fast track

Urgent Action: Tell Sen. Wyden To Oppose Fast Track

February 26, 2015 Margaret Flowers, www.flushthetpp.org Resist! fast track, TPP, Trade

This week, we are occupying Sen. Ron Wyden’s office in Washington, DC to remind him that the people want him to oppose Fast Track and the TPP. Senator Wyden is the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee which is where fast track legislation would be introduced. The chair, Sen. Orrin Hatch, is pushing Wyden to join him in introducing a fast track bill. The pressure is working! Last week, people all across OR told Sen. Wyden through rallies, teach-ins and a bus tour that they oppose fast track and the TPP. A new poll found that 62% of OR voters are opposed to the TPP and 73% oppose fast track. We’ve been in Wyden’s office for three days (since he returned to Washington).

Is Wyden Moving Against Fast Track?

February 24, 2015 Philip Brasher, www.agri-pulse.com Resist! fast track, TAFTA, TPP

Today we started a "Drop In Hang Out" in Senator Wyden's office to let him know people are watching him very closely on the issue of Fast Track trade authority. People will be participating in a rolling sit-in for most of the week. Sen. Wyden is the ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee. He has been in discussions with Senator Orin Hatch about co-sponsoring Fast Track legislation. Wyden's constituents have been letting them know they oppose Fast Track and a poll showed that 73% oppose such legislation. In the article below it seems Sen. Wyden seems to be listening. He is publicly saying that Sen. Hatch is moving to quickly toward Fast Track legislation. What he should be saying is that Sen. Hatch is moving in the wrong direction. The truth is that Fast Track cannot work with the three treaties currently being negotiated because it is impossible to achieve the objectives that Sen. Wyden says is necessary in any Fast Track legislation: (1) transparency for congress and the public, (2) participation in the process by Congress. These trade agreements have been negotiated for years and are nearing completion so how can Congress participate? Transparency would be coming too late for the public to have any input. As a result -- Fast Track must not be permitted for any of these agreements. Congress and the people need time to rethink the goals of trade and how trade should be negotiated. Transparency and participation are two keys, but we also must put people and planet before profits.

Newsletter: Transforming Fundamental Power Inequities

February 21, 2015 Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers, www.PopularResistance.org Newsletter Climate Change, Corporatocracy, Cove Point, Energy, Environment, fast track, Fracking, Free Trade Agreements, Nonviolence, Oil & Gas, Oil Trains, Seneca Lake, TPP, Trade

Most of the Popular Resistance team is in Cove Point, Maryland right now. Almost all are very likely to go to jail for several weeks after Monday's hearing for our efforts to stop the Dominion fracked gas export terminal at Cove Point. You can donate to the campaign here. Stopping this terminal is the key to stopping fracking on the east coast. The Calvert Commissioners have made a charade out of democracy. The government in Calvert County has kept the facts from the public. Before letting the public know of the plan to build the terminal they entered into a secrecy agreement with Dominion so the public has been kept in the dark. In the first hearing on the terminal, the County Attorney wrote the agenda: take public testimony, close the record and vote for the proposal. The proposal was for massive tax breaks for Dominion and waiver of zoning requirements. The latter turned out to be unconstitutional. Protests and civil resistance are the only avenues left to stop the Dominion terminal. This is literally a life and death situation for a community of 44,000 people; hundreds, probably more than a thousand lives, will be shortened and diseases that are not common now, will become common.

Newsletter: The Contagion Of Courage

February 14, 2015 Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers, www.PopularResistance.org Newsletter #BlackLivesMatter, Black Lives Matter (BLM), Blockades, Energy, Environment, fast track, FCC, Fracking, Free Trade Agreements, Internet, ISIS, Michael Brown, Net Neutrality, Pipelines, Racism, Tar Sands, TPP, Trade, Ukraine, Venezuela, Wars and Militarism

When our colleagues take brave actions, others are inspired. George Lakey describes how courage develops in movements. He lists some key ingredients to overcome fear: people working in community to empower each other, envisioning a successful action and spreading the contagion of courage. Lakey describes courage as each of us expanding beyond our comfort zones and adds that our training for actions should include opportunities to step outside our comfort zone. He suggests we need to view the rapid heartbeat and adrenalin during an action not as fear, but as excitement. Envisioning the whole story - where the story starts, the action being taken and its successful impact - emboldens us and calms our fears of uncertainty. We learn courage in community because courage is contagious.

Top Democrat Denied Access To Trade Deals

February 14, 2015 Dana Liebelson, www.huffingtonpost.com Resist! fast track, Free Trade Agreements, TAFTA, TPP, Trade, TTIP

Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), a senior member of the House Ways and Means Committee, wants to view an unredacted copy of the proposed text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership(TTIP). He wants to bring his chief of staff, who has a top security clearance, and he wants to be able to take notes privately. He also wants to review documents that show the position of each country participating in the agreements, as well how the U.S. position has changed over the course of the negotiations. In a letter this week, Doggett accused Michael Froman, the United States Trade Representative (USTR), of avoiding his requests since January. "USTR has provided no legal justification for denying such Member and staff review," wrote Doggett. The text of TPP is treated as a state secret -- to a degree. Access to TPP texts is limited to members of Congress and staffers on the Senate Finance Committee and House Ways and Means Committee who have an official security clearance. Hundreds of corporate lobbyists and executives are also given access . . .

Rapid Response To Stop Fast Track And The TPP

February 13, 2015 Staff, www.popularesistance.org Resist! fast track, TPP, Trade

We need to organize quickly. President Obama and the new Congress are moving to pass Fast Track legislation which will permit the President to sign secret trade agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) before Congress sees them and restrict Congress from determining what impacts the TPP will have on our health, economy, communities and the planet. We know what previous trade agreements like NAFTA have done to outsource jobs and lower wages, block efforts to protect public health and increase our deficit. The TPP is a whole new breed. We call it "NAFTA on steroids." The reason the TPP has been negotiated in secret and is being pushed through Congress in this unconstitutional and undemocratic way is because it contains provisions that will give corporations even more power to determine our laws even down to the local level and remove our power to fight back. We aren't going to let that happen. We are working with our allies across the continent to stop Fast Track and the TPP.

Will New York City Be The Next ‘TPP-Free Zone’?

February 12, 2015 Stephanie Buhle, www.popularresistance.org Resist! Democracy, fast track, TPP, Trade

On Thursday Council Member Helen Rosenthal introduced a new resolution that opposes the President’s “fast-track” authority over the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and declares New York City a “TPP-Free Zone.” The TPP, a free trade agreement being secretly negotiated between the United States federal government and eleven other Pacific Rim countries, will “eliminate tariffs and other barriers to goods and services trade and investment” among these countries. However leaked texts and news reports show that the TPP would significantly alter the balance of international power, reduce national, state and city sovereignty, and negatively impact domestic businesses, environmental and labor protections, food sanitation standards, and free access to the internet and low-cost medications.

Green Shadow Cabinet: Open Meeting On TPP

February 8, 2015 Green Shadow Cabinet, www.PopularResistance.org Educate! fast track, Green Shadow Cabninet, TPP

The most important immediate issue facing the country is stopping Fast Track for corporate trade agreements. Corporate trade advocates are pushing a version of Fast Track that will last four year with an option for a three year extension. If corporate traders have seven years to secretly negotiate trade agreements that favor transnational corporations it will cement in place corporate domination of the world economy and governments throughout the world. Failure to stop Fast Track will risk everything the movement for social, economic and environmental justice is working for. Our food and water will be at risk, as well our healthcare, regulation of banking, climate change, jobs and the future of the Internet. This is a moment where we must unify to mobilize against Fast Track for corporate trade. This Wednesday the Green Shadow Cabinet is holding an open cabinet meeting to discuss why this is important and how we can mobilize.

Major Historic Victory For Internet Freedom: The Fight Continues

February 5, 2015 Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers, www.PopularResistance.org Resist! fast track, FCC, Internet, Internet Freedom, Net Neutrality, Tom Wheeler, TPP

Our ten month campaign to save the Internet (which built on ten years of work) had an against-all-odds victory when the Chairman of the FCC announced that the Internet would be reclassified as a public utility under Title II of the Federal Communications Act. If you remember, this is why we camped outside the FCC last May and continued to protest throughout the year– so that the Internet would be reclassified. This is a crucial step to guarantee net neutrality which means that we all have equal access to content on the Internet and it can’t be turned into a pay-to-play scheme like cable TV. This is a victory of people power over corporate power, indeed over one of the most powerful lobbies in Washington, DC the telecom industry! We have more campaigns to win and must be confident that the people have power and can defeat corporate interests.

Mobilized & Winning, Now It’s Time to Escalate

January 30, 2015 Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers, www.PopularResistance.org Organize! fast track, Free Trade Agreements, TAFTA, TPP, Trade, TTIP

Since the President’s State of the Union message where he announced his plan to push corporate trade agreements and seek Fast Track trade promotion authority, the movement against Fast Track, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and globalized trade has grown. Instead of the bump in support that Obama expected after the State of the Union, opposition has increased inside Congress and in the grass roots. This week Senator Grassley saidthat currently they don’t have 60 votes in support of Fast Track and therefore it could not pass a filibuster. If Wyden demands that Congress sees the text of the TPP and has true involvement in the negotiations before they are finalized, then he and Hatch will not reach agreement and the Republicans will have to go it alone. In the House there are even more challenges for Fast Track. Chuck Porcari of the Communication Workers (CWA) writes: “House Speaker John Boehner has said that the White House needs to deliver at least 50 House Democrats if Fast Track has any hopes of passing, especially now that the White House is trying to whip together 80 Democrats in the House and New Democrat Coalition is trying to cobble together at most 40 votes. . . . According to a story by Inside U.S. Trade, ‘one informed source questioned whether the New Democrats actually have an idea of which lawmakers will provide the 40 ‘yes’ votes they are seeking.’”

Newsletter: Our Task-The Future As A Frontier

January 24, 2015 Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese, www.PopularResistance.org Newsletter BXE, Citizens United, Corporatocracy, Davos, Democracy, Elections, fast track, FERC, Fracking, Martin Luther King Jr, MLK, Pipelines, Seneca Lake, Solar, Supreme Court, TPP, World Economic Forum

Sam Smith gave this talk, “On Becoming and Being an Activist,” at a teen conference. The essence of his message is that we are facing serious crises and we have to make a choice of whether we will act or not. We are on a dangerous path and it takes courage to see that and not be paralyzed into inaction. It is easier to ignore the truth and succumb to the many distractions in our lives. Smith writes: “It is this willingness to walk away from the seductive power of the present that first divides the mere reformer from the rebel — the courage to emigrate from one’s own ways in order to meet the future not as just a right but as a frontier.” Smith goes on to describe that traditional tools for social change, working within the system, are not effective in this time. We must raise our voices, do the unexpected and try the improbable. We need to use our passion, our energy, our magic and music to burst the illusion being hand fed to us in the media and taught in our schools.

Activists Demand Ron Wyden Oppose Fast Tracking TPP

January 23, 2015 Staff, www.PopularResistance.org Resist! Corporatism, fast track, TPP, TTIP

Activists working in coordination with digital rights group Fight for the Future briefly disrupted a town hall meeting hosted by Oregon Senator Ron Wyden when they unfurled a banner behind the Senator reading, “Senator Wyden: Don’t Betray the Internet! No Fast Track for the TPP!” The activists are joining tens of thousands of voices who have called upon Senator Wyden to oppose outdated and undemocratic “Fast Track” legislation, also known as “Trade Promotion Authority,” as well as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a massive, secretive trade deal that has been condemned by advocacy organizations from across the political spectrum.

Fast Track Not A Done Deal, The People Will Stop It

January 18, 2015 Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers, www.PopularResistance.org Resist! Climate Change, Corporatism, Crony capitalism, Extreme Energy, fast track, Internet, Living Wage, TAFTA, TPP, TTIP, Wages, Worker Rights and Jobs

The corporate media is reporting that since the Republican leadership and President Obama support Fast Track trade authority, it is a done deal. And that message, also heard by countries negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), is driving the race to finalize that agreement. The truth is: Fast Track is not a done deal. There is bi-partisan opposition in Congress and a large movement of movements organized to stop it. Members of both parties know that Obama will be out of office when the negative impacts of these trade agreements are felt. Congress will be alone facing an angry electorate while Obama is raising money for his post-presidential career from the transnational corporations who get rich off these agreements at the expense of everyone else. Members of both parties know that Obama will be out of office when the negative impacts of these trade agreements are felt. Congress will be alone facing an angry electorate while Obama is raising money for his post-presidential career from the transnational corporations who get rich off these agreements at the expense of everyone else.

Newsletter: What It Means To #ReclaimMLK

January 16, 2015 Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese, www.PopularResistance.org Newsletter fast track, Martin Luther King Jr, militarism, MLK, New Economy, Police abuse, Racism, TPP, Wars and Militarism

This week, in honor of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday, people around the country are organizing actions to #ReclaimMLK as the true person he was; one that recognized the roots of the crises being experienced and who made connections between many issues. Dr. King was a critic of capitalism, racism and imperialism. He said: “When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.” Dr. King called for a “revolution of values,” meaning a shift from a “thing-oriented” society to a “person-oriented” society. A new generation of young activists is embracing the radical Dr. King and rejecting the watered-down version presented in major media. We have no doubt that Dr. King would be part of the movement for social, economic and environmental justice. Many of us are already working on the issues of Dr. King, in many ways we have already reclaimed him.

Politics Of The Trans-Pacific Partnership

January 4, 2015 Andrew Levine, www.counterpunch.org Educate! fast track, TPP, Trade

There are signs too that there is increasing awareness that the declining fortunes of the vast majority are not just contingent side effects of neoliberal, “pro-growth,” economic policies that Democrats would reform away if only Republicans wouldn’t stop them. These policies are what neoliberalism is about, and promoting neoliberalism is what politicians these days do. Even within the Democratic base, the realization is dawning that Democrats, though not quite as blatant as Republicans, are just as culpable. They too do what their paymasters demand. It is also becoming harder than ever to deny that the trade policies that some Democrats, along with Republicans, have championed since the Bill Clinton days are a root cause of the discontent now rising to the surface. Despite the drivel emanating out of the White House, “free trade” is emphatically not good for nearly everybody. Quite the contrary, nearly everybody is now on to what neoliberal trade policies do.

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