“I applaud the House’s approval of three job-creating agreements that will stimulate our economy by allowing manufacturers to expand their exports of American-made goods with important trading partners. Now more than ever, our economy needs this kind of growth.

“Eliminating trade barriers through these FTAs will place the United States on a level playing field with our foreign competitors and boost the creation of much-needed jobs across the country and North Texas.  According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, exports directly support 467, 305 jobs in Texas – including 64,881 jobs in the 32nd Congressional District.  With unemployment 9.1 percent nationally and 8.5 percent in Texas, passage of these long-pending trade agreements that could create approximately 250,000 new jobs is welcome news.”

Pete Sessions

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Sounds great, doesn’t it?  It translates even better if you hear it instead of read it because this is what you will register as “the truth.” :  ”These three trade agreements are just great!  Why they are going to create 467,305 jobs in Texas and 64,881 jobs alone in the 32nd Congressional District.  You better vote for Pete Sessions because he is a great job creator.”

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If this happens, then you’ve been had because the truth is:

No, the three trade agreements will not create 467, 305 jobs in Texas.

No, the three trade agreements will not create 64,881 jobs in the 32nd Congressional District.

As a matter of fact, the three trade agreements will likely not create a single job in the USA.

It is much more likely that these three trade agreement will, as The Economic Policy Institute tells us, kill hundreds of thousands of more jobs just like NAFTA did.

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I don’t know what source Mr. Sessions used for his statement about 467,305 jobs in Texas or the 64,881 jobs in the 32nd district, but his quote:  ”According to the  U.S. Chamber of Commerce. . .”   came from   a Key Vote Letter Supporting H.R. 3078, 3079, 3080 and 2832 that the Chamber of Commerce sent to all members of Congress prior to their vote on these trade agreements in October of 2011.  Included in their coercive attempt to influence Congress, was this unsubstantiated claim that all three trade agreements would create 250,000 jobs for Americans. (Do members of Congress even ask about sources any more? The fact is that many of them don’t think either. They just accept the propaganda and disinformation that corporate owned media feed them without even questioning it. There is no proof anywhere that these trade agreements will create 250,000 jobs ever.)

Now just two months later, Pete Sessions is telling us that the Korean Free Trade Agreement will “support” (a weasel word that does not mean the same as “create”) 467, 305 jobs in Texas alone – including 64,881 jobs in the 32nd Congressional District. Notice he does not say that it will create jobs but if you do not read carefully, you are left with the impression that the trade agreements will create half a million job and 64,811 in the 32nd District.  That’s a bold-faced piece of disinformation, if not an outright lie. And it is intentional propaganda on the part of Sessions–intended to mislead.  False promises of empty hope that will never come to fruition. Sounds good, though, doesn’t it? But when called to task for his misrepresentation of the truth, Sessions can always claim that he didn’t say that 64,811 jobs would be created in the 32nd district–only that they would be “supported.”  Listen carefully to what these word masters are saying as they twist the message at every turn.

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Elected officials like Pete Sessions voted (just with the Korean Trade Agreement alone) to approve sending 159,000 American jobs overseas and to raise the deficit $16 billion dollars.  Furthermore they all had this information before they cast their votes.  They knew what they were doing and they didn’t give a damn.  They did it because, as Wall Street investors, this trade agreement means more money in their pockets.  The Economic Policy Institute (a source a great deal more reliable than the Chamber of Commerce) estimates that the agreement with Korea, which is expected to be the largest trade deal since NAFTA, will increase the US trade deficit by $16.7 billion and displace 159,000 US jobs within the first seven years after it takes effect.

U.S. Job Creation from the Korean Free Trade Agreement is about as likely as it was from NAFTA. Learn from history folks–not the hyperbole BS that politicians like Pete Sessions feeds you.

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Here is the Final Kicker:  Even if the BS were true, it is still not good enough:  250,000 jobs over a period of five to seven years when we need at least 10 million jobs now.  Congress needs to get on the fast track for job creation if they want to return in 2013.

Let’s just say purely for the sake of argument here that these trade agreements actually did, over a period five to seven years create 250,000 jobs for Americans.

SO WHAT!  We need people in Washington who can do better than that.  We have over 14 million people who are currently out of work.  250,000 new jobs over a period of five to seven years is not even enough to keep people’s heads above water.