Who is Michael Froman? (USTR) And who is Islam Siddiqui, Chief Ag Negotiator for the USTR

[cali]

Who are these people?

USTR Nominee Froman Called 'One Of The Most Egregious Examples Of The Way The Revolving Door Works Between Gov't And Business'

After posting a bit about Michael Froman, the new nominee for USTR, I was already skeptical that he'd be any improvement over the predecessor, Ron Kirk. After all, Froman was deeply involved in three of the worst free trade agreements that the US has negotiated over the past few years, which more or less set the model for the ambitious and dangerously misguided ACTA and TPP agreements. However, some others have pointed out that it may be even worse, highlighting a Felix Salmon blog post from 2009, in which he calls Michael Froman out as being an "egregious example" of the revolving door problem we've highlighted between regulators and the businesses they regulate.

[Michael Froman's] one of the most egregious examples — up there with Bob Rubin, literally — we’ve yet seen of the way the revolving door works between business and government generally, and between Citigroup and Treasury in particular.

That's troubling, to say the least. Salmon points to a Matt Taibbi piece for Rolling Stone that highlights some very questionable activity on the part of Froman, including keeping his job at Citibank while helping to select the economic team for Obama's first term... the very folks who would be in charge of regulating Citibank.

Leading the search for the president’s new economic team was his close friend and Harvard Law classmate Michael Froman, a high-ranking executive at Citigroup. During the campaign, Froman had emerged as one of Obama’s biggest fundraisers, bundling $200,000 in contributions and introducing the candidate to a host of heavy hitters — chief among them his mentor Bob Rubin, the former co-chairman of Goldman Sachs who served as Treasury secretary under Bill Clinton. Froman had served as chief of staff to Rubin at Treasury, and had followed his boss when Rubin left the Clinton administration to serve as a senior counselor to Citigroup (a massive new financial conglomerate created by deregulatory moves pushed through by Rubin himself).

<snip>

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130503/14341222941/

Islam Siddiqui: Same tune

From 2009:

Islam Siddiqui, Obama Nominee, Under Fire From Environmentalists

Politico reports that the Obama administration's nominee to be Chief Agriculture Negotiator has come under fire for his ties to the chemical and pesticide industries.

Environmental groups are working to derail the nomination of Islam Siddiqui, vice president for science and regulatory affairs at CropLife America. Green organization's have pointed to statements Siddiqui made as a lobbyist for CropLife, while he was the Department of Agriculture undersecretary for marketing and regulatory programs, and as a senior agricultural trade adviser in the Clinton administration:

In 1999, for instance, he derided the European Union's ban on hormone-treated beef. According to Reuters, when the French agriculture minister expressed concern that the hormones could cause cancer in 20 to 30 years, Siddiqui reportedly said of the minister, "He wanted assurances that 30 years from now, nothing would happen. No one in the scientific community can give you that kind of decision."

At CropLife -- a trade association that represents producers and distributors of "crop protection products" -- Siddiqui is responsible for regulatory and international trade issues, according to a press release on his nomination. He was registered as a lobbyist for the association from 2001 to 2003 and held a fundraiser for the president at his home in McLean, Va.

<snip>

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/26/islam-siddiqui-obama-nomi_n_333972.html

You should, according to some DUers, have all the faith in the world in these people negotiating the TPP and TTIP. After all, they'd never put the corporate bottom line over the health and welfare of the citizenry, right?

[cali]

1. These were President Obama's choices for the most powerful positions

in the USTR.

but hey, I'm sure they're just looking out for the American worker, health and the environment.

And as so many brilliant DUers point out, as we don't know what's in the TPP, we really have no business criticizing it. And we don't know that the leaks are real or accurate.

We need to sit back and wait to get fucked instead of objecting.

[cali]

2. kick. knowing who the principals are gives one a clearer picture of

the U.S. positions on issues in the TPP and other FTAs

[cali]

3. kick. I think these appointments say quite a bit

[onethatcares]

4. they do say quite a bit,

but what the hell can we do about it? writing letters to the editor or to our congress people doesn't work. we've seen how mass demonstrations go, and we've watched and complained about everything under the sun that doesn't work for us but the moneyed
get what they want, every fucking time. sometimes it takes a little while, but you can bet a $5K donation works a lot more magic
than a $5.00 one.

shit, there isn't anywhere to go hide anymore either. We're totally screwn.

[cali]

5. I'm kicking this again because I think it's such vital information