Multinationals Are Scheming to Build a 'Corporate Death Star' That Will Zap Democracy

[xchrom]

http://www.alternet.org/economy/multinationals-are-scheming-build-corporate-death-star-will-zap-democracy-across-planet

Multinationals Are Scheming to Build a 'Corporate Death Star' That Will Zap Democracy Across the Planet


I am sounding the alarm. Right now governments and the giant multinational corporations are engaged in writing a treaty that would overrule national laws that try to rein in what these giant corporations can do to us. This treaty will allow corporations to sue governments for “lost profits” if governments try to enforce environmental, health, labor and other laws. One “smoking gun” example that shows us what this treaty is about is an argument over whether to “carve out” special treatment for tobacco because it is so harmful, or give it the same protections that other corporations and their products are due to receive.

The Upcoming Trans-Pacific Partnership

The upcoming Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) “trade” deal has been called the “corporate death star.” It is a NAFTA-on-steroids that goes so far beyond “trade” that it isn’t really about “trade” at all. TPP is about putting corporate and investor rights above the rights of regular people.

TPP is being negotiated with a rigged process, designed from the start to end really, really well for the giant, multinational corporations and the billionaires they front for. Multinational corporations are at the table. Government representatives hoping to end up with lucrative corporate payoffs are at the table. NOT at the table: labor groups, consumer groups, health groups, environmental groups, human rights groups, civil rights groups, democracy advocates, representatives of smaller, local, not-giant-multinational businesses, potential competitors of the already-at-the-top giants, or any other “stakeholder” group that could possibly oppose the corporate agenda.

The “Smoking Gun”

The “smoking gun” proving that TPP is about elevating corporate rights over the ability of governments to make their own laws comes from an attempt by tobacco companies to outlaw public-health anti-tobacco efforts as part of the treaty. Tobacco companies of course want the same protections other corporations and their products are receiving under this corporate-negotiated treaty.

[grahamhgreen]

1. Truth. The costly tade agreements are about to cost us more than jobs.

[Berlum]

2. "All your sovereignty are belong to us." - Inc. (R)

[lastlib]

3. Stealing that--it's AWESOME!!

[abelenkpe]

4. Haven't they already?

I'd love to stop the new trade deal from happening but the old ones need to go too.

[antigop]

5. and who played a leading part in drafting the TPP? Hillary Clinton.

According to Business Week:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1016&pid=67554

[fadedrose]

6. Really?

You know what..it's not that I don't like her, it's more like she scares me...

[HardTimes99]

9. She disgusts me. Of course, her husband ovesaw the execution of an inmate with

an IQ of 70 (Ricky Rae Rector) to prove how tough he was on crime and to deflect attention from his sexual peccadilloes (Jennifer Flowers anyone?), so one can say it's a marriage made in heaven.

[antigop]

10. according to Business Week...read the whole article about her "business legacy". nt

[HardTimes99]

7. And in ginning up the Syrian Civil War also - nt

[grahampuba]

8. The wrecking ball

This is just placing a name on some distance of arc of the wrecking ball that is corporate dominance over our society.

The TPP will be passed most likely in whole. If not, the demands will be parceled out over different seconds of that same arc.

[marmar]

11. k/r

[Dustlawyer]

12. It's sorta funny, the RW are always claiming the U.N. is going to do something like this!

They said Obama was going to let the U.N. take over. This is worse b/c it's REAL!

[Hubert Flottz]

13. K&R

"Citizen's United" left the door wide open for foreign corporations to buy every politician in Washington, with their secret campaign contributions/political bribes. If the corporations are "People," then they are a traitorous bunch of "People."

[KG]

14. they don't need a death star, they can just walk right in, you can expect the dem party to hold the

door open

[blackspade]

15. The TPP is an international train wreck.

As colossally shitty as this deal will be for the US, I can only imagine how bad it will be for smaller, less powerful countries that are already struggling with capitalist economic inequality.

[TBF]

16. TPP has the potential to be the breaking point -

if this goes through you can kiss the rest of the jobs here good bye.

I guess the silver lining will be that we will finally have people in the streets protesting - because they sure as heck won't be working.

[raouldukelives]

17. Only way to stand against it is to not stand with it. nt