Photographer and editor Ellen Davidson tells the story of the banner drop at the office of the US Trade Representative on Monday, Sept. 23. The banner drop followed the Stop Fast Track Action Camp and was done to protest and expose the secretive Trans-Pacific Partnership that is nearing the end of negotiations. The TPP is an agreement that provides a back door to the stalled WTO agenda. Unlike past trade agreements, the text of the TPP has been classified as secret. More than 600 corporate advisers have live time access to the text as it is being negotiated while members of Congress have restricted access, the media has been on a virtual blackout about it and the public only knows what has been leaked and what industry groups are reporting.
President Obama has requested Fast Track from Congress which allow him to sign the agreement and later send it to Congress for an up or down vote. This would subvert any democratic process of hearings on the full text of the agreement to examine the impact it will have on jobs, the economy, food safety, health care and on our laws even down to the local level that protect the environment, workers and consumers.
The TPP gives corporations the power to sue nations in a trade tribunal primarily staffed by corporate lawyers on leave from their jobs (to serve as judges) if those nations laws interfere with expected profits. This is why the TPP is being called a global corporate coup.
PHOTOS AND STORY:
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