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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsTPP contains a provision for bailing out derivative losses. Is this what re-negotiating NAFTA means?
Last edited Sun Mar 29, 2015, 12:47 AM - Edit history (2)
You probably remember President Obama's pledge during the campaign of 2008 to re-negotiate NAFTA on behalf of unions and environmentalists.
Never happened. However, as part of Obama's effort to sell the Trans Pacific Partnership the administration has depicted the agreement as an improved trade deal that would fix NAFTA's problems and make good on the President's promise.
Sounds good but the leaked environmental and investment chapters say it's not true.
TPP widens the scope of an "investment" to derivatives, opening the door for compensation from governments in the event of losses resulting from new law or regulation. Derivatives are side bets on the performance of an investment that have no equity stake in the underlying security or commodity price. Derivatives are NOT an investment and the scale of the derivatives market far exceeds that of the cash value of stock markets. This means a massive increase in taxpayer exposure to losses and increased incentive for banks to ramp up leverage and risky bets without actually investing in the economy.
has the characteristics of an investment, including such characteristics as the commitment
of capital or other resources, the expectation of gain or profit, or the assumption of risk.
Forms that an investment may take include:
(a) an enterprise;
(b) shares, stock and other forms of equity participation in an enterprise;
(c) bonds, debentures, other debt instruments, and loans;23
(d) futures, options and other derivatives;
NAFTA limited the definition of an investment to money directly connected with an enterprise.
The leaked environment chapter also loosens rather than strengthens protections included in trade deals as recently as the Bush administration.
Sierra Club: Obamas record on environment and trade worse than George W. Bush
In a press release Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club says: If the environment chapter is finalized as written in this leaked document, President Obamas environmental trade record would be worse than George W. Bushs. This draft chapter falls flat on every single one of our issues oceans, fish, wildlife, and forest protections and in fact, rolls back on the progress made in past free trade pacts.
Banks and corporations are negotiating this agreement with former bankers and lobbyists who were paid huge exit bonuses to draft TPP on behalf of the American public. It's true that NAFTA is being "re-negotiated" by this agreement but it seems to me we're replacing it with something even worse.
Doctor_J
(36,392 posts)He's killed the party
appal_jack
(3,813 posts)Bill Clinton facilitated the cover-up of Reagan and George H W Bush era Iran Contra Constitutional violations, and finessed the passage of Reagan and Bush negotiated NAFTA, eroding wages, weakening Labor, and hollowing-out our country.
Now Barack Obama facilitates the cover-up of George W Bush era torture, illegal Iraq invasion, and many other Constitutional violations, while also facilitating the passage of corporate and bankster negotiated TPP, TTIP, etc., further roding wages, weakening Labor, and hollowing-out our country.
As a Democrat, I want candidates who represent the people, worker agency, environmental quality, and strong regulation of corporations. Clinton and Obama have both willingly failed in these tasks.
k&r,
-app
ND-Dem
(4,571 posts)dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)Derivatives are BETS....nothing more than bets...an estimation of the bets is in the 50 trillion range, more than the entire wealth of the world.
Bank of America got Gov't permission to include their billions in derivatives in FDIC coverage.
rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)pa28
(6,145 posts)Why are betting losses being covered in the investment chapter of a trade agreement?
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)and there is STILL no functional oversight or curbs to their greed.
mother earth
(6,002 posts)woo me with science
(32,139 posts)woo me with science
(32,139 posts)Representative government, my ass.
Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)ND-Dem
(4,571 posts)questionseverything
(9,654 posts)biggest transfer of wealth the world has ever seen
sendero
(28,552 posts).... calls them "weapons of financial mass destruction".
rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)aspirant
(3,533 posts)the money is paid TAX FREE by us to multinationals.
These are even better than subsidies that need government approval.
Let's see if I've got this: Government subsidies + Bailouts + Tribunal awards + private government contracts = A Financial Multinational Dictatorship
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)that I am paying off my mortgage with cheaper and cheaper dollars.
'course, we are need more of them to buy the same loaf of bread that was half as cheap in 2000.
woo me with science
(32,139 posts)woo me with science
(32,139 posts)WE ARE BEING SOLD OUT BY CRIMINALS, TO CRIMINALS.
RiverLover
(7,830 posts)effin criminals.
mmonk
(52,589 posts)KG
(28,751 posts)yet the tiger beat faction keeps insisting it's full of jobs, pay raises and soy bean-shitting unicorns, if we only have faith (because obama)?
woo me with science
(32,139 posts)hoping it will sink.
This needs to stay on top. This is the DELIBERATE ENABLING OF CORRUPTION. This is the depth of the moral and political and governmental corruption that is being forced down our throats by the very politicians who pretend to represent us and claim to be on our side.
This is the moral and ethical sewer our government has become.
pa28
(6,145 posts)Despite promises of jobs and growth benefiting working Americans the environment and investment chapters show nothing of the kind. There are no improved "protections" against corporate abuse in the documents when compared to NAFTA. At least none that I've read.
In reality it looks like banks and corporations have found the pot of gold under the rainbow. Hoooray!
Corruption Inc
(1,568 posts)as we all know. They'll oppose any and all progressive candidates over the next 2 years with nothing more than empty personal attacks, outright lies, misinformation campaigns and numerous other forms of easily spotted propaganda.
Why this site allows such front groups to pervade the place is obvious; there are so many front group people here that they easily dominate any "jury" that comes along.
Americans know what we want: universal health care, preservation of social programs, stopping the wasteful and criminal spending on endless wars, no trade agreements that sellout every American, criminals at all levels of business and government to be held accountable with arrests and prosecutions, protection of unions, environmental action not words and, an end to the daily onslaught of obvious whorish propaganda that our own government insists on distributing though it's completely discredited corporate media.
Most, not all, Americans are easily smart enough to understand all of the above and support all of it.
Broward
(1,976 posts)Most Republicans are for it, big corporations are helping write it, and leaked provisions show it's a boon to said corporations. Yeah, there's nothing to worry about.
Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)Nuclear Unicorn
(19,497 posts)Oilwellian
(12,647 posts)I never dreamed he would help turn our country into an oligarchic, fascist Kleptocracy.
woo me with science
(32,139 posts)An electoral process to represent the people has been utterly replaced by slick corporate advertising to sell a Bait and Switch presidency that exploits the many for the profit of a few.
Our purchased government rules by manipulation now, with a goal of profit. It is not trying to represent us anymore.
mother earth
(6,002 posts)Syriza movement. A gov't by the people & by the left, move to the progressive left, TY very much.
aspirant
(3,533 posts)golf with any ordinary people?
mother earth
(6,002 posts)stillwaiting
(3,795 posts)progressives/liberals value. Of course, most big corporations despise most progressive/liberal values, and they wrote it so it's not unreasonable to expect that there will be quite a bit of legislation that liberals/progressives object to.
This trade deal is different from previous trade deals. It includes MANY countries which would make changing it very, very difficult, and the scope of what's included seems to be much greater than previous trade deals as well (from everything that we know about it to date; including what's been leaked).
There are so many reasons to oppose Fast Track right now.
No transparency = No TPP.
pa28
(6,145 posts)They've found a back door way to put pressure on old regulation and a potent dissuasion against any new labor and environmental law.
This is the "number one priority" of the Democratic president we elected. Unbelievable.
randome
(34,845 posts)If a signatory to the treaty passes a law designed to keep a foreign company from doing business in that country, and the tribunal rules against that signatory, then penalties will be assessed.
Why that should have anything to do with NAFTA is beyond me. It has to do with compensation for protectionist measures.
Although I agree that derivatives should be withdrawn from the definition of 'investment'. Especially since Wall Street has such complicated financial tools, I doubt the other, smaller signatories would truly understand them.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]Precision and concision. That's the game.[/center][/font][hr]
woo me with science
(32,139 posts)You just said absolutely nothing relevant to the OP.
randome
(34,845 posts)[hr][font color="blue"][center]All things in moderation, including moderation.[/center][/font][hr]
woo me with science
(32,139 posts)It is a necessary step in the reclamation of our democratic government from the corruption you just tried to divert from with that blather.
The main idea here is clear and important, Third Way talking points and attempts at diversion notwithstanding.
GoneFishin
(5,217 posts)GoneFishin
(5,217 posts)Populist_Prole
(5,364 posts)We keep hearing leaked provisions like this, even this agreement's biggest fans here on DU will either do a 180 or openly admit their interest conflicts.
mother earth
(6,002 posts)this from a gov't that is supposed to represent us?
woo me with science
(32,139 posts)liberal_at_heart
(12,081 posts)AzDar
(14,023 posts)CK_John
(10,005 posts)battle neither of which they were in.
Nafta was about North American trade and the new relationship with our neighbors, 25 yrs ago.
TPP is about the relationship we are trying to have with the 5-6 billion people that make almost all our stuff but don't need to buy our stuff. It's
300 million people trying to pretend 6 billion people can't push us around.