How “Citibank Budget” Push Foreshadows “Fast Track” For Trade Deals
It is worth examining how the process was rigged to push that budget deal through Congress over the weekend that contained Citibank-written derivative deregulation and all kinds of other goodies for the rich and powerful. That’s because the “cromnibus” formula will be formalized in the next big deal, in a process called “fast track.”
Congress passed the “cromnibus” (continuing resolution for omnibus budget) right at the deadline for another government shutdown. (After they extended the deadline, actually.) The budget contained a Citibank-written provision that undoes some Dodd-Frank Wall Street regulations. It authorizes a cut in many people’s pensions by up to 60 percent, severely cuts the IRS budget and its ability to collect taxes, dramatically expanded the ability of big money to influence elections, reduced the EPA’s authority, and included many other provisions that could not have passed in the light of day. This budget “deal” was pushed through Congress using a rigged process that kept representative democracy from stopping it.
What lessons can we learn from the way the “Citibank” provisions in the budget deal were pushed through? How do these lessons apply to the next big fight?
Fast Track: The Next Big Fight
The next big fight in Congress will be about getting the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) passed. TPP is a huge “trade” agreement that goes far, far beyond what most people understand as trade.
The TPP is currently being negotiated in secret, using a process designed from the start to end up with a corporate-favoring agreement. We know from leaks — and from the results of other “NAFTA-style” agreements — that the agreement elevates corporations above the laws of sovereign countries. TPP will prioritize the profits of giant, multinational corporations over the rule of law. For example, TPP will allow tobacco companies to sue governments for implementing anti-smoking initiatives — and those suits will be heard in corporate courts, with corporate lawyers acting as the judges.
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http://ourfuture.org/20141217/citibank-budget-push-and-fast-track-for-trade-deals-same-process?utm_source=progressive_breakfast&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=pbreak