Urgent Fast Track Trade Deal Alert

[unhappycamper]

http://smirkingchimp.com/thread/dave-johnson/53047/urgent-fast-track-trade-deal-alert

Urgent Fast Track Trade Deal Alert
by Dave Johnson | December 7, 2013 - 10:08am

~snip~

1) Fast Track is about bypassing democracy and Constitutional government so the giant multinationals can do a huge PR effort to push this TPP agreement through. Fast Track means Congress can’t make changes to the agreement and has to pass it in a rush — so democracy and our representatives can’t meddle with what the Serious People have laid out for us.

2) The agreement itself is also about getting democracy and government power out of the way of the big corporations. It actually sets (certain) corporate (“investor”) interests above the law of any country. For example, word has leaked that TPP negotiators are arguing over whether to prevent countries from running anti-smoking campaigns, because this interferes with tobacco-company profits. One side says this is going too far and they should “carve out” tobacco from the agreement, the other side says carving out tobacco sets a precedent of allowing governments to protect their citizens from other things corporations might want to profit from. This should tell you all you need to know about why Fast Track must not pass, enabling them to push TPP through with no changes.

3) Fast Track is about continuing a rigged process designed to come to certain conclusions to benefit a few people. TPP was negotiated between corporations by people in government who can leave government to receive lucrative paychecks from the corporations. An agreement negotiated without other stakeholders at the table means those stakeholders are ON the table. Labor, human rights, consumer groups, environmental groups were not at the table, only LARGE and already-dominant corporate interests. (This also means that smaller companies, potential innovators and competitors, etc. are at a disadvantage.) This is really about the elites and billionaires who own things now locking in their dominance.

4) A trade agreement doesn’t have to be bad. A real “trade’ agreement could lift the world’s economy, instead of making exploitation of labor and the environment into a competitive advantage. (“Shut up our we’ll move your job out of the country, too.”) But with all of the stakeholders at the table, we could work out a way around the low wages and lack of environmental protections in some countries. (Make it a trade violation to say “Shut up our we’ll move your job out of the country, too.” Make it a trade violation to lower costs by allowing pollution. Make it a trade violation to block union organizing or deny unemployment benefits or do other things that push wages down. Make it a trade violation to have a continuing trade surplus.)

[FreakinDJ]

1. SOL - DiFi is one of my Senators and she "Proudly" cast the deciding vote FOR NAFTA

I remember listening to her on the radio claiming "well somebody had to do it"

on edit >

With her husband profiting of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan - she is clearly in the camp of the 1%. To expect her to go against the Wall St Elite / MultiNational Corps is like asking the Pope to lead a Satanic Prayer Ritual

[westerebus]

2. My one hope is.

If the Administration is for it, the right-wing will be vehemently opposed to it.

That is how f'cked up I think TPP will be for we the 99%.

As an aside, the observation is, if you were a military power and wanted to encircle a possible adversary or in the least have a perimeter set up in which to limit their nautical operations, look at the map of the Pacific and tell me if you see what I see.