TPP

Revolution’s Matchstick Catches Fire . . .

June 26, 2015 Rivera Sun, www.riverasun.com Educate! Democracy, fast track, Free Trade, TPP

By Rivera Sun - In our real lives, we are witnessing the advance of the corporate coup. The latest slurry of acronyms (TAA, TPA, FTA, TPP, TTIP) spells out the coded story of the rise of corporate power over living, breathing people. The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) is still shrouded in secrecy, but one detail we know from leaked text is that a transnational trade tribunal will have the authority to overturn local, state, and federal laws as barriers to trade. Gone is our right to clean water and air. (China doesn’t have them, so neither should US citizens – such regulations hamper corporations’ ability to compete.) Gone is the dream of living wages (third world nations don’t have them, and neither should Americans – it gets in the way of corporations finding cheap labor).

“King Obama,” His Royal Court, And The TPP

June 26, 2015 Ralph Nader, www.facebook.com Resist! Democracy, Free Trade, Law, Lawsuit, TPP

By Ralph Nader - The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) – a global corporate noose around U.S. local, state, and national sovereignty – narrowly passed a major procedural hurdle in the Congress by gaining “fast track” status. This term “fast track” is a euphemism for your members of Congress – senators and representatives – handcuffing themselves, so as to prevent any amendments or adequate debate before the final vote on the Trans-Pacific Partnership – another euphemism that is used to avoid the word “treaty,” which would require ratification by two-thirds of the Senate. This anti-democratic process is being pushed by “King Obama” and his royal court. Make no mistake. If this was only a trade treaty – reducing tariffs, quotas, and the like – it would not be so controversial.

Six Ways TPP Opponents Have Won, Even As Fast Track Advances

June 26, 2015 Sarah Anderson, www.nationofchange.org Resist! Climate Change, Direct Action, Free Trade, TPP

By Sarah Anderson in Nation of Change - I tried to stay emotionally distanced from this one. It didn’t work. When the White House and Republican leaders got the votes they needed in the Senate to advance “fast track” Trade Promotion Authority on Tuesday, June 23, it was crushing. All observers agree that fast track will soon become law, making it easier for President Barack Obama to pass the controversial trade pacts in the works with Pacific Rim nations and the European Union. That will be a serious setback to the movements for the environment, labor rights, and affordable pharmaceuticals, among others. But after observing painful trade votes for more than 20 years, this one left me feeling that opponents should be holding their heads higher than ever before as they regroup for the next phase of the fight. Here are a few reasons why:

The TPP – What You’re Not Being Told

June 26, 2015 Storm Clouds Gathering, www.stormcloudsgathering.com Educate! Corporatism, Democracy, fast track, TPP

By Storm Clouds Gathering - Under the TPP, if a country passes a law to protect its citizens or reduce pollution in a particular sector, a multinational corporation which is affected by that law can take that country to a tribunal. The ruling will be legally binding. It doesn't matter what people voted for. An example of what this will look can be found in Uruguay, which has been sued by the Philip Morris tobacco company. You see, Uruguay passed a law requiring particularly aggressive warning labels on cigarettes. These warning labels have been very effective. Smoking in Uruguay has declined by about 4 percent annually. Obviously that's bad for business.

Health Care Only For The Rich Under The TPP

June 26, 2015 Pete Dolack, www.zcomm.org Educate! Free Trade, Health Care, TPP, wealth inequality

Health care will take a large step toward becoming a privilege for those who can afford it rather than a human right under the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Government programs to hold down the cost of medications are targeted for elimination in the TPP, which, if adopted, would grant pharmaceutical companies new powers over health care. This has implications around the globe, as such rules could become precedents for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership and Trade In Services Agreement, two other deals being negotiated in secret. The U.S. Congress’ failure to pass “fast-track” authority in the past week has thrown a significant roadblock in the path of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, but by no means has this most audacious corporate power grab been defeated.

Choreographed Corruption Passes Fast Track, But Not Over Yet

June 25, 2015 Kevin Zeese and Paul Jay, www.therealnews.com Educate! fast track, Free Trade, TPP

By Kevin Zeese and Paul Jay in The Real News - We're basically at the stage of dealing with giving the President trade promotion authority, which we call fast track because it means Congress has a very cursory role. They just debate it on the two floors. No amendments, an up or down vote, if the President has that power. They also had to pass a separate piece for labor assistance called TAA, which was to provide assistance to workers who lose their job because of trade. So this is all procedural. This is how they're going to approach the trade issue. They could have approached it without fast track. Had committee hearings, had expert witnesses, took testimony, debated in committee rooms, taken citizen input, had a floor debate, amendments on the floor.

Stop The TransPacific Partnership (TPP)

June 23, 2015 Margaret Flowers, www.popularresistance.org Resist! fast track, TISA, TPP, Trade, TTIP

By Margaret Flowers in Popular Resistance. In the days leading up to the Fast Track votes in the Senate, the activist community mobilized in an amazing way. Actions were held across the country, particularly focusing on the fourteen Democratic Senators who supported Fast Track in the last round. On June 23, the Senate held a procedural vote on the Fast Track bill that just reached the 60 votes needed to prevent a filibuster. This clears the way for the final vote which is expected to pass easily. Of the 14 Democrats who supported Fast Track previously, all but one voted to advance the vote.

EU Parliament Members To Senate: ‘No Fast Track’

June 23, 2015 Staff, www.popularresistance.org Educate! Congress, fast track, TPP, Trade, TTIP

By Staff of Popular Resistance. Note: Forty three members of the European Parliament sent a letter to the members of the US House of Representatives last week urging them to oppose Fast Track. They highlighted the broad reach of the treaties currently under negotiation and the importance of exploring their full impacts on their constituents before moving ahead on them. Like the US Congress, members of the EU Parliament have been excluded from the secret negotiations with limited access to the text. Unlike the US Congress, they do not have a choice whether they Fast Track the treaties or not. They advise the US Congress not to cede their power to provide checks and balances to the executive office. This week, the parliamentarians decided to publish their similar letter to the US Senate as an open letter for all to read. Here it is:

Almost $200 Million Donated To House To Pass TPA

June 21, 2015 Paola Casale, www.opednews.com Educate! Corruption, fast track, TAFTA, TISA, TPP, TTIP

By Paola Casale in Op-Ed News. Next week will be the key votes in the US Senate on Fast Track Trade Promotion Authority. See here on what you can do to stop it. The article below shows the kind of corruption we are up against. It covers the US House of Representatives where a vote was held last week. The vote was 218 in favor of TPA. That is the exact number for a majority in the US House of Representatives (10 did not vote in the House). The battle over TPA has become a conflict between people and money. The people won in the House two weeks ago but than the Republican leadership working with President Obama manipulated the rules for a re-vote. But rather than a re-vote they came up with a scheme to avoid a re-vote on Trade Adjustment Assistance which they lost in the House and stopped TPA from becoming law. They created a convoluted process that now looks on the verge of success that will make it very hard to stop the Obama trade agreements that will dramatically shift power to corporations over the global economy and all levels of US government.

Newsletter – No Justice, No Peace

June 20, 2015 Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese, www.PopularResistance.org Newsletter Arctic drilling, Asian Pivot, BXE, Climate Justice, Criminal Justice and Prisons, fast track, Freedom of Speech, Gas, Housing, Inequality, Net Neutrality, New York City (NYC), Pipelines, Police violence, Pope Francis, Privacy, Racial Discrimination, Racism, Rikers, Shell Oil, sHellNo!, South Carolina, Terrorism, TPP, Wars and Militarism

By Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese for Popular Resistance. Glen Ford of Black Agenda Report writes that “No justice, no peace” is “a vow by the movement to transform the crisis that is inflicted on Black people into a generalized crisis for the larger society, and for those who currently rule.” In reality, given the violence being inflicted upon people, particularly people of color, whether directly or indirectly through rising poverty, unemployment, homelessness, lack of access to health care and more, and the government’s failures to address these crises and listen to the people, disruption is a necessary element of political change. In 1968 the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., spoke outside a prison in California where people were being held for protesting the Vietnam War. In the speech he drew the connections between the Civil Rights movement and the peace movement against the Vietnam War. Today we see the links between racism, inequality, imperialism, militarism and ecocide and his comment on that day continues to ring true: "There can be no justice without peace. And there can be no peace without justice."

The President’s Trade Deal Struggles Because It’s Bad Policy

June 19, 2015 Stan Sorscher, www.huffingtonpost.com Educate! Free Trade, Policy, Politics, TPP

By Stan Sorscher in Huffington Post - The Trans-Pacific Partnership is a 12-country NAFTA-style trade deal with two serious problems. It doesn't work, and it's bad for democracy. First, everyone is in favor of trade. We can have good trade policy that raises living standards or bad trade policy that works fabulously well for a few, but very badly for everyone else. More than any other policy, trade policy creates winners and losers. For instance, pharmaceutical companies are big winners. Their expanded patent monopolies will cost everyone else billions. Nike is a winner because new investor protections will apply to its operations in Vietnam, where Nike already exploits the lowest cost labor they could find on earth.

Fast Track To The Corporate Wish List

June 18, 2015 David Dayen, www.prospect.org Educate! Capitalism, Corporatism, fast track, Free Trade, TPP

By David Dayen in Propsect - Pharmaceutical companies, software makers, and Hollywood conglomerates get expanded intellectual property enforcement, protecting their patents and their profits. Some of this, such as restrictions on generic drugs, is at the expense of competition and consumers. Firms get improved access to poor countries with nonexistent labor protections, like Vietnam or Brunei, to manufacture their goods. TPP provides assurances that regulations, from food safety to financial services, will be “harmonized” across borders. In practice, that means a regulatory ceiling. In one of the most contested provisions, corporations can use the investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) process, and appeal to extra-judicial tribunals that bypass courts and usual forms of due process to seek monetary damages equaling “expected future profits.”

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.

ISDS Provisions In TPP Violate U.S. Constitution

June 17, 2015 Gaius Publius, www.downwithtyranny.blogspot.com Educate! Finance and the Economy, Free Trade, TPP

By Gaius Publius in Down With Tyranny - None of these [previously discussed court] decisions resolves the constitutionality of the TPP ISDS arbitration procedures, but their collective reasoning falls heavily on the side of unconstitutionality, based on four factors that apply to the TPP tribunals: (1) they deal with questions of law, that judges normally decide, not questions of fact, that could go to juries or arbitrators; (2) the arbitrators are not federal officers, construing and applying federal law, but are private parties, none of whom has to be an American citizen; (3) the consent of the United States is general and not case specific and, where the challenge is to a state or local law, the state or locality never consents at all...

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