fast track

Stop Fast Track!

June 17, 2015 Margaret Flowers, www.flushthetpp.org Resist! Corporatism, fast track, TPP, Trade

By Margaret Flowers in Flush the TPP. The White House is working furiously with House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to find a way to finagle passing a Fast Track bill. Republican Leadership is meeting with Free Trade Democrats behind closed doors to scheme. The media is rife with speculation about how they will pass Fast Track - voting on stand-alone Fast Track bills in the House and Senate, attaching Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) to other more popular bills, etc. It looks like the House will vote on Fast Track Thursday morning (June 18). They begin debate at 9 am EDT. You can watch it on CSPAN. We will be gathering outside the Capitol on the corner of Independence Ave and New Jersey Ave SE in Washington, DC at 7 am to catch Members as they drive or walk to the Capitol.

Scapegoating Labor For Fast Track’s Defeat

June 17, 2015 Jim Naureckas, www.fair.org Educate! fast track, Free Trade, Labor Unions, Media, TPP

By Jim Naureckas in FAIR - Corporate media have a storyline ready to explain the defeat (for the time being, anyway) of the Trans Pacific Partnership : Big Labor is to blame. This was set up well in advance of progressive Democrats outmaneuvering the Obama administration in Congress to thwart the passage of fast track authority—expedited rules for approving trade pacts that are seen as necessary to pass TPP, a vast commercial agreement among 12 Pacific Rim nations. A Wall Street Journal editorial (4/16/15) laid it out in April: In the US, Democrats have tried to prevent giving the president trade promotion authority precisely because it will extend trade across both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. For their friends in Big Labor, this is anathema.

EU Parliamentarians Call On Congress To Stop Fast Track

June 16, 2015 Mackenzie McDonald, www.flushthetpp.org Resist! Europe, fast track, Free Trade, TPP

By Mackenzie McDonald in Flush The TPP! - After the recent rejection of the Fast Track Package, the White House will insist on a new vote that will be held today. Since the negotiations of bilateral trade agreements (including TTIP) by the European Commission take place under a procedure which is equivalent to the proposed Fast Track, the undersigned members of the European Parliament would like to make clear their experience and position regarding bilateral trade treaties. It is clear that TPP and TTIP are far reaching treaties which would have deep consequences for all countries involved and their citizens, and it is crucial that different interests are taken into account, which can only be done by democratically elected representatives. However, the proposed Fast Track Package would allow the Administration to legislate bypassing the will and opinion of Congress, undermining the principle of separation of powers.

GOP/Obama Want To Delay Fast Track Till July

June 15, 2015 Kevin Zeese, www.PopularResistance.org Resist! Congress, Democracy, fast track, TAFTA, TISA, TPP, TTIP

By Kevin Zeese. Washington, DC - Think about this: They write a treaty in secret with corporate interests 'assisting' the Obama administration, rigging the global economy for big business at the expense of people and planet; then they want to have a fast track process through Congress to rig the review of the rigged agreement; now because they lost the vote of fast track they want to rig the re-vote of the rigged fast track review of the rigged corporate trade agreement. Rigging on top of rigging on top of rigging -- and they claim the US is a democracy? Call Congress on www.StopFastTrack.com or call 202-224-3121 and tell them -- no rigged vote, no delay, vote now!

Newsletter: Billionaires Fear Revolt As People Power Grows

June 14, 2015 Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers, www.popularresistance.org Newsletter Arctic drilling, Austerity, Climate Change, Climate Justice, Commons, fast track, HIV/AIDS, indigenous, Inequality, Movement of Movements, Seattle, Solidarity, TISA, TPP

By Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers. Last week there was a populist revolt from across the political spectrum. Congress received tens of thousands of phone calls every day from people who are clear which side they are on: they want people and planet before profits; they want an open, transparent democracy not a secretive oligarchy. The campaign to stop Fast Track for corporate trade agreements like the TPP is a clarifying moment. It is democracy vs. oligarchs making decisions for us. It is transparency vs. secret law. It is the people vs. big business. It is a mobilized people vs. big money. These are the issues that unite people into a movement of movements. These are conflicts that let us know who is on the side of the people.

Not Over Yet, Some Tough Votes Ahead On Fast Track

June 12, 2015 Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers, www.PopularResistance.org Educate! Congress, fast track, Obama, TAFTA, TISA, TPP, TTIP

While we all cheered the failure to pass Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) the House was quickly voting to pass Fast Track Trade Promotion Authority (TPA). This provides several possible scenarios that could result in either position ultimately winning. While much of the media described this as a tremendous victory for those who oppose Fast Track and the Obama trade agenda, in fact we have some difficult challenges ahead. We need to hold the line on TAA to prevent any form of TAA from passing the House and prepare for a vote in the Senate if a new form of TAA passes or if the TPA bill passed in the House goes back to the Senate without TAA. We want our allies in the House to vote no on TAA no matter what kind of amendments are made to the bill. Now that TPA has passed, stopping TAA becomes even more important. The House TPA without TAA would be much more difficult to pass in the Senate. Our goal in the House is for no TAA bill to be passed.

House Will Vote Friday On Fast Track

June 11, 2015 Staff, www.PopularResistance.org Resist! fast track, TAFTA, TISA, TPP

By Staff for Popular Resistance, The House of Representatives is expected to vote on Fast Track legislation for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) this Friday. Let’s win this thing: Please call your representative at 888-804-8311 and urge him or her to vote NO on Fast Track. Tell your representatives to vote "no" on both Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) and Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA). TAA will be the first vote and if it fails fast track will be defeated. This is an inadequately funded program for displaced workers. AFL-CIO and the Teamsters among others are urging its rejection. Not only is it inadequately funded but it does not cover all workers, for example public workers are not covered. All three trade agreements for privatization of public services so not including public workers is a major gap. It TAA is defeated fast track for the TPP is very likely finished as well. Your call is critical.

Congress Occupied To Protest Fast Track for Trade Agreements

June 10, 2015 Staff, www.PopularResistance.org Resist! fast track, Occupy, TAFTA, TISA, TPP, TTIP

By Staff for Popular Resistance, Situated between the Capitol Building and the House Office Buildings activists are holding a 24 hour presence to protest trade agreements rigged for the biggest transnational corporations in the world. Popular Resistance, which is part of the Stop Fast Track coalition, organized the Rebellion Against Rigged Trade and has been outside of the Capitol during working hours. With today's announcement that a vote will come on Friday they will now maintain a 24 hour presence. "Elected officials are receiving tens of thousands of calls from constituents opposing fast track trade authority and we want them to see that people opposed to this undemocratic approach to passing laws are so dedicated they will stay outside 24 hours a day. Elected officials need to know the anger of their constituents is deep and that if Members vote for fast track, there will be serious political repercussions. We remember the impact that NAFTA had on elections. The people will not let Congress destroy their rights to protect the health and safety of their communities" said Margaret Flowers, co-director of Popular Resistance.

10 Reasons The TPP Is Not A ‘Progressive’ Trade Agreement

June 10, 2015 Ralph Nader, www.commondreams.org Educate! fast track, Human Rights, Progressive, TPP

By Ralph Nader in Common Dreams - "We have an opportunity to set the most progressive trade agreement in our nation's history," it states on BarackObama.com, the website of the president's "Organizing for Action" campaign. One must seriously question what President Obama and his corporate allies believe to be the definition of "progressive" when it comes to this grandiose statement. History shows the very opposite of progress when it comes to these democratic sovereignty-shredding and job-exporting corporate-driven trade treaties -- unless progress is referring to fulfilling the deepest wishes of runaway global corporations. Here are 10 reasons why the TPP is explicitly not a "progressive" trade agreement. . .

Is Republican Support For Fast Track Collapsing?

June 10, 2015 Matthew Boyle, www.breitbart.com Educate! Congress, fast track, House, Politics, TPP

By Matthew Boyle in BreitBart - Below are two articles from Breitbart reporting a very different situation in Congress that is being report in the corporate media that covers Capitol Hill. While Politico and The Hill quote Paul Ryan saying -- "we're close" -- (something he has said repeatedly for weeks) and John Boehner -- "we're confident, but not certain" -- and then Breitbart, reporting from the perspective of grassroots Republicans in two articles they describe Republican support as collapsing under intensive grassroots pressure. One article describes a wall of phone calls into congressional offices opposing "ObamaTrade". On Monday night Republican grassroots activists held a twitter storm against TPA that trended nationally as a hot topic. The second Breitbart article says that leadership is not even getting its phone calls returned from Republicans and that Boehner has been unable to point to any new Republican saying that they will support fast track.

Protests Planned For Rep. Pelosi’s District Office

June 9, 2015 Jesse Byrnes, www.thehill.com Resist! Democratic Party, fast track, TPP

By Jesse Byrnes in The Hill - More than a dozen liberal groups plan to set up shop outside House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's (D) district office in California this week to protest President Obama's trade agenda. Protesters will rally outside her San Francisco office around noon on Tuesday in continued opposition to a sweeping trade deal being negotiated by the Obama administration. While Pelosi has raised objections to parts of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) being negotiated between the U.S. and 11 other Pacific Rim nations, she hasn't taken a public position on it. She has also not voiced a position on the trade promotion authority (TPA) legislation that would facilitate pending trade deals such as the TPP by limiting the pacts to an up-or-down vote on Congress.

Newsletter: See You At The Barricades

June 6, 2015 Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese at Popular Resistance, www.PopularResistance.org Newsletter #BlackLivesMatter, Black Lives Matter (BLM), Coal Mining, fast track, Fracking, Human Right, Human Trafficking, Indigenous People, Militarization, NSA, Patriot Act, Slavery, Solar Energy, TISA, TPP, TTIP, USA Freedom Act, Wikileaks

By Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese at Popular Resistance. We are at a crossroads to either a future of global corporate governance or a chance for democracy. As Chris Hedges writes in his new book, "Wages of Rebellion: The Moral Imperative of Revolt," a revolution is coming but we can't guarantee which way it will go. Will you be there to fight for justice? You have an opportunity to do that now. This is the critical week to stop Fast Track legislation from passing in Congress. Fast Track could last for the next six years and would enable passage of not just the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), but also the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and the Trade in Services Agreement (TISA). There are different ways to define security. Some would say that security means a police or military force to protect people from those who might cause harm. Others would say that security means the government has a responsibility to make sure that the basic needs of its people are met which in itself would reduce crimes and the need for a violent security force. This is your food for thought for this week. How do you define security?

Trade Deals Undermine Everything Obama Says He Stands For

June 5, 2015 Matthew Pulver, www.salon.com Educate! Democratic Party, fast track, Obama, Politics, Populism

By Matthew Pulver in Salon - After more than six years of Obama-era party discipline and general accord, Democrats are finally suffering a measure of intra-party strife as the president appeals to congress for “fast-track” authority to more or less unilaterally negotiate the still-secret terms of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, one of the largest trade pacts in history. A bloc of Congressional Democrats have so far stymied the president and balked at his request, and leaders of the liberal wing of the party have engaged in fairly unprecedented public dispute with President Obama. The party’s quarrel has presented Hillary Clinton with her campaign’s first big dilemma, as the former secretary of state does an ugly political dance, trying to reconcile her previously full-throated advocacy of the now-nettlesome trade agreement with the progressive revolt of the party base to whom she’s appealing in the primaries.

Take Action Now: Demand Congress Release Trade Texts

June 5, 2015 Staff, www.PopularResistance.org Petitions and Online Actions fast track, TPP, Transparency

By Staff at Popular Resistance, Popular Resistance has joined with a coalition of groups to demand that Congress use its power to publish the text of the Trans-Pacific Partrnership. This month is the key moment to stop Fast Track for the TPP and other rigged trade agreements. Secrecy is at the heart of the strategy to turn these abusive agreements into law. We can highlight this by demanding the text is made public. Please take action now: Sign the petition. Share this link and urge everyone you know to sign the petition. One of the most controversial aspects of the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement is that it’s secret from the public. If the proponents of the agreement have their way, the text will still be secret from the public when the House votes on Fast Track trade negotiating authority, essentially a vote to pre-approve the agreement.

The Rigged Trade Rebellion To Stop Fast Track Begins!

June 4, 2015 Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese, www.popularresistance.org Resist! fast track, Sovereignty, TPP, Trade

By Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese. Washington, DC - The movement to stop Fast Track, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and other rigged trade agreements is huge and very diverse. It has delayed previous attempts over the past few years by Congress to pass Fast Track legislation that would allow the President to sign international agreements like the TPP, Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and the Trade in Services Agreement (TISA) into law before they go to Congress for restricted review, no amendments and only an up-or-down vote. This year, the President and Republican leadership are doing all that they can to get Fast Track. They want to complete the TPP but final negotiations have stalled until Congress passes Fast Track.

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