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”.
Parts of the TPP won’t be declassified for four years … even if it’s passed:
The TPP Investment Chapter … is classified and
supposed to be kept secret for four years after the entry into force of
the TPP agreement or, if no agreement is reached, for four years from
the close of the negotiations.
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: “[C]ompanies 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
“giv[es] 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 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 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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