TPP

As Fast Track Moves In Committees, Opposition Builds

April 23, 2015 Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers, www.mintpressnews.com Educate! fast track, Free Trade Agreements, TAFTA, TPP, Trade, TTIP

Things are rapidly changing on Capitol Hill around fast track trade authority for the Trans-Pacific Partnership and other corporate trade agreements. The article we wrote below, published in MintPress News, was written a few days ago but there are already important updates. The two Committees are very likely to pass the fast track and related bills. They are dominated by those in favor of fast track and "free" trade, then the real battle begins with the full House. The best estimates, as described below, have a majority of the House opposed to fast track, but pressure will be put on Congress by the White House, Republican leadership and mega-corporations so the movement against rigged corporate trade must escalate its actions. A good place to start is Stop Fast Track where you will be directed how to take action. If you are in the DC area sign up to be part of the rapid response team that Popular Resistance has developed

San Francisco Unanimously Opposes Fast Track

April 21, 2015 Food & Water Watch and Electronic Frontier Foundation, www.PopularResistance.org Resist! fast track, San Francisco, TPP

Another major Pacific port city, San Francisco, has voted against fast track for the TPP. We recently reported on Seattle's City Council unanimously opposing fast track, now the SF Board of Supervisors has also unanimously opposed the bill. The Electronic Frontier Foundation writes about the vote in "San Francisco Opposes TPP Fast Track in New Resolution" and urges people to tweet Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer. Pelosi and Hoyer are key votes on fast track as they tend toward supporting President Obama, but they also do not want to be out of step with the Democratic House members. Pelosi has a history of opposing fast track legislation. The Board of Supervisors vote should help push Pelosi to come out in opposition to fast track. In addition, the ranking member on the Ways and Means Committee, Sander Levin, has also come out in strong opposition saying it is his mission to "defeat the Hatch-Wyden bill," further pushing Pelosi and Hoyer to stay with the Democratic Caucus which overwhelmingly opposes fast track.

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).”

Rep. Levin: ‘I’m Out To Defeat The Hatch-Wyden Bill’

April 19, 2015 Michael McAuliff and Jennifer Bendery, www.huffingtonpost.com Resist! fast track, Free Trade Agreements, TAFTA, TPP, TTIP

Levin said that by failing to address Democrats' concerns about the deals, Obama and the sponsors of the TPA legislation had dramatically raised the chances that opponents will seek to block the measure. "The administration has essentially given us the power to defeat TPA," Levin said during a discussion with reporters in which he released seven pages of objections to the fast-track legislation that he said had not been addressed. The Michigan Democrat's comments may be of particular concern to the administration because while Levin had previously been critical of the trade negotiations, he had not come out against granting Obama the fast track. That's no longer the case. After Hatch, Wyden and Ryan culminated negotiations with the White House over TPA that excluded Levin and other Democrats, Levin announced his opposition in no uncertain terms. "I'm out to defeat the Hatch-Wyden bill," he said Friday.

Newsletter – We Demand Accountability

April 18, 2015 Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese, www.PopularResistance.org Newsletter Banking, Climate Change, Corporatism, Corruption, Democracy, Empire, fast track, killed by police, Police abuse, Taxes, TPP, Wages, Wealth Ineqaulity, World Bank

On Tax Day, April 15, 61 year old Doug Hughes, a mailman from Florida, landed a gyrocopter on the Capitol lawn to deliver 535 letters to members of Congress in order “to spotlight corruption of Congress and to present a solution to legalized bribery.” Hughes told the Tampa Bay News that "I'd rather die in the flight than live to be 80 years old and see this country fall." He has been released on bond with home detention and returns to court on May 8th to face charges of operating an unregistered aircraft and violating restricted airspace, facing a total of four years incarceration. On Saturday, April 11, 22 year old Leo Thornton shot and killed himself in front of the Capitol. He had a sign taped to his hand that read, “Tax the 1%.” The media ignored him, some called him an extremist and did not report his "radical" message of fair taxes. Protests by individuals and groups become impactful when they ignite others to join, to mobilize in support of the call. We urge you to support protests by participating, spreading the word and mobilizing in whatever way you can.

More Than 500 Cities Protest Rigged Corporate Deals

April 18, 2015 Sam Cossar Gilbert, www.aljazeera.com Resist! Neoliberalism, TPP, Trade, TTIP

Today, April 18, tens of thousands of people in over 500 cities across the world are taking action against corporate trade and investment regimes that are threatening our environment and human rights. From a picket in the Philippines to a public forum in Ecuador and a direct action in Australia, participants in this unprecedented "Global Day of Action" are taking back control of our democracy. Trade and investments agreements are no longer just about import tariffs, but about a range of issues that determine the food we eat, the energy we use and the ability of our governments to regulate in the public interest. As of today, four massive new global trade agreements are being negotiated away from public scrutiny, despite the fact that they will affect the lives of over 1.5 billion people.

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.

Fast Track A Bad Deal For Farmers & Our Food System, 110+ Groups Say

April 18, 2015 Karren Hansen-Kuhn, www.iatp.org Resist! Finance and the Economy, Food and Agriculture, TPP

Over 110 farm, food and consumer groups urged members of Congress in aletter today to oppose trade promotion authority or “fast track” legislation that would pave the way for trade agreements detrimental to farmers, ranchers and food systems, such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). A fast track bill, expected to be introduced this week, would allow the President to negotiate two mega trade deals in secret, and present a final version to Congress for a simple up or down vote—depriving Congress of its right to amend the finalized agreement. The groups expressed concern that pending trade deals would primarily benefit agribusiness corporations and not address the key challenges facing farmers and rural communities.

Rigged Corporate Trade Turns Public Services Into Corporate Profits

April 18, 2015 Nick Dearden, www.globaljustice.org.uk Resist! Privatization, Public Services, TPP, Trade

Another week, another victory for big business over a government in a secret pseudo-court. This time it’s the turn of private water giant Suez, who successfully sued Argentina for reversing the privatisation of Buenos Aires's water supply. No matter that the country was in a state of economic crisis when the nationalisation took place, and the government didn’t want water prices to rise by 60%. No matter that the company time and again failed to meet its performance targets. In the world of corporate courts, nothing matters except an investor’s ‘right’ to profit. Yet it is exactly this system of so-called Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) that we will be signing up to if the US-EU trade deal known as TTIP goes ahead. Again and again government ministers tell us there’s nothing to fear. Nothing in TTIP will prevent us running public services in the way we choose.

Fast Track Introduced, Opposition Grows Against Rigged Trade

April 17, 2015 Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers, www.PopularResistance.org Resist! fast track, Free Trade Agreements, TAFTA, TPP, TTIP

Yesterday, Senator Orin Hatch (R-UT), Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) introduced a fast track bill that they will be pushing hard to get through the legislative process as quickly as possible. A hearing is planned for next Thursday in the Senate Finance Committee to mark-up the bill and perhaps vote on it. Hatch and Wyden spoke in flowery terms about the bill at a hearing on April 16, 2015 but when all the flowers are removed, not much has changed. The bill is a transfer of constitutional responsibility for trade to the president. The statements were misleading at best and at the announcement people working with Popular Resistance decided we needed to show our opposition. We stood up and turned our back on the committee as US Trade Representative Michael Froman was testifying. We also protested outside of the Dirksen Senate Office building showing our opposition to fast track for rigged corporate trade. One of their talking points is there are nearly 150 congressional objectives in the bill implying this gives Congress a role in setting the direction of the bill. But, the Trans-Pacific Partnership has been negotiated in secret by the Obama administration since 2009 and is nearly complete so how are these 150 objectives going to be met?

Fast Track And TPP: Lost Jobs, Lower Wages

April 14, 2015 Communications Workers of America, www.cwa-union.org Educate! Corporatism, TPP, Workers Rights and Jobs

When ordinary Americans learn more about “fast track” authority and the Trans-Pacific Partnership, they recognize it as a bad deal for workers’ jobs and wages, small business, food safety and the environment. This trade deal has been negotiated in secret for nearly four years. Now, as the multinational corporations and trade negotiators are closing in on the final round, they’re pushing for “fast track” authority, which would block Congress from amending or improving the deal in any way. The House and Senate would be limited to an up-or-down vote on the entire package. CWA and a diverse group of allies has been shining a bright light on the secrecy surrounding the TPP and 600 corporate advisers who have access to all the texts while members of Congress, unions, and all public interest groups can only speculate about what this massive trade deal would do to working and middle class families.

Now Is The Time: People’s Block Of Fast Track

April 12, 2015 Staff, www.flushthetpp.org Resist! fast track, TPP

In addition to the actions below in Washington, DC there are actions being planned all over the country on April 18th. Join one or organize one for this International Day of Action, see here. And, in the meantime visit www.StopFastTrack.com and call your representatives. The next three weeks are going to be determinative as to whether we succeed in stopping fast track for rigged trade agreements. The Senate Finance Committee is gearing up to introduce a Fast Track bill next week! The Committee, and Congress in general, are getting lots of pressure (and money) from Obama and the multinational corporations to pass Fast Track. When the bill drops (if it does) there will be a powerful people’s response across the country and around the world. In D.C., we are calling this the “No Fast Track People’s Block,” a constant stream of actions to stop Fast Track and rigged corporate deals like the TPP and TTIP. Here is a preliminary schedule and some ideas.

Newsletter: Shake Off Hypnosis, See Root Causes Of Crises

April 11, 2015 Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese, www.PopularResistance.org Newsletter fast track, killed by police, Media, NSA, Privacy, spying, Student Activism, TPP, Walter Scott

An ambitious young journalist who wanted to speak truth to power, Matt Kennard, was writing for the Financial Times. He quickly learned the corporate media was not the place to tell truths that the power structure did not want to hear. Now he has written a new book, “The Racket: A Rogue Reporter Takes on the Masters of the Universe,” which does speak truth to power.Time for Truth Kennard describes the racket as the “global elite’s prolonged war on the people of our world with the sole aim of pumping up their bottom line.” That ‘war’ has come home and is being waged against people. Just as Matt Kennard shook off the hypnosis and saw reality, we must not be afraid to see the truth around us. Once we do the root causes of the crisis become evident. And, in the end we must fight for a revolution of values; values that end the violence of militarism, racism and capitalism; lead to cooperation between people working together for social, economic and environmental justice. And, when we seek that we will quickly recognize we are not alone, millions are already on that path with us.

White House Reveals Desperate Lack of Support for TPP

April 7, 2015 Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers, www.PopularResistance.org Educate! Climate Change, Environment, fast track, TPP

WASHINGTON — The White House has published a handful of comments from “environmental groups” implying widespread support for the Trans-Pacific Partnership and other corporate trade agreements. Yet these cherry-picked comments from some of the most conservative, corporate-funded environmental groups actually reveal the administration’s desperation to find any support for such deals. Indeed, the reality is that scores of major environmental organizations including Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council, League of Conservation Voters, Defenders of Wildlife, Union of Concerned Scientists, Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, 350.org, and many others oppose the TPP and have spoken out against fast-track trade authority. They recognize the TPP as a backward step for environmental protection that will help push the world over the tipping point for climate change.

Newsletter: Austerity, Debt & Environmental Degradation

April 4, 2015 Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers, www.PopularResistance.org Newsletter Austerity, Climate Change, climate crisis, Environment, fast track, Globalization, Living Wage, Neoliberalism, Pipelines, TPP, Worker Rights and Jobs

Last week, we wrote about the epidemic of neoliberalism. This week, as major protests erupt in Canada, Mexico and Belgium, we discuss its sister, austerity. In neo-liberal economics, wealth is funneled to the top through increasing privatization of the public and cuts to social services. This can only occur if those who are not at the top are subjected to austerity measures. Those at the bottom are squeezed, suffer financial insecurity and the inability to meet basic needs. Rather than these realities weakening our ability to stand up we must stand together in solidarity to take care of each other and build our power in the struggle. People are becoming more aware that their individual struggles are against system-wide problems and are seeing that when the people are united, they can win. Let’s keep building solidarity and unity of action so the muscle of people power grows.

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