At his 2013 State of the Union address, President Obama publicly invoked the Trans Pacific Partnership for the first time, claiming

“To boost American exports, support American jobs, and level the playing field in the growing markets of Asia, we intend to complete negotiations on a Trans-Pacific Partnership. And tonight I’m announcing that we will launch talks on a comprehensive Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership with the European Union, because trade that is fair and free across the Atlantic supports millions of good paying American jobs.”

When he spoke those words on Feb 12, 2o13, my jaw dropped. We had already learned that the TPP would do nothing to “support good paying American jobs” – quite the contrary.  To hear my previous shows on the subject,just click here (or put TPP in the search box on this site).  Or visit Expose The TPP or Flush the TPP, or read the sections of the classified text that’s been released via wikileaks 

Or listen to Congressman Alan Grayson speaking about the myriad of problems included in in on today’s show.

Before Congress went on its most recent vacation, Rep Grayson circulated a one-page letter to his colleagues urging them to vote NO on Fast Track Authority that the White House is seeking to pass this abomination of legislation. It simply included two charts -one showing the US trade deficit prior to “Free Trade” treaties, the other after. In this case, two pictures are worth billions of words:

1962-1992

1993-2012

Got it? Good. Now share it, and call your representatives too!

Nicole Belle joined in as she does each Monday morning to tell us what we missed on the Sunday talking head shows in our “Fools on the Hill” ™ segment:

There are some guests on the Sunday shows that the C&L crew actually secretly appreciate—because we know that they will provide lots and lots of content for us.  Rand Paul is one such Sunday show guest.  And he did not fail to deliver this week, with appearances on both Meet the Press and State of the Union.  There were more posts we could have done, but honestly we got a little tired of seeing him on our screens.

Because how can you not want to smack around the guy who insists that if there is a war on women, women are winning?

Or that it’s just galling that the GOP are being painted as women-haters when the media gave Bill Clinton a pass on the Lewinsky scandal.  Huh?  Did that impeachment just fly under his radar?

And then to Candy Crowley’s question as to whether he suggested cutting aid to single mothers below the poverty level and Paul made this maddening bluster that acknowledged that single parenthood was one of the biggest predictors of poverty, but then questioned whether government had a role to solve that problem.  Hmmm…here’s an idea: why doesn’t he stop promoting policies that actually exacerbate the cycles of poverty and single motherhood?

Ted Cruz is another Sunday show guest that we can count on providing us with lots to work with.  But he was literally so ridiculous on Face the Nation that Bob Schieffer started laughing at his repeated assertions that he didn’t cause the government shutdown.

And then there’s George Will, the nation’s most incorrect pundit, who ridiculously said that Obama was planning on using the State of the Union this Tuesday to distract voters from his failings.  But his phrasing –referring to the lower approval ratings as “shrinkage”, which I’m pretty sure reveals exactly white conservatives deep seated insecurities  with the black man in the White House.

Speaking of the State of the Union, ABC News asked Republican strategists Ana Navarro and Matthew Dowd who they thought Michelle Obama should invite to sit with her in her box at the speech.  Leave it to them to come up with tacky and petty responses.

Tomorrow on the show: the always awesome and insightful Digby, and GottaLaff too…