Free Trade

Warren Tells Obama To Put Up Or Shut Up

April 27, 2015 Zach Carter, www.huffingtonpost.com Resist! Elizabeth Warren, Free Trade, Progressive, TPP

On Saturday, Warren and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) responded with a letter essentially telling Obama to put up or shut up. If the deal is so great, Warren and Brown wrote, the administration should make the full negotiation texts public before Congress votes on a "fast track" bill that would strip the legislative branch of its authority to amend it. "Members of Congress should be able to discuss the agreement with our constituents and to participate in a robust public debate, instead of being muzzled by classification rules," Warren and Brown wrote in the letter obtained by The Huffington Post. Democrats and some Republican critics have been particularly frustrated by Obama's decision to treat the TPP documents as classified information, which prevents them from responding to Obama's claims about the pact in detail.

U.S. Cities Fight Back Against Washington’s Secretive Trade Deal

April 25, 2015 Dana Liebelson, www.huffingtonpost.com Resist! Free Trade, Local, National, TPP

As the trade debate heats up in Washington, city councils are fighting back against controversial legislation that would grant the president the authority to fast-track international trade deals without congressional amendments. On the Hill, lawmakers are pushing full steam ahead on legislation the Obama administration is seeking in order to pass the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a trade deal with Asian-Pacific countries. Some Democrats don't support the deal, arguing that certain trade provisions are worrisome and haven't received enough scrutiny. Nonetheless, a key Senate committee moved the bill forward on Wednesday. Across the country, city officials are making their own concerns about the legislation crystal clear. This week, San Francisco adopted a resolution opposing fast-track, following similar efforts in other cities, including Seattle and Bellingham, Washington and Fort Bragg and Richmond, California.

Obama, Corporate “Free Traitors” And You!

April 25, 2015 Ralph Nader, www.blog.nader.org Educate! Free Trade, TPP

The pro-big business President Barack Obama and his corporate allies are starting their campaign to manipulate and pressure Congress to ram through the “pull-down-on-America” Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a trade and foreign investment treaty between twelve nations (Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam). The first skirmish is a fast track bill to have Congress formally strip itself of its constitutional authority to regulate trade and surrender this historic responsibility to the White House and its corporate lobbies. Lest you think the TPP is too commercially complex to bother about, think again.

Bad Trade Policies Destroyed My Hometown; TPP Coming For Yours

April 25, 2015 J David Cox, www.dailykos.com Educate! Finance and the Economy, Free Trade, NAFTA, Workers Rights and Jobs

The TPP is called “NAFTA on steroids” for good reason. It threatens to ship even more jobs to countries like Vietnam, where workers earn poverty wages and are forbidden from unionizing; where some of my best friends lost their lives. It would deregulate big business even further, endangering our communities and our environment. It would allow big pharmaceuticals to drive up the prices of life saving medications. And by fast tracking the TPP, big corporations are stopping our democratically-elected lawmakers from even making changes to the deal. I want to be clear about this: Not only do TPP's corporate backers have the gall to write and push this terrible trade deal, they want to do it behind closed doors, without even letting members of Congress read it.

Pro-Israel Clause Added To Trade Debate Unanimously

April 24, 2015 Sarah Lazare, www.commondreams.org Educate! Finance and the Economy, Free Trade, Israel, Palestine, TTIP

U.S. lawmakers are quietly advancing legislation that would penalize international participation in the growing movement to boycott, divest from, and sanction (BDS) Israel for human rights abuses against Palestinians. With little notice, anti-BDS directives were injected into the "Fast Track" legislation that passed the Senate Finance Committee Wednesday night, despitebroad opposition to the bill, which gives the administration of President Barack Obama authority to ram though so-called "free trade" deals. An amendment, included in the bill and sponsored by Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), stipulates that, as a principle of trade negotiations, the U.S. should put pressure on other countries not to engage in BDS against Israel of any kind, including refusal to do business with settlements.

Newly Leaked TTIP Draft Reveals Far-Reaching Assault

April 21, 2015 Sarah Lazare, www.commondreams.org Educate! Democracy, Environment, Free Trade, Human Rights, TTIP

A freshly-leaked chapter from the highly secretive Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) agreement, currently under negotiation between the United States and European Union, reveals that the so-called "free trade" deal poses an even greater threat to environmental and human rights protections—and democracy itself—than previously known, civil society organizations warn. The revelation comes on the heels of global protests against the mammoth deal over the weekend and coincides with the reconvening of negotiations between the parties on Monday in New York. The European Commission's latest proposed chapter (pdf) on "regulatory cooperation" was first leaked to Friends of the Earth and dates to the month of March. It follows previous leaks of the chapter, and experts say the most recent iteration is even worse.

Why You Can’t Trust The Media On TPP & Trade

April 20, 2015 Lee Fang, www.firstlook.org Educate! Free Trade, Freedom of Expression, Media, TPP

Broadcast media has not devoted much air time to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal, an agreement that will greatly impact 40 percent of the global economy. But hacked emails from Sony reveal that media industry executives have been engaged in active discussions about the agreement behind closed doors. On April 17, 2014, Steven Fabrizio, the general counsel of the Motion Picture Association of America, sent out an update to industry executives — including Maren Christensen of NBC and Alan Braverman of Disney, the parent company of ABC News — detailing lobbying efforts by the MPAA. “Finally, in regard to trade,” Fabrizio wrote, “the MPAA/MPA with the strong support of your studios, continue to advocate to governments around the world about the pressing need for strong pro-IP trade policies such as TPP and the proposed EU/US trade agreement (TTIP).”

Fast Track Reveals Deep Corruption Of Government

April 18, 2015 Kevin Zeese and Sharmini Peries, www.therealnews.com Resist! Capitalism, Democracy, Free Trade, Human Rights, TPP

Because they have the experience of NAFTA and the WTO. What they've seen in the past, some of the promises in this fast-track are, they put 150 negotiating objectives. You know, protect the environment with enforceable rules, protect labor rights with enforceable rules. Those have been put into every fast-track agreement since the NAFTA and WTO and they've never accomplished anything. In fact there was a leak of the environmental chapter a year ago of the TPP, and it showed that the enforcement sections for the environment are weaker than they were under President Bush's trade agreements. And so there's less enforcement of the environment than there's ever been. And so you have this fast-track that says the objective is to protect the environment with enforceable protections, and the leak says there's no enforcement.

How ‘Free’ Trade Leads To Increased Conflicts & Instability

April 2, 2015 Patrick T. Hiller, www.huntingtonnews.net Educate! Finance and the Economy, Free Trade, TPP

Let’s get one thing straight to begin with. Trade is good. We do it all the time. Trade has been pretty much part of recorded human history and evidence reveals prehistorical trade routes in many parts of the world. It becomes a little bit trickier when we look at large-scale international trade agreements. The question as to whether foreign trade promotes peace and development or destructive conflict has been debated for a long time. One of the most current controversies on free trade agreements evolves around the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP). The history of free trade agreements, the secrecy around TPP, and the leaked information of the actual agreement suggest tremendous potential for social conflict if implemented. Described by its promoters as a “next-generation model for addressing both new and traditional trade and investment issues, supporting the creation and retention of jobs and promoting economic development in our countries,” TPP is already facing broad resistance.

Digital Rights Activists Use Jumbotron To Pressure Wyden

March 31, 2015 Annie Ellison, www.golocalpdx.com Resist! Capitalism, Congress, Free Trade, TPP

Fight for the Future parked a truck adorned with a Jumbotron on Capitol Hill for an impromptu “film festival” as part of the group’s ongoing campaign to pressure Oregon Senator Ron Wyden to drop legislation that would fast track the multi-national Trans-Pacific Partnership. The trade deal between countries in Asia, Australia and the Americas would boost U.S. trade, but activists fear it would jeopardize transparency due to issues of internet censorship. “Senator Wyden has built his career on a platform of government transparency and support for Internet freedom,” Fight for the Future campaign director Evan Greer said.

Flood Congress – No TPP, No Fast Track!

March 20, 2015 Art Killing Apathy, www.artkillingapathy.com Resist! Congress, Democracy, fast track, Free Trade, TPP

Earlier today, activists lead by Popular Resistance flooded Congress in a silent protest against TPP and Fast Track. Starting in the Dirksen building, activists put on vests noting all the facets of our lives and rights that would be “Silenced” by the TPP and Fast Track. Along with the vests, blue tape was also used to physically silence the groups as we flooded through the halls of Congress. Split into two groups, activists walked by Congressional offices in the Hart building, accompanied by Press and supporters. Police intervened after a banner drop after which the activists headed to Senator Ron Wyden’s office to drop off personally written letters and occupy his office.

Over 100 Legal Scholars Warn About TPP Dangers

March 14, 2015 Dave Johnson, www.ourfuture.org Resist! Congress, Free Trade, Law, TPP

Over 100 law professors sent an open letter to Congress and the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) saying they need to “protect the rule of law and the nation’s sovereignty” in trade agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). While TPP is still secret, leaks and precedent indicate that it will contain provisions allowing giant, multinational corporations to bypass our country’s legal system. These provisions will allow these multinational corporations to sue governments, including ours, in “corporate courts” if they decide to pass laws and regulations that restrain the profits of these giant corporations, such as efforts to help citizens quit smoking.

The United States Of TTIP: Big Business Constitution For Europe

March 13, 2015 Nick Dearden, www.commondreams.org Educate! Corporatism, Democracy, Europe, Free Trade, TTIP

The US-EU trade agreement, known as TTIP, is not just another free trade deal. It is a charter for big business, forcing lawmakers to uphold the so-called ‘rights’ of investors above every other consideration – human rights, environmental protection, democratic accountability. It is a constitution for the free movement of capital. Leaked documents from the European Commission reveal that TTIP will be a ‘living agreement,’ continuing to influence laws even after it has been signed. If something doesn’t make the final cut, business lobbyists needn’t fear, because the Commission is working to enshrine a greater role for them in the process of creating (or halting) regulation. "The central purpose of TTIP is to align regulations on both sides of the Atlantic – whether chemical regulations, food production standards or environmental requirements."

Unions To Fight Trade Pact By Freezing Political Donations

March 11, 2015 Melanie Trottman, www.wsj.com Resist! Capitalism, Free Trade, Labor Unions, Neo-Liberalism, TPP

Dozens of major labor unions plan to freeze campaign contributions to members of Congress to pressure them to oppose fast-track trade legislation sought by President Barack Obama , according to labor officials. The move is part of the unions’ campaign against the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, which the Obama administration is negotiating with 11 nations around the Pacific Ocean. The unions worry the trade agreement could send more jobs to low-wage countries, including Vietnam and Malaysia. Unions have opposed the TPP through demonstrations, letters to lawmakers and political ads, but withholding political contributions is a more forceful way of flexing their muscle. In the 2014 midterm elections, unions—the lifeblood of the Democratic Party—contributed about $65 million from their political-action committee, or PACs, to candidates, nearly all Democrats.

Movement Launches Nationwide Actions Opposing Pacific Trade Deal

March 7, 2015 Occupy, www.occupy.com Resist! Democracy, fast track, Free Trade, TPP

These trade agreements are structured solely in the interest of corporate gain. The TPP and Fast Track are bringing together odd bedfellows like in Spokane, Wash., where Tea Party members and Occupiers are coming together in opposition. Eleanor Goldfield, a musician with Rooftop Revolutionaries and activist with the Rolling Rebellion, says passage of the TPP and Fast Track would “turn corporate personhood into corporate nationhood by creating international court systems and trade tribunals that allow corporations to challenge laws enacted by countries in the interest of public health, safety and justice.” With this sovereignty, corporations would hold sway over nearly every facet of our lives, from food to Internet access. As Julian Assange wrote, “If you read, write, publish, think, listen, dance, sing or invent; if you farm or consume food; if you’re ill now or might one day be ill, the TPP has you in its crosshairs.”

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