Ms. Clinton Once Again Chooses Political Expediency Over Truthfulness
After more than a year of ducking issues as a
demi-candidate, the email-embattled Hillary Clinton has suddenly developed a fondness
for pronouncements of possible future policy, putting forth non-specific policy
“plans,” and even taken an actual stand on an issue. The fact that each appears to be in reaction
to a newsworthy event should in no way be interpreted that she is just being an
opportunist.
A week or two ago during the hullabaloo regarding Turing
Pharmaceutical’s proposed 5000% drug price, Ms. Clinton bravely made a damning
Tweet about the biotech industry eventually hinting at some form of patient caps/price controls. Of course her opponent Senator
Sanders had put out a plan many months prior, proposed legislation in Congress, and has made drug pricing a prime
topic at every event, but, hey, better late than never.
A mass shooting at an Oregon community college hits the
headlines and Ms. Clinton knee jerks into gun control mode.
Nothing remotely actionable,
just a wish list
(even according to left-wing media sources) to assure liberal voters that she feels their pain.
And finally, remember this summer when Ms. Clinton was asked repeatedly, to declare a position on the new Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade agreement during the Congressional vote on Fast Track authority, but was far too clever do so?
I mean, why take a stand when it may have an impact prior to the vote? She had a lot of personal things to consider.... On the one hand, as Secretary of State she had
labored and lobbied to get this free trade agreement in motion, taking credit
for the work done in the process. Statements such as this among the 45 or so she put forth in support of the TPP:
“In [a]
2012 speech in Singapore, Clinton explicitly promoted the TPP as an initiative
that ‘will lower barriers, raise standards, and drive long-term growth across
the region.’ She also used the collective ‘we’ in describing the work being
done on the pact, saying, ‘we are making progress toward finalizing a
far-reaching new trade agreement called the Trans-Pacific Partnership.’"
**
Plus there remained her desire to keep the
President’s tacit support.
On the other
hand, there were the traditional Democratic enclaves, most notably massive
union support (or not) to consider.
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“…the TPP will not
create jobs, protect the environment and ensure safe imports. Rather, it
appears modeled after the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), a free
trade agreement where the largest global corporations benefit and working
families are left behind.” ***
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And then there was the historical twist, i.e. the pesky little fact that the forerunner
to the TPP, NAFTA, had been advanced and signed into being during a prior
Clinton Administration.
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Clinton said
"great things about NAFTA until she started running for president."
[Senator and presidential candidate Obama in 2008]
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Well this week the TPP was
finally negotiated and Ms. Clinton made the bold statement that she was in favor of a “better agreement”
then the one agreed to, and, when pressed, opposed the TPP. Like
a Republican senator casting a meaningless vote against the ACA, Ms. Clinton
was going to have her cake and eat it too.
Given her vaunted experience in two presidential administrations, she knows
better than most that:
1.
Presidents
are always going to be for these large scale trade agreements once they’re
negotiated (by the executive branch,
no less) – otherwise they would still be arguing. Look at the support NAFTA had from Presidents
Bush (41) and Clinton, the expansion of trade agreements to 14 more countries
under President Bush (43), and this TPP under her former boss President
Obama. She could be honest and say of
course she would support this and similar treaties if she sat in the Oval
Office. But nooo.
2.
It’s the
right thing to do, but politically she looks better opposing it. It’s going to pass with or without her
support – so why not take the low road and be able to disavow responsibility
now, …and later, when some of her constituencies are biting the bullet. She’ll still experience the benefits without
having to pay the cost. Win-win. Brave, Brave, Brave Sir Robin.
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When danger reared
its ugly head
He bravely turned
his tail and fled
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Stay tuned; the pandering has only just begun.
