Barack Obama

If I had my druthers I would very much like to clean up U.S. manufacturing practices abroad. Two examples: India's (or was that Bangladesh?) version of The Triangle Fire, where American clothing companies turned a blind eye to sweatshop conditions in a locally-owned building; and the deaths of thousands of American pets due to tainted pet food from China sold under well-known American brand names.

My dearest wish is to have a robust system of industry-funded but American government hired inspectors, and again I have an example: the rabbi posted in Hong Kong. One excuse used by American food and drug manufacturers is that they can't know everything that goes on in the supply chain because of language, customs, laws, an incredibly complex web of small suppliers who feed into the bigger ones. The rabbi accepts no excuses because he is there to certify products as kosher on behalf of the American Jewish community, and as far as he and they are concerned they are answering to a higher law. He will literally travel thousands of miles to inspect and interview suppliers, and if he is not satisfied, the manufacturers who use their product don't get certified kosher. If one highly motivated rabbi can do this, so can everybody else, and they should.

This has been the best thread ever at DU on the subject of the TPP. It's sad that the only place to have it is in the BOG, but I am really happy to have it at all . Kudos to the OP!