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Treaty Negotiated In Secret – Hidden Even from Congressmen Who Oversee Treaties – Threatens to Destroy National Sovereignty

George Washington's picture




 

The normally-reserved Yves Smith asks whether Obama should be impeached over it.

Democratic Senator Wyden – the head of the committee which is supposed to oversee it – is so furious about the lack of access that he has introduced legislation to force disclosure.

Republican House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa is so upset by it that he has leaked a document on his website to show what’s going on.

What is everyone so furious about?

An international treaty being negotiated in secret which would not only crack down on Internet privacy much more than SOPA or ACTA, but would actually destroy the sovereignty of the U.S. and all other signatories.

It is called the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

Wyden is the chairman of the trade committee in the Senate … the committee which is supposed to have jurisdiction over the TPP. Wyden is also on the Senate Intelligence Committee, and so he and his staff have high security clearances and are normally able to look at classified documents.

And yet Wyden and his staff have been denied access to the TPP’s text.

This is similar to other recent incidences showing that we’ve gone from a nation of laws to a nation of powerful men making laws in secret.

For example,  in the summer 2007, Congressman Peter DeFazio – who is on the Homeland Security Committee (and so has proper security access to be briefed on so-called “Continuity of Government” issues) – inquired about continuity of government plans, and was refused access. Indeed, DeFazio told Congress that the entire Homeland Security Committee of the U.S. Congress has been denied access to the plans by the White House (video; or here is the transcript). The Homeland Security Committee has full clearance to view all information about COG plans. DeFazio concluded: “Maybe the people who think there’s a conspiracy out there are right”.

As University of California Berkeley Professor Emeritus Peter Dale Scott warned:

If members of the Homeland Security Committee cannot enforce their right to read secret plans of the Executive Branch, then the systems of checks and balances established by the U.S. Constitution would seem to be failing.

 

To put it another way, if the White House is successful in frustrating DeFazio, then Continuity of Government planning has arguably already superseded the Constitution as a higher authority.

Watch this interview from today explaining why TPP is so dangerous to America … and the rest of the world:

 

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Fri, 06/15/2012 - 09:26 | 2528961 Vendetta
Vendetta's picture

pepsi is a little sweeter than coke

Thu, 06/14/2012 - 22:00 | 2528000 tony bonn
tony bonn's picture

the department of homeland security (brown shirts, black shirts, gestapo, etc) should be shut down along with the rest of the patriot act bullshit passed by a treasonous congress..

Thu, 06/14/2012 - 21:50 | 2527971 rufusbird
rufusbird's picture

Thank you Zerohedge for shining a spotlight on these cockroaches. I hope they have to scurry away from the light. When the truth can not be told, something is wrong. Old Hopi Indian tradition, "If it is a secret, it is bad."

Thu, 06/14/2012 - 22:39 | 2528108 Freddie
Freddie's picture

Idiots who watch TV and Hollywood's crap enable and enpower this evil scum.

Thu, 06/14/2012 - 21:52 | 2527970 Cognitive Dissonance
Cognitive Dissonance's picture

Continuity of Government was enacted on 09/11/2001 and was never rescinded. We in the USA are living under martial law right now. It would most certainly explain a bunch of things.

Bottom line, don't you think the natives would be less restless if we weren't told we were/are living under martial law?

Yes??

Then why tell them?

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/american-coup-d%E2%80%99%C3%A9tat-%E2%80%93-first-world-nation-style

Thu, 06/14/2012 - 23:10 | 2528173 palmereldritch
palmereldritch's picture

Continuity has to begin somewhere...doesn't it?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Security_Act_of_1947

And being 1947 that would make it a continuity of what? Liberty over Global Fascism? Or a continuation by stealth of that unpunished and non-eradicated Bankster funded Global Fascism itself?

Thu, 06/14/2012 - 22:38 | 2528100 Ying-Yang
Ying-Yang's picture

Well said Cog... I saw the first news reports the morning of 911. Later I watched Bush sitting with the class when told about the airplane hitting. Seeing his expression and inaction hit me quickly. My wife noticed as well.

Another standout was when Bush spoke about the "War on Terror", neverending war without borders. I turned to my family and said the world has changed today.

A sad day for my children and their children.

Oh my God. I'm back. I'm home. All the time, it was... We finally really did it. [screaming] You Maniacs! You blew it up! Ah, damn you! God damn you all to hell!
George Taylor, 1968

Fri, 06/15/2012 - 02:52 | 2528498 HungrySeagull
HungrySeagull's picture

I said to my wife, we are at war... one which will go on long after we are both dead. This was after the second plane slammed in on Live TV.

You can take a look at the master computer onboard the rig that day and the following 20 days. Everyone drove carefully and followed the law to the letter on the road.

Out of fear.

Fri, 06/15/2012 - 09:19 | 2528924 Bob
Bob's picture

Good ole boys driving their redneckfabulous pickups enforced speed limits by clogging the fast lanes on the freeways and surface roads. 

It brought out a whole lot of latent fascist tendencies in much of the  population.  The hive started buzzing at a whole new frequency. 

The fight against Sharia Law and socialism continues today. 

Good thing we know who r enemies are. 

 

Sat, 06/16/2012 - 00:26 | 2531409 Bicycle Repairman
Bicycle Repairman's picture

I drove down the East coast the week after 9/11.  There were banners hanging from every overpass from Boston to Washington D.C.  As soon as I hit Dixie, there wasn't another banner through to Florida.  Not one.

Thu, 06/14/2012 - 23:42 | 2528235 DaveyJones
DaveyJones's picture

well said. That day was not the largest crime, it was just the invitation to the real ones

I forgot about that piece CD. Great stuff

Thu, 06/14/2012 - 21:48 | 2527962 Heroic Couplet
Heroic Couplet's picture

When i see "obama," i just read 'rothschild.' I thought 'both parties are the same.' So why does Obama's name get mentioned and what is the story line for Mitt Romoney? if he gets elected, will anything change with this treaty?

If it harms bankers, hedge fund managers and day traders, bring it on. The upper 1% had their day in the sun.

Thu, 06/14/2012 - 21:33 | 2527922 Westcoastliberal
Westcoastliberal's picture

I've heard about language such as this in GATT as well.  If it's one thing we sure don't need right now it's more one-sided trade agreements, in fact we should demand revisions in all the trade agreements that subsidize any foreign manufacturing.  To my knowledge we still have laws on the books that encourage American companies to outsource jobs to other countries.

Way too much of this malarky is occuring for it to be accidental.  We have been and are in the further process of being sold down the river, and it's gotta stop!

Thu, 06/14/2012 - 21:33 | 2527916 Bicycle Repairman
Bicycle Repairman's picture

Impeach Obama?  Laughable.

I believe all the Commander-in-Chief has to do is declare "I am the decider", and issue a signing statement or whatever kind of formerly unconstitutional BS he cares to invent.

We are at war.

Thu, 06/14/2012 - 21:31 | 2527912 brettd
brettd's picture

A treaty w/out Senate ratification is worthless.

 

Thu, 06/14/2012 - 22:02 | 2528007 Money 4 Nothing
Money 4 Nothing's picture

Did you know the Senate is not beholden to the Civil Constitution of the Corperate States of America? Obama doesen't even have to use them anymore for war say so. The UN calls and we go NATO style.

Thu, 06/14/2012 - 21:31 | 2527910 BigInJapan
BigInJapan's picture

Japanese farmers are going bonkers about it.

Japanese rice is the most expensive in the world. Not because it's the best, but because of protectionism.

Thu, 06/14/2012 - 22:04 | 2528016 Legolas
Legolas's picture

It's the most expensive because it glows in the dark.

Thu, 06/14/2012 - 21:31 | 2527907 reader2010
reader2010's picture

John D. Rockefeller, J.P. Morgan, and etc had planed this outcome since 1890s. Don't be surprised, folks.

Thu, 06/14/2012 - 21:57 | 2527987 Lord Koos
Lord Koos's picture

US sovereignity was already sacrificed on the altar of globalism.

Thu, 06/14/2012 - 21:26 | 2527897 brettd
brettd's picture

Time for Congress & Senate to nut-up.

Fri, 06/15/2012 - 02:47 | 2528491 HungrySeagull
HungrySeagull's picture

It aint happening.

We just need to gather a nobody from each district and state and plop them into the House and Senate and tell them fix it.

Thu, 06/14/2012 - 21:25 | 2527893 GCT
GCT's picture

Good read Geroge.  Hell Hillary has been trying for years to negoiate a treaty with the UN that will take our 2nd amendment rights away.  The erosion of our rights as US citizens will continue to erode to the point you may open your door one day and the homeland security will be hauling you off to a FEMA camp.  What used to be fantasy is now becoming reality.

Thu, 06/14/2012 - 23:37 | 2528212 monad
monad's picture
  1. Don't sweat it. There are more efficient and untraceable ways to clean the toilet.

Gruesomely painful too.

Thu, 06/14/2012 - 22:48 | 2528132 Help Is Not Coming
Help Is Not Coming's picture

Not to pick nits, but the 2nd amendment doesn't provide for rights. It states that "... the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." The rights to keep and bear arms are inalienable and are god given rights. i.e. They come from God. The constitution just states that Congress shall not infringe upon your god given right to keep and bear arms.

Now I agree completely agree with you that all of our rights continue to be eroded.

Fri, 06/15/2012 - 05:12 | 2528584 Buckaroo Banzai
Buckaroo Banzai's picture

You are precisely correct. The Bill of Rights does not confer rights, it SECURES them.

Fri, 06/15/2012 - 12:10 | 2529596 hedgeless_horseman
hedgeless_horseman's picture

 

 

flag as critical (1)

Fri, 06/15/2012 - 06:48 | 2528624 GCT
GCT's picture

Thanks for pointing that out.  I stand corrected.

Thu, 06/14/2012 - 21:23 | 2527891 Richard Whitney
Richard Whitney's picture

The Kyoto Treaty was defeated in the Senate 95-0. The 95 even included such lefties as John Kerry and Ted Kennedy. So in November vote out anyone who would vote for the TPP, and tell your Senator that you oppose this treaty and will vote out any representative that votes for it.

Thu, 06/14/2012 - 23:00 | 2528153 illyia
illyia's picture

Ha! Vote for the treaty... that is hilarious. Did you watch the "grilling" of Dimon? They didn't know an SIV from an SUV! They cannot read!!!

Very funny... vote for the treaty... Bah.

Thu, 06/14/2012 - 21:17 | 2527870 Go Tribe
Go Tribe's picture

We must pass this law so we can find out what's in it. Just like healthcare. In fact, about like most of these ponderous laws.

Fri, 06/15/2012 - 05:54 | 2528596 Ghordius
Ghordius's picture

+1 any elected representative of the people that votes for a law should be forced to repeat that law without notes in front of the public. And forfeit his seat (and the law) if not able to. Let's see if they are able to do it with 22'000 pages they did not even care to read.

The Roman Plebs fought the oligarchy to have written law. This was the birth of the modern Republics, where every interested citizen knows the law that govern the public sphere.

The modern Plebs will have to fight for short laws.

Thu, 06/14/2012 - 22:27 | 2528082 DollarMenu
DollarMenu's picture

No, I think we shitcan this 'law', and it won't matter what's in it.

Thu, 06/14/2012 - 21:16 | 2527864 Ned Zeppelin
Ned Zeppelin's picture

Great journalism, George - this is ridiculous. 

Thu, 06/14/2012 - 21:14 | 2527854 DaveyJones
DaveyJones's picture

the unitary executive theory is getting stronger by the minute

probably innevitabe as the place falls apart,

the world gets smaller, more crowded, and hungry for resource

and as global commerical powers take over the last pretensions of individual governments.

the saddest part is that, as the shit hits the fan, the last thing we need is vital decisions being made by a select, self interested, and incompetent few  

Fri, 06/15/2012 - 09:22 | 2528941 Jim in MN
Jim in MN's picture

The urinary executive will find he has no one to wipe his bottom.  Such are the fruits of betrayal.

Fri, 06/15/2012 - 03:07 | 2528514 CustomersMan
CustomersMan's picture

 

 

I think the idea is that we always have "some war, somewhere" so that the Executive Branch can always take advantage of the "War Powers" clause, and the President can increase HIS POWER by quantum leaps, as during WARTIME.

 

It may have had a real purpose originally, but it has now been taken advantage of.

 

So the notion becomes, start , or maintain a WAR so that you can increase your power as the "Commander and Chief" and enact secretive "Executive Orders",...... without OVERSIGHT, simply enact them.

 

UNDER THIS SYSTEM,...Is it any wonder that we continue to have ongoing WARS???

Thu, 06/14/2012 - 21:11 | 2527853 El Oregonian
El Oregonian's picture

Sheriff Dillion, I believe we're going to need a much larger Paddywagon...

Thu, 06/14/2012 - 20:58 | 2527816 New_Meat
New_Meat's picture

GW: surely you know that Congressmen/persons/critters have nothing to do with Treaties.  It is the most incredible debating society in the world: the U.S. Senate that deigns to concern themselves with such.

You should look into the "law of the sea" and the two or three other 'initiatives' that are Our Dear President's Poison Pills that he/they will leave behind as their act of "fundamental transformation".

C'mon, u can do it!

- Ned

Fri, 06/15/2012 - 04:15 | 2528557 Colonial Intent
Colonial Intent's picture

Obama is a world passport holder, which supercedes that of any nation.

Fri, 06/15/2012 - 00:29 | 2528312 cranky-old-geezer
cranky-old-geezer's picture

 

 

GW is so far behind in his understanding.  Congress lost their authority 80 years ago. The executive branch has been firmly in the driver's seat ever since.

Since then congress has been a dog & pony show for the sheeple (like GW), told what laws to pass, many not even read, like the "patriot act" and odumbocare.  "You have to pass it before we can show you what's in it".

But no worries, this rogue government will run headlong into a brick wall before long, with A.N.A.'s name on it.

Unfortunately America won't survive it.

Fri, 06/15/2012 - 12:15 | 2529611 Terminus C
Terminus C's picture

Actually, the Civil War is the turning point for Congress.  This was the moment of history when the U.S. ceased to be a Republic and turned into an Empire (fully allied and manipulated by the Anglo PTB).

Thu, 06/14/2012 - 20:47 | 2527781 LetThemEatRand
LetThemEatRand's picture

I voted for Obama.  I will not make that mistake again and I would support impeachment.  This is fucking outrageous.

Fri, 06/15/2012 - 08:08 | 2528722 Hobbleknee
Hobbleknee's picture

So who will you vote for this time?

Fri, 06/15/2012 - 08:40 | 2528776 Ace Ventura
Ace Ventura's picture

Gary Johnson, unless by some miracle Ron Paul is on the ballot. I'm mostly doing it as sort of a last hurrah, because after 2012 I'm removing my consent from this completely rigged system. Call it the last gasp of hope from a former sheeple-dude who is now widely awake.

There is only one way left to save the Republic, and it doesn't involve changing anything 'from within'.

Thu, 06/14/2012 - 22:11 | 2528036 sunnydays
sunnydays's picture

I voted for him too.  I knew immediately though - the man lied his ass off during the campaign.  I can't stand looking at him.   I will never vote again now.

Fri, 06/15/2012 - 09:41 | 2529016 Vendetta
Vendetta's picture

We've had 20 years of shit for representation, they make bush 1 and reagan almost look good even though they were money power muppets too.

Thu, 06/14/2012 - 23:25 | 2528200 jeff montanye
jeff montanye's picture

this is not original with me but i like it.

when we call obama a monster we insult john wayne gacy and ted bundy.  

Thu, 06/14/2012 - 21:40 | 2527939 Westcoastliberal
Westcoastliberal's picture

I second that emotion and got to say right about now, things are about 180 degrees away from where I thought Obama would be positioned.  This isn't Hope & Change and it sure isn't "open government".  He's recited pladitudes to the 99% and opened the vaults to the 1%.  I say enough!

Fri, 06/15/2012 - 05:10 | 2528582 Buckaroo Banzai
Buckaroo Banzai's picture

What drives me batshit crazy is that anyone who bothered to do a little digging in 2008 could have easily discovered that Obama was a pathological liar and sociopath. It really wasn't that hard to figure out if you did a few google searches.

And yet, so few bothered to do so.

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