The Obama regime calls various countries' public-interest policies "trade barriers". These policies protect health, privacy and financial stability.

The US should adopt many of these measures, but you can't expect that to be done by someone who favors "free trade".

I sent a message to Senator Markey's office opposing the TPP, and received a message saying that he judged trade treaties in terms of gain or loss of US jobs. While that may have made sense back when trade treaties affected mostly the amount of exports and imports, it is absurd today. Nowadays the main effect of trade treaties on employed people is that they help the executives and owners get a bigger share and pay the workers worse. The treaties also attack our rights by abolishing public-interest policies and giving business more power. Finally, they undermine democracy by giving business lobbies an additional lever to use.

So I phoned his office and said the senator was too soft on trade treaties.

You can phone your elected officials, too.