Unpopularity of the Trade Pact

After reading a Paul Krugman opinion piece about the defeat of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiation authorization in Congress, I did what I normally do not do -- I read the comments.  They were almost unanimously, and often vehemently against the pact.  Here is a typical comment.

It isn't about what countries are at the table. It's about the fact the the working class isn't at the table at all. It is about flag-less corporate leaders and their politicians, not about national interests. It is about expanding the property rights of the corporate rich through stricter patents, longer copyrights and other restraints on free trade are a major part of the TPP. It is about limiting the ability of nations to restrain corporate power by allowing corporations to sue for damages if nations try to protect workers or the environment

This is no surprise considering the these are readers of Krugman and the New York Times.  Most of the yes votes were Republican, which on the surface is surprising -- after all aren't they against international agencies, such as the UN, dictating policy to us.  To see where they are at I went to the National Review's site, clicked a pro-TPP piece by George Will, and read the comments.  If you don't count the Obama bashing entries, the comments were very heavily weighted negative.  Here is a typical one.

All the elites in this worthless [Republican] party have fully embraced the idea of crony capitalism and big government. They can fool themselves calling it free markets and compassionate conservatism, but I'm not buying this BS anymore. We're angry as hell and we're not going to take it anymore! This party may well rip down the center after 2016 if the business wing leads us to another defeat.

My take is that even if there are good environmental and labor provisions in the pact as promised (The text is secret -- another issue ), do you trust that they will be enforced by the same crowd that gives Wall Street a free pass.  I think will can assume that Obama's successor will be even worst.