<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><br class=""><div class=""><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><a href="http://www.lifezette.com/polizette/voters-in-key-swing-state-agree-faulty-trade-deals-bad-for-jobs/" style="color: purple;" class="">http://www.lifezette.com/polizette/voters-in-key-swing-state-agree-faulty-trade-deals-bad-for-jobs/</a><o:p class=""></o:p></div><h1 style="margin: 24pt 0in 0.0001pt; page-break-after: avoid; font-size: 14pt; font-family: Cambria, serif; color: rgb(54, 95, 145);" class="">Voters in Key Swing State Agree: Faulty Trade Deals Bad for Jobs<o:p class=""></o:p></h1><h2 style="margin: 10pt 0in 0.0001pt; page-break-after: avoid; font-size: 13pt; font-family: Cambria, serif; color: rgb(79, 129, 189);" class="">New survey finds Virginians from across ideological lines turning on pacts like TPP<o:p class=""></o:p></h2><p class="author-prefix" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="by">by </span><a href="http://www.lifezette.com/author/robertromano/" style="color: purple;" class=""><span class="author">Robert Romano</span></a><span class="pubtime"> | 05 Oct 2016 at 5:41 AM</span><o:p class=""></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">A whopping 59 percent of Virginians in a new poll agree with the statement: “We can bring jobs back to America by reducing our nation’s participation in trade deals that make it easy for other countries to flood our markets with cheap goods.”<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">The poll was conducted on Americans for Limited Government’s behalf by Norman Research and Analytics among 1,062 registered voters telephone surveyed on both landlines and mobile devices from Sept. 2 to Sept. 11.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class=""><strong class="">Overall, Virginians strongly support American sovereignty and voters across the Commonwealth sense that current trade deals do a poor job of protecting American interests.</strong><o:p class=""></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">That result cuts across ideological grounds. Excluding unaffiliated voters, 59 percent of conservatives, 72 percent of moderates, and 58 percent of liberals all agree that jobs could be brought back by rolling back bad trade deals. There is no party registration in Virginia, so that portion of the poll was conducted on the basis of philosophy.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">But the same result can also be measured in every single demographic in the poll. The following margins all agreed that jobs could be brought back by rolling back bad trade deals:<o:p class=""></o:p></p><ul type="disc" style="margin-bottom: 0in;" class=""><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">61 percent of 18 to 24-year-olds.<o:p class=""></o:p></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">56 percent of 25 to 34-year-olds.<o:p class=""></o:p></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">54 percent of 35 to 44-year-olds.<o:p class=""></o:p></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">67 percent of 45 to 54-year-olds.<o:p class=""></o:p></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">60 percent of 55 to 64-year-olds.<o:p class=""></o:p></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">58 percent of people 65 years old and older.<o:p class=""></o:p></li></ul><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">It goes on. 59 percent of whites, 55 percent of blacks, 59 percent of males, and 59 percent of females all agree trade agreements that favor foreign nations cost Americans jobs, but that the situation could be reversed with less participation.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">It even goes across education level. 64 percent of high school graduates or less, 63 percent of some college, and 56 percent of college graduates.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">Every single group agreed with the basic statement on bringing jobs back to the U.S. by reducing America's role in trade agreements with countries that flood our markets with cheap goods.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">Who knew that Virginia was such a ripe ground for an aggressive message on trade issues?<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">Rick Manning, president of Americans for Limited Government, argued in a statement that the poll's result should have members of Congress reconsidering support for lame-duck passage of the 12-nation Tran-Pacific Partnership trade deal after the election.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">"The fact that people from all age, gender, racial, and education demographics agree with this basic statement should give strong pause to Congress if it should attempt to pass the TPP during a lame-duck session. While we didn't micro-target down to this level, it appears that the only segments of the Virginia electorate that might support the TPP are those who are paid to lobby for it by the multinationals who would most benefit from the deal," Manning said.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">The polling also explored the general notion of who should make the laws and regulations that impact Americans, with 69 percent to 26 percent agreeing with the statement, "America must have the ability to set its own laws and regulations and not be bound to standards set by foreign nations and international organizations." That "America First" sentiment runs deeply throughout the state, with a significant majority wanting lawmakers to make decisions based on U.S. interests.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">Overall, Virginians strongly support American sovereignty and voters across the Commonwealth sense that current trade deals do a poor job of protecting American interests.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">"It is refreshing to see that regardless of political leaning, Virginians are committed to the constitutional construct that our nation's laws should be made through the consent of the governed, and not imposed by foreign, unaccountable bodies empowered by trade deals," Manning added.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">The study clearly demonstrates that the public has little trust that existing trade agreements have been beneficial on the whole, and while respondents do not reject international trade, they are highly skeptical that America's interests have been served through recent trade deals.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">The study concludes by stating, "It is clear that any legislation or proposal that cedes U.S. authority to international bodies and allows those foreign bodies to exert authority over American citizens and commerce will be met with strong opposition. As the debate over various trade arrangements goes forward, these trends and attitudes will be tested in other states. But using Virginia as a guide, moving to enact the Trans-Pacific Partnership would be a serious political mistake for those advocating it."<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">As far as the presidential race is concerned, the overwhelming results on trade show that Virginia could be ripe for the picking by Donald Trump, who has been waging an "America First" campaign that calls for renegotiating trade agreements with foreign nations. If that message manages to get through to Virginians, for example in the debates, Trump could fare better in the Commonwealth than anybody has been predicting.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class=""><em class="">Robert Romano is the senior editor of Americans for Limited Government.</em><o:p class=""></o:p></p></div><div class=""><em class=""><br class=""></em></div></body></html>