Democracy Now interview with Lori Wallach on TPP, Obama and McConnell

[cali]

<snip>

Welcome back to Democracy Now!, Lori. Start out by explaining just what the TPP is and what exactly McConnell says he has in common with the president.

LORI WALLACH: Well, the TPP, unfortunately, is really a delivery mechanism for a lot of the things McConnell and the Republicans like. So, for instance, it would increase the duration of patents for Big Pharma and, as a result, give them windfall profits but increase our medicine prices. It could roll back financial regulation on big banks. It could limit Internet freedom, sort of sneak through the back door the Stop Online Piracy Act, SOPA. And—they love this—it would give special privileges and rights for foreign corporations to skirt around our courts and sue the U.S. government to raid our treasury over any environmental, consumer health law that they think undermine their expected future profits, the so-called "investor-state" enforcement system. Plus, it would have the NAFTA-style rules that make it easier to offshore jobs, making it easier to relocate to low-wage countries.

So, the sort of grotesque question is: Why does President Obama like the TPP? It’s pretty clear why McConnell likes it. It was negotiated with the assistance of 600 corporate advisers, official corporate trade advisers in the U.S. The agreement has been the initiative of the Obama administration. It was started by Bush, but instead of turning it around and making it something different, the Obama folks picked it up and, frankly, have made it even more extreme. So, the question really, in a way, is, the Democratic Congress—the Democrats in Congress and the public, including a lot of tea party conservatives, have plenty not to like. Oh, I forgot about the part of TPP where it bans Buy America, Buy Local. Really bad agreement, 29 chapters, only a few of them about trade, so it’s really a sneak attack branded as a trade agreement.

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AMY GOODMAN: What do you mean, banning Buy America?

LORI WALLACH: So, a provision in the TPP would require—and this is done. Part of the agreement isn’t done, but this part’s done. And it would require us, when we buy—when the government buys automobiles, buys pens, everything, paper, office furniture, that right now, under the Buy America Act, which has been around since Roosevelt, if it’s made in America and there’s enough of it to actually supply the government, if it’s available, you have to use the government money to buy American goods, which is great because it reinvests the money back into more jobs in our country. And also, that Buy America policy is used to create new, really, innovations. So, before we had auto efficiency requirements for cars in the private sector, there was a standard that was set up, the CAFE standards—was for government purchases, so that the companies would actually have a market to do the right thing. That’s being done right now for renewable energy purchases, the Renewable Portfolio Standard. So we use this both to create jobs at home and to create industry innovations to promote our policies.

In the TPP, verboten. You have to give equal treatment to any good made in any TPP country for any government contract over a certain threshold, regardless of the Buy America rule. It gets waived. And so, for instance, all of the Chinese government-owned companies in Vietnam, which are constantly getting written up for their terrible conditions, we’d have to have a bid from them, where obviously things would be cheaper than, say, furniture made in North Carolina, where otherwise the government would be buying office furniture in the U.S. with U.S. money. And this is also the rule that was in NAFTA. It snuck in a ban on Buy America for any company in any trade partner country. The big deal on this is, with the TPP, of course, this is supposed to be what’s called a launching agreement, so every other country that wants to join can join. So, basically, it’s—with all of the problems in TPP, it’s bigger than already the 12 countries that are in it, because any other country can join.

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http://www.democracynow.org/2014/11/6/obama_mcconnell_pledge_cooperation_will_fast

[KoKo]

1. Her interview on DN was a really good watch. Thanks!

[djean111]

2. No vote from me for whoever champions this. Period. Don't care.

Looks like Obama is trying to push this through so Hillary does not have to answer questions about it when campaigning. IMO.

[TheNutcracker]

5. Definately a no vote for who ever supports TPP!

[wavesofeuphoria]

3. F'n unbelievable!

Last edited Sun Nov 9, 2014, 09:23 PM - Edit history (1)

So maybe this isn't my party after all.


Lousy typo to make ... Sigh

[rhett o rick]

4. I haven't completed the full article but have a question.

LORI WALLACH asked, "Why does President Obama like the TPP?" Was there any conjecture in the article as to why a Democratic President would agree with the Conservatives on Free Trade Agreements?