What Teddy Roosevelt called the “bully pulpit” — meaning wonderful pulpit — taken over by a bully.

What time is it? The seeds of anger and hate are blowing in the wind. No wall, no boundary, no law can contain them. What we do know, as the Bible teaches, is that we will reap what we sow.

In this darkness, are we moving toward midnight or towards the dawn? We can decide. The arc of the universe, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. taught, is long but it moves towards justice, but only if we bend it that way.

This is the test of leadership. It is now that leaders must appeal to the better angels of our nature. It is now that leaders must bring us together and remind us of our common bonds.

Clearly, as president, Trump has neither the intention nor the capacity to do that. He has profited from division and has no reason to change course.

This is a time for others to lead, for citizens to act to bring us together. Captive in Egypt, Israelis were asked to make brick without straw, a cruel impossibility. Under slavery and segregation, blacks were asked to embrace democracy without the vote, a cruel impossibility.

Now, however, we can vote. We can speak. We can act.  We can choose to build walls or to build bridges with our voices, our votes and our marching feet.

Today we feel the darkness, the hard cold of hatred and division.

Will we be a thermometer and simply record this environment or act like a thermostat and alter these conditions? Will we choose to descend further toward midnight, or choose to force the dawn?

Ultimately, we will decide, by what we do and what we choose not to do, by how we vote or whether we choose not to vote, by whether we come together or whether we allow our fears to drive us apart.

Now is the time to act.

Pipe bomb suspect: Cesar Sayoc, Jr. in custody for allegedly sending suspicious packages

Mail bomb suspect has a criminal history and had worked as a bouncer in strip clubs, according to his cousin. 
By Pete Williams,    Rich Schapiro,    Adiel Kaplan and
 Corky Siemaszko        Oct. 26, 2018 
A Florida man with a right wing bent and a troubled past was identified Friday as the suspect who sent more than a dozen pipe bomb packages to prominent critics of President Donald Trump, officials said.

DNA evidence played a role in the arrest of 56-year-old Cesar Sayoc Jr., whose past criminal history includes an arrest for making a bomb threat — and who, according to a cousin, worked as both an exotic dancer and bouncer in a number of strip clubs."In line with our policies, as our community standards explain, we do not allow praise or support for horrendous acts like these. We also do not allow the suspect to maintain a presence on our site, so we’ve removed his account," the spokesperson said.

Sayoc has a criminal record in Florida and was arrested in 2002 for making a bomb threat, according to Miami-Dade County court records. He pleaded guilty. There were also two arrests, one in 1992 and the other in 2014, for petit theft.
In the latter theft case, Sayoc tried to walk out of a Walmart with a shopping cart filled with $239 worth of merchandise, according to an arrest affidavit.

A year later, Sayoc was convicted in 2015 of stealing a heavy rolling briefcase and a garment bag from Walmart worth $58.
Sayoc also had a misdemeanor arrest on his record in North Carolina, where he was charged in 1999 for possession of stolen car, records show. And in 1995, he was charged in Minnesota with theft and possession of crack cocaine.

The 2002 mug shot of Cesar Sayoc when he made a bomb threat in Miami.Miami-Dade Police Department 
The suspect also appeared to have money troubles. Records revealed he had a property foreclosed on in 2009 and filed for bankruptcy in 2012. At the time, he was living with his mother and employed as a store manager, records show. But of late, Sayoc had been living in his van and showering at the gym where he works out, a Florida-based cousin who asked not to be identified told NBC News.
In addition to North Carolina, where Sayoc played soccer for the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in 1983, records show that he also lived for a time in New Jersey, Michigan, and Brooklyn, New York.

On Facebook, Sayoc also claimed to be a booking agent with Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. A spokesperson for the tribe told NBC News that Sayoc was not a member and had never been employed at the casino.
On his LinkedIn page, Sayoc listed himself as Cesar Altieri and claimed to have worked for Chippendales. After word of this leaked out, the male striptease dance troupe quickly issued a statement declaring that Sayoc "has never been affiliated in any way with Chippendale USA, LLC."
Sayoc grew up in North Miami Beach with his two sisters and was thrown out of his house as a teenager, his cousin said. The cousin described him as a "loose cannon" and a "lost soul" who was estranged from his family and had been abusing steroids.

Cesar Sayoc at a Donald Trump rally.via Facebook 
"He's been in the strip clubs since he was 22, that was his life," the cousin said. "He was a male dancer and he wanted to be a wrestler. He was taking steroids. He was all buffed up....He was built like a rock."
Another cousin, who lives in another state, told NBC News she was stunned by Sayoc's arrest.
"Oh my God," the woman, who also asked not to be identified, said. "He's always been a very nice, thoughtful person. I don't know anything about this. It's shocking."
The cousin said she hadn't seen Sayoc for two decades but that he called her recently after her father died.
"It was mostly just small talk," she said. "How's your family, that kind of thing. I don't really know that much about him. We have a very big family."
The dramatic development came on the same day that four new suspicious packages were found, according to law enforcement. One was addressed to Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ). Another was sent to James Clapper, former director of national intelligence. The others were addressed to Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., and California billionaire, philanthropist and liberal activist Tom Steyer.
Brandy Zadrozny, Donna Mendell, Courtney McGee, Ken Dilanian and Hannah Rappleye contributed. 

Judge denies Bill Cosby's bid for new trial

NBC News              Oct 23rd 2018 
A Pennsylvania judge on Tuesday denied Bill Cosby's bid for a new trial and reduced sentence, stemming from the disgraced comic icon's conviction for sexual assault.

Cosby's defense had asked Montgomery County Judge Steven O'Neill for a do-over, arguing that evidence against the once-beloved comedian was old and unreliable and shouldn't have been allowed at trial.

The defense also argued that Cosby's sentence was unnecessarily harsh, at more than twice minimum guidelines.

But O'Neill, in a simple one-page ruling, said he found no reason to grant a new trial or lessen the sentence.

Cosby was ordered to spend between three years to 10 years in prison for drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand at the actor's home in suburban Philadelphia in 2004. At the time, Constand was a women's basketball administrator at Cosby's alma mater Temple University.

Cosby, 81, is best known for playing wholesome dad Dr. Cliff Huxtable on NBC's "Cosby Show" from 1984 to 1992. Constand is one of dozens of women who have accused Cosby of sexual misconduct.

He's now locked up inside a state prison in Collegeville, about 30 miles northwest of Philadelphia.

Joe Biden does not want Democrats to impeach Trump

NBC News         ADAM EDELMAN          Oct 18th 2018 
Former Vice President Joe Biden cautioned Democrats about pushing impeachment against President Donald Trump if they win back the House in November.

"I hope they don't. I don't think there's a basis for doing that right now," Biden told CBS “This Morning.”

“I think we should wait until the report comes out,” he added, referring to the report being assembled by the team of special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election.

He urged Democrats to focus, instead, on “all the terrible things that are happening now in terms of interest of the middle-class people and working-class people.”

"There are so many things to attend to immediately. Let's see where the investigation takes us," Biden said.

Biden, in a wide-ranging interview, also talked about voter suppression and weighed in on Trump’s response to the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

He said "absolutely, positively, without question" voter suppression was occurring in the U.S. and said Trump “seems to have a love affair with autocrats.”

Trump said Monday that the leader of Saudi Arabia had denied any knowledge of the whereabouts of missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Khashoggi has not been seen since visiting the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, on Oct. 2.

Mueller Ready to Deliver Key Findings in His Trump Probe, Sources Say

By Chris Strohm , Greg Farrell , and Shannon Pettypiece
© J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo Special counsel Robert Mueller's work isn't expected to be completed before the midterms. 
Special Counsel Robert Mueller is expected to issue findings on core aspects of his Russia probe soon after the November midterm elections as he faces intensifying pressure to produce more indictments or shut down his investigation, according to two U.S. officials.

Specifically, Mueller is close to rendering judgment on two of the most explosive aspects of his inquiry: whether there were clear incidents of collusion between Russia and Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign, and whether the president took any actions that constitute obstruction of justice, according to one of the officials, who asked not to be identified speaking about the investigation.

That doesn’t necessarily mean Mueller’s findings would be made public if he doesn’t secure unsealed indictments. The regulations governing Mueller’s probe stipulate that he can present his findings only to his boss, who is currently Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. The regulations give a special counsel’s supervisor some discretion in deciding what is relayed to Congress and what is publicly released.

The question of timing is critical. Mueller’s work won’t be concluded ahead of the Nov. 6 midterm elections, when Democrats hope to take control of the House and end Trump’s one-party hold on Washington. But this timeline also raises questions about the future of the probe itself. Trump has signaled he may replace Attorney General Jeff Sessions after the election, a move that could bring in a new boss for Mueller. Rosenstein also might resign or be fired by Trump after the election.

Rosenstein has made it clear that he wants Mueller to wrap up the investigation as expeditiously as possible, another U.S. official said. The officials gave no indications about the details of Mueller’s conclusions. Mueller’s office declined to comment for this story.

Pre-Election Lull

With three weeks to go before the midterm elections, it’s unlikely Mueller will take any overt action that could be turned into a campaign issue. Justice Department guidelines say prosecutors should avoid any major steps close to an election that could be seen as influencing the outcome.

That suggests the days and weeks immediately after the Nov. 6 election may be the most pivotal time since Mueller took over the Russia investigation almost a year and a half ago. So far, Mueller has secured more than two dozen indictments or guilty pleas.

Trump’s frustration with the probe, which he routinely derides as a “witch hunt,” has been growing, prompting concerns he may try to shut down or curtail Mueller’s work at some point.

There’s no indication, though, that Mueller is ready to close up shop, even if he does make some findings, according to former federal prosecutors. Several matters could keep the probe going, such as another significant prosecution or new lines of inquiry. And because Mueller’s investigation has been proceeding quietly, out of the public eye, it’s possible there have been other major developments behind the scenes.

Mueller only recently submitted written questions to Trump’s lawyers regarding potential collusion with Russia, and his team hasn’t yet ruled out seeking an interview with the president, according to one of the U.S. officials. If Trump refused an interview request, Mueller could face the complicated question of whether to seek a grand jury subpoena of the president. The Justice Department has a standing policy that a sitting president can’t be indicted.

At the same time, Mueller is tying down some loose ends. Four of his 17 prosecutors have left the special counsel’s office in recent months. Three are going back to their previous Justice Department jobs, and the fourth has become a research fellow at Columbia Law School.

After several postponements, Mueller’s team has agreed to a sentencing date for Michael Flynn, Trump’s former national security adviser, who pleaded guilty to one count of making false statements last year. The Dec. 18 date comes more than a year after Mueller secured a cooperation deal with Flynn, suggesting that Mueller’s team has all it needs from him.

Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, struck his own cooperation agreement with Mueller last month, after being convicted at trial in Virginia on eight counts of bank fraud, filing false tax returns and failure to file a foreign bank account. The plea agreement let him avoid a second trial in Washington. The judge in the Virginia trial, who wasn’t part of the plea agreement, has scheduled a sentencing hearing Friday, which could complicate Manafort’s cooperation agreement with Mueller.

Mueller’s prosecutors also have met with Michael Cohen, Trump’s former personal lawyer. Cohen pleaded guilty in New York in August to tax evasion, bank fraud and violations of campaign finance laws. That separate investigation, headed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan, is one of several New York probes involving the Trump Organization, and could ultimately prove to be more damaging to the president than Mueller’s work.

Manafort’s Plea

Former federal prosecutors said that Manafort’s plea deal probably advanced Mueller’s timeline for determining whether there was collusion.

Manafort could be assisting Mueller’s team on questions related to whether the Trump campaign changed the Republican party’s stance on Ukraine as part of an understanding with the Russian government, and whether the Russians helped coordinate the release of hacked emails related to Democrat Hillary Clinton with members of Trump’s campaign, said another former prosecutor who asked not to be named.

QuickTake:From Cohen to Collusion, Tallying Trump’s Legal Risks

Manafort is also key to understanding a June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower between Donald Trump Jr. and a group of Russians who had promised damaging information concerning Clinton, the former official said.

Manafort appears to have good material to offer, said Samuel Buell, a former federal prosecutor who teaches at Duke University School of Law. “He’s not going to get that deal unless he can help Mueller make a case against one or more people,” Buell said. Cooperators can’t expect leniency unless they provide "substantial assistance in the prosecution of others," Buell added, citing sentencing guidelines.

Although the days and weeks after the election might test Mueller in new ways, he has confronted pressure before to shut down.

Done by Thanksgiving

Trump’s lawyers have attempted to publicly pressure Mueller into wrapping up his investigation, setting artificial deadlines since the early days of the probe when they predicted it would wrap by the end of 2017. In August 2017, then-White House lawyer Ty Cobb said he would be “embarrassed” if the investigation dragged on past Thanksgiving.

Even if Mueller’s probe stretched through 2019, the timeline wouldn’t be unprecedented. Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr spent four years investigating President Bill Clinton before releasing his report on the Monica Lewinsky affair, which spun out of a probe into an Arkansas land deal known as Whitewater.


It took almost two years for Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald to indict Scooter Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff, for lying to investigators and obstruction of justice in October 2005 in the investigation into the public outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame.

Chief Justice Roberts asks federal judges to handle Kavanaugh ethics complaints

 

 

  Chief Justice John Roberts is referring ethics complaints against new Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh to federal judges in Colorado and neighboring states.

The complaints deal with statements Kavanaugh made during his confirmation hearings. They were filed originally with Kavanaugh’s old court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

 The judiciary’s rules allow members of the public to lodge complaints about federal judges.

Roberts took no action on them while Kavanaugh’s nomination was pending. He received the first three of 15 eventual complaints on Sept. 20, a week before Kavanaugh’s angry denial of a sexual assault allegation by Christine Blasey Ford.
It’s possible the complaints will never be investigated if the lower-court judges determine they have no jurisdiction over a Supreme Court justice under the judiciary’s ethics rules. The judges may be forced to conclude “that intervening events have rendered the allegations moot or make remedial action impossible,” said Arthur Hellman, an ethics professor at the University of Pittsburgh.
Another ethicist, Stephen Gillers of New York University, disagreed that the complaints are moot. Kavanaugh remains a federal judge and the complaints “allege misconduct that occurred while Kavanaugh was on the D.C. Circuit and subject to the Code of Conduct for U.S. Judges. Any violation of the Code does not disappear because he is now on another federal court,” Gillers said in an email.
But Gillers said the complaints “may be found not to be meritorious in the end.”
The judiciary’s rules allow members of the public to lodge complaints about federal judges. They typically are dealt with by experienced judges in the courthouse or region where a judge serves. Judges who receive complaints have a range of options that include dismissing them out of hand, having local judges investigate them or asking Roberts, in his capacity as head of the federal judiciary, to assign the complaints to judges in a different part of the country.
Roberts assigned the complaints to the ethics council of the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to deal with the complaints, according to a letter posted Wednesday on the D.C. Circuit’s website.
Merrick Garland, the chief judge of the D.C. Circuit, typically deals with ethics complaints, but he apparently stepped aside from complaints against Kavanaugh.
The first public word of the complaints came Saturday when D.C. Circuit Judge Karen Henderson acknowledged that complaints about Kavanaugh had been filed. They only “seek investigations … of the public statements he has made as a nominee to the Supreme Court,” Henderson said in a statement. Details of the complaints have not been made public.
Merrick Garland, the chief judge of the D.C. Circuit, typically deals with ethics complaints, but he apparently stepped aside from complaints against Kavanaugh. Garland had been nominated to the Supreme Court by President Barack Obama, but Senate Republicans never acted on the nomination.
Roberts’ letter was sent to Judge Timothy Tymkovich, the 10th Circuit’s chief judge. Tymkovich was on President Donald Trump’s list of possible Supreme Court nominees.

Kavanaugh’s on the Court precisely because he’s ‘a close-minded partisan zealot’

 Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 27, 2018. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, Pool)                                    
By Jesse Jackson           10/08/2018
 Brett Kavanaugh is now a justice of the Supreme Court. He is there only because he is what he showed himself to be in the Senate hearings:  a vicious, partisan operative utterly committed to a right-wing judicial activism that will inevitably lead to a constitutional crisis.

The Republicans ensured that there would not be a full investigation of the charges against Kavanaugh, yet Maine Sen. Susan Collins dishonestly called the cribbed FBI investigation comprehensive.

Yet Kavanaugh revealed in the hearings exactly who he is — and why Trump chose him and Republicans lined up to confirm him, no matter what the evidence. A close-minded partisan zealot, he bizarrely embraced the most fantastical of conspiracy theories, including somehow that all this was revenge hatched by the Clintons. He demonstrated stunning contempt for senators — yet Republican senators, led by Chairman Charles Grassley, no longer have any institutional pride. The Senate be damned; they are purely into tribal partisan politics.

They stuck with Kavanaugh because they know who he is. He claims to be an “originalist” and “textualist” who only applies the Constitution, but that is simply a threadbare cover. He was vetted and approved by the Federalist Society and the Heritage Foundation — both dedicated to promoting activist right-wing lawyers who will overturn precedent to serve conservative ends.

Kavanaugh’s ascension to the court locks in a five-person majority for an extreme activist position. We’ve already seen what the conservative gang of five is prepared to do. They ignored unanimous Congressional intent to gut the Voting Rights Act. They overturned decades of precedent to empower corporations to pour money into elections. They trampled precedent to gut the ability of public employee unions to collect dues from the members they represent.

The threat Kavanaugh poses to Roe v. Wade, and a woman’s right to control her own body is clear. Less attention has been paid to his consistent effort to protect corporations from accountability. When faced with a choice between the polluter and the poisoned, Judge Kavanaugh stands with the polluter. When faced with a choice between the boss and the worker, he stands with the boss. When faced with a choice between a predator corporation and a consumer, he stands with the predator.

Public Citizen did an analysis of Judge Kavanaugh’s opinions on the U.S. Court of Appeals in cases where the court was divided. They found that nearly 9 of 10 times, Kavanaugh ruled against the public interest and for the corporate interest. In 17 cases involving worker rights, he stood with the employers 15 times. In 13 cases on the environment, he was with the polluter 11 times. In 22 cases between corporations and consumers, he stood with the corporations 18 times. On seven cases involving police abuse or human rights, he ruled against the victims in all seven.

In the Senate hearing, Kavanaugh vowed to have a partisan frame. Blaming Democrats for challenging his nomination, he pledged that “what goes around, comes around.”

The right wing has consolidated a majority on the court. It is a gang of five that is increasingly out of step with a society that grows more diverse, more inclusive, and is increasingly challenged by corporate corruption, big money politics, obscene inequality and catastrophic climate change. The gang of five is likely to stand in the way of fundamental reforms vital to this country.

The only thing that can save Democracy is the democracy. Even the Supreme Court responds to election returns. If Trump Republicans remain in control of the Congress and the White House, the gang of five will be emboldened. If voters rebuke them at the polls — if they elect progressive majorities focused on the changes we need — the gang of five will be more cautious.

Judge Kavanaugh is probably impervious to the will of the people, too bitter, too ideological, too zealous to be reached. But Chief Justice John Roberts and perhaps Neil Gorsuch may understand that their own legacy and the court’s legitimacy will be at risk if they try to defend the rich and corporations from a people demanding justice. Our task is clear. Don’t mourn, organize.

With this appointment, the Senate has traduced its reputation and abandoned its responsibilities. Now it is time for the people to speak.

Happy Birthday to the smartest boy in all over the world!

If you look in the dictionary under “Precious Cargo,” you’ll find your picture in there. They also have your photo under “birthday,” but that’s a special for today only.

You are a dreamer, and today, part of your dream comes true. May you find your way to the biggest star. May all your big dreams come true.

Today, you are a year older and wiser than you were last year, but not quite as old as you will be this time next year. Life is complicated,

As a new chapter begins in your life, I’d like you to wish that it brings you all the love and happiness you could have ever hoped to have.

You are never too old to learn something new. You are never too awkward to try something different. Welcome to another chapter of your life.

Words alone are not enough to express how happy  we are  you are celebrating another year of your life!  Our  wish for you on your birthday is that you are, and will always be, happy and healthy! Don’t ever change.

Today is the time of celebration; We  hope you have a beautiful day with loads of love and surprises. May your birthday gives you the best memories till the next one, may you have success waiting ahead.Celebrate the best-ever party today, but don’t forget to celebrate every day, along with the happiness that each day brings.

Happy Birthday our precious 'Little Man'

Daddy , Mama , Jonny , Sha , Jenny

Poppa in Spirit 

Trump’s new trade deal gets a few things right while falling short

 The Trump administration has worked out a new trade with Canada and Mexico. | Photo by Lars Hagberg / AFP
ByJesse Jackson     10/01/2018
Donald Trump on Monday announced a new NAFTA draft treaty, renamed for showtime as the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement.

Canada, ignoring Trump’s insults and gibes, threats and posturing, joined Mexico in making a deal. The new pact contains some much needed reforms — and falls glaringly short in critical areas. Auto workers and truckers get some relief. Big oil and Big Pharma get paid off. The prices of prescription drugs will go up in Canada and Mexico.

For Trump, the agreement is about politics. He set the arbitrary deadline for signatures so that he might have a revised draft agreement to trumpet during the run-up to the November elections. For working people, particularly manufacturing workers and farmers, the show is less important than the substance. And the substance is a very mixed bag.

Trump is to be applauded for forcing the renegotiation, despite the hand-wringing of the corporate trade advocates in both parties. In many ways, he had little choice.

Working people had paid a huge price under the original NAFTA and demanded change. Labor unions built a large coalition against NAFTA and future agreements like it, including the Trans Pacific Partnership.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren led the assault on the outrageous private legal system that NAFTA and other agreements set up for corporations, giving them the right to sue the U.S. before private tribunals with corporate lawyers acting as judges.  Sen. Sherrod Brown and Rep. Rosa DeLauro built the coalition that made it clear that the TPP would never gain approval from the Congress.

 By the time of the 2016 election, every major candidate — Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump — announced their opposition to the TPP and criticized NAFTA. Trump was savvy enough to make trade and NAFTA a centerpiece of his economic argument in the campaign.

Trump’s deal makes some significant reforms that should be applauded. It reins in the outrageous Investor State Dispute Settlement, curbing the ability of corporations to use private tribunals to collect millions and attack environmental and health policies. It raises safety standards on trucks coming from Mexico, a significant concern for citizens across the country.

It increases the North American (read Mexico, Canada and U.S.) domestic content for tariff free automobiles and auto parts from 62.5 percent to 75 percent, which should help retain some jobs from being shipped to low wage producers across the seas.

It contains a truly innovative provision requiring that 30 percent of work done on automobiles be carried out by workers making at least $16 per hour. That helps protect workers in the U.S. and Canada, since it is three times the prevailing wage in Mexico.

It is, however, truly deplorable that the floor on autoworkers wages is $16 an hour, in contrast with the wages that they used to get before NAFTA.

But there is much in Trump’s new trade deal that reflects the corrupt corporate dealings of the old NAFTA. Big oil won the ability to sustain the private tribunals for its operations in Mexico. Big Pharma won increased monopoly protections. The price of drugs will go up Canada and Mexico and stay up in the U.S. as a result of this agreement.

More work remains to be done. As Lori Wallach of Citizen Trade Watch notes, “Unless there are strong labor and environmental standards that are subject to swift and certain enforcement, U.S. firms will continue to outsource jobs to pay Mexican workers poverty wages, dump toxins and bring their products back here for sale.”

Worse, Trump’s agreement waives buy American protections for U.S. procurement, leading to the continued outsourcing of U.S. jobs created from taxpayer’s money.

Canada and Mexico are our largest trading partners, with $1.2 trillion in trade between the three nations. Canada is the largest recipient of U.S. exports, our second largest trading partner and our second largest investor. Canada is a NATO ally whose soldiers have fought and died at our side.

We also have a huge stake in Mexico’s economic welfare. Part of the horrors of the first NAFTA was that it disrupted peasant agriculture in Mexico, forcing many workers to head north to care for their families. The resulting tensions from immigration — legal and illegal — have had a poisonous effect in our politics, with Trump and others profiting from an ugly, racialized posturing.

Getting this right is important.

Sadly, the deal, while an improvement over the old one, doesn’t get it right. Labor rights and environmental protections still lack serious enforcement. Mexico’s ability to pursue a clear economic course is circumscribed by protections of Big Oil and Big Pharma, among others.


Trump deserves credit for renegotiating NAFTA, something that his Democratic and Republican predecessors failed to do. Trump will no doubt use the new agreement as a centerpiece of his claim of “Promises made, promises kept.” A more accurate description would be “Promises made, performance lacking.”