Here’s How to STOP Them: The powers-that-be are pushing this week to fast track a
horrible treaty which would destroy America. The treaty is called the Trans
Pacific Partnership (TPP).
The U.S. Trade Representative – the federal agency
responsible for negotiating trade treaties – has said that the details of
the TPP are classified due to “national security”. Why’s the deal being kept secret? Because it would be impossible to pass if the public knew what was really in it:
Ron Kirk, until recently Mr.
Obama’s top trade official, was remarkably candid about why he opposed making
the text public: doing so, he suggested to Reuters, would raise such opposition
that it could make the deal impossible to sign.
Senator Elizabeth Warren notes:
Supporters of the deal say to me,
“They have to be secret, because if the American people knew what was actually
in them, they would be opposed.”
But it’s not only being hidden from the American people
… it’s being hidden even from most U.S. Congress members.
A Congressman who has seen the text of the treaty says: There is no national security purpose in
keeping this text secret … this agreement hands the sovereignty of our country
over to corporate interests.
It would also allow foreign corporations to challenge U.S. laws. It will literally override American law. As the New York Times headlines in Trans-Pacific
Partnership Seen as Door for Foreign Suits Against U.S.:
Companies and investors would
be empowered to challenge regulations,
rules, government actions and court rulings — federal, state or local
— before tribunals organized under the World Bank or the United Nations.
Ron Paul says that the TPP would erode national sovereignty:
While it’s falsely called a “trade agreement”, only 5 out of 29 of TPP’s chapters have anything to do with trade. And conservatives point out
that even the 5 chapters on trade do not promote free trade. Bloomberg calls
TPP a “corporatist power grab”, “as democratic and transparent as a
one-party state,” and shrouded in “Big Brother-like secrecy”.
TPP would increase the cost of consumer loans, make prescription drugs more expensive,
destroy privacy, harm food safety, let Wall Street run amok, make it illegal to favor local businesses, and – yes – literally act to destroy the sovereignty of the U.S. and the other nations which sign the bill.
A very credible inside source – with a proven track record
of access, accuracy, intelligence and dedication to working for our country
– tells Washington’s Blog that TPP contains provisions which would severely harm America’s national security. Specifically,
like some previous, ill-conceived treaties, TPP would allow foreign companies to buy sensitive
American assets which could subject us to terror attacks or economic
blackmail.
Huffington Post quotes
the New York Times and Wikileaks to explain how the dispute provisions
would gut the American legal system: The
WikiLeaks analysis explains that this lets firms
“sue” governments to obtain taxpayer compensation for loss of “expected
future profits.”
Let that sink in for a moment: “Companies
and investors would be empowered to challenge regulations, rules, government
actions and court rulings — federal, state or local — before tribunals….”
And they can collect not just for lost property or seized assets; they can
collect if laws or regulations interfere with these giant companies’
ability to collect what they claim are “expected future profits.”
The Times‘ report
explains that this clause also “gives greater priority to protecting corporate
interests than promoting free trade and competition that benefits
consumers.”
The tribunals that adjudicate
these cases will be made up of private-sector (i.e., corporate) attorneys.
These attorneys will rotate between serving on the tribunals and representing
corporations that bring cases to be heard by the tribunals. This is a conflict
of interest because the attorneys serving on the tribunals will have tremendous
incentive to rule for the corporations if they want to continue to get
lucrative corporate business.
This ISDS mechanism “Investor-State
Dispute Settlement” tribunals created by TPP originates from a time when
investors in wealthy, developed countries wanted to invest in projects in
unstable “third-world,” “banana-republic”-style countries but worried that
dictators or revolutionary governments could decide to seize their property
— a refinery, railroad or factory — leaving them with no recourse. So
before investing, the target country agrees that in the case of disputes, a
tribunal is set up outside and beyond the reach of the country’s justice system
(courts where the judge is a brother or other crony of the dictator, for example),
providing recourse in the event of unjust seizure of property. This would
make investment less risky.
However, under agreements like
the TPP, these provisions apply to and override the laws of modern, stable,
developed countries with democratic governance and fair court systems.
The corporate representatives negotiating modern trade agreements
see such democratically run governments as “burdensome” and chaotic,
introducing “uncertainties” and “interfering” or “meddling” with the corporate
order. As one supporter of
these ISDS provisions put it, they protect corporations from “the waves of
madness that occasionally flit through the population.”
To give an idea of what would happen to American law if
TPP passes, just look at Equador … Its courts awarded billions
against Chevron for trashing huge swaths of rainforest. But then a private
arbitration panel simply ignored the country’s court system. If TPP passes, we’ll be
treated like a third world country, and our American laws and courts will be ignored as well.
(Those opposed to a “one world government” or a “new world
order” should oppose TPP as the big fight.
Conservatives might want to read this.
Remember that one of the best definitions of fascism – the one used by
Mussolini – is the “merger of state and corporate power”. TPP (is?)
a giant step in that direction.)
The backers of TPP – including Obama and many in Congress
– are trying to approve a “fast track” procedure this week that would prevent
Congress from having any real input into the agreement, or to even have the
opportunity to debate what should be in the agreement.
But the treaty is so bad, that if we just defeat the attempt
to fast-track it, it will die a natural death as soon as it’s made public …
and Congress has to engage in serious debate on the horrible agreement,
and answer to its angry constituents.
The American people are already strongly
opposed to TPP, and are disgusted by the proposed fast-tracking of the TPP vote. But we have
to let our Congress members’ know how we feel on this.
We’ve stopped other bad trade bills … and we can stop this one. Make your voice heard and tell Congress NO
to TPP!
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CommentsCongress needs to kill the PPT Fast Track Enabling Bill it is working on right now.Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader
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