This Transatlantic Trade Deal is a Full-Frontal Assault on Democracy

[unhappycamper]

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/11/05-3



David Cameron with Barack Obama at a state dinner in Cameron's honour in 2012 at the White House.

This Transatlantic Trade Deal is a Full-Frontal Assault on Democracy
by George Monbiot
Published on Tuesday, November 5, 2013 by The Guardian

Remember that referendum about whether we should create a single market with the United States? You know, the one that asked whether corporations should have the power to strike down our laws? No, I don't either. Mind you, I spent 10 minutes looking for my watch the other day before I realised I was wearing it. Forgetting about the referendum is another sign of ageing. Because there must have been one, mustn't there? After all that agonising over whether or not we should stay in the European Union, the government wouldn't cede our sovereignty to some shadowy, undemocratic body without consulting us. Would it?

The purpose of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership is to remove the regulatory differences between the US and European nations. I mentioned it a couple of weeks ago. But I left out the most important issue: the remarkable ability it would grant big business to sue the living daylights out of governments which try to defend their citizens. It would allow a secretive panel of corporate lawyers to overrule the will of parliament and destroy our legal protections. Yet the defenders of our sovereignty say nothing.

The mechanism through which this is achieved is known as investor-state dispute settlement. It's already being used in many parts of the world to kill regulations protecting people and the living planet.

The Australian government, after massive debates in and out of parliament, decided that cigarettes should be sold in plain packets, marked only with shocking health warnings. The decision was validated by the Australian supreme court. But, using a trade agreement Australia struck with Hong Kong, the tobacco company Philip Morris has asked an offshore tribunal to award it a vast sum in compensation for the loss of what it calls its intellectual property.

[SamKnause]

1. Trade indeed

It should not be called, or referred to as a Trade Agreement.

It is a full frontal attack on human rights, workers rights, fair wages, unions, labeling of food products, the environment, safety in the workplace, and the safety of products.

It will become the law of the land.

It will trump the laws of the U.S. and any country that signs on.

It will trump any country's Constitution if they sign on.

It will be an outright attack on the environment.

Corporations will not be required to abide by environmental laws, labor laws, or safety laws.

Fracking will increase.

The price of natural gas in the U.S. will climb as we export nearly 60% of the natural gas out of our country.

It should be referred to as the Traitorous Trade Agreement.

Obama has shown where his support lies by supporting and pushing for this monstrosity.

Right or left, the majority are corporate shills.

[westerebus]

2. REC