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Someone Finally Read Obama's Secret Trade Deal And Admits The TPP "Will Damage This Nation"
There is a huge paradox surrounding what is supposed to be the crowning achievement of Obama's second term, the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), a bill whose contents virtually nobody is familiar with or will be before it passes into law.
That's not the paradox: the paradox is that back in October 2009, the White House Press secretary said that "the President has returned to a stance of transparency and ethics that hasn't been matched by any other White House.... the President believes strongly in transparency... that transparency in that way in the best policy."
Or to paraphrase Nancy Pelosi, "we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it."
And yet while everyone seems to have an opinion on the final formulation of the TPP bill, especially Elizabeth Warren and her circle of progressive democrats who have emerged as the bill's most vocal critics, the truth is that none have actually read it for the simple reason that anyone who is familiar with its text could be jailed for disclosing its contents.
Most transparent administration indeed.
We won't even comment that those who don't care to have their opinion made public and do have access to the bill have also not read the massive bill which layers giveaway upon giveaway to mega corporations: in fact the only ones who are intimately familiar with the TPP's contents are those who drafted it: America's multinational corporations whose shareholders will be the biggest beneficiaries of the TPP.
And yet someone appears to have finally read Obama's TPP: that someone is Michael Wessel, a cleared liaison to two statutory advisory committees and a commissioner on the U.S. Trade Deficit Review Commission, as well as the international trade co-chair for the Kerry-Edwards Presidential Campaign.
Earlier today, Wessel wrote an article in Politico titled "I’ve Read Obama’s Secret Trade Deal. Elizabeth Warren Is Right to Be Concerned" which we agree with wholeheartedly because while one may or may not disgree whether the US economy will benefit from a trade agreement which anecdotally benefits large multinationals, it should be unanimous that America's transformation into a secretive, klepto-fascist state controlled by corporations is catastrophic for not only the republic but America's people, or at least those who are not among the 0.001% who stand to benefit from the TPP.
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From Michael Wessel, first posted in Politico:
I’ve Read Obama’s Secret Trade Deal. Elizabeth Warren Is Right to Be Concerned.
"You need to tell me what’s wrong with this trade agreement, not one that was passed 25 years ago,” a frustrated President Barack Obama recently complained about criticisms of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP). He’s right. The public criticisms of the TPP have been vague. That’s by design—anyone who has read the text of the agreement could be jailed for disclosing its contents. I’ve actually read the TPP text provided to the government’s own advisors, and I’ve given the president an earful about how this trade deal will damage this nation. But I can’t share my criticisms with you.
I can tell you that Elizabeth Warren is right about her criticism of the trade deal. We should be very concerned about what's hidden in this trade deal—and particularly how the Obama administration is keeping information secret even from those of us who are supposed to provide advice.
So-called “cleared advisors” like me are prohibited from sharing publicly the criticisms we’ve lodged about specific proposals and approaches. The government has created a perfect Catch 22: The law prohibits us from talking about the specifics of what we’ve seen, allowing the president to criticize us for not being specific. Instead of simply admitting that he disagrees with me—and with many other cleared advisors—about the merits of the TPP, the president instead pretends that our specific, pointed criticisms don’t exist.
What I can tell you is that the administration is being unfair to those who are raising proper questions about the harms the TPP would do. To the administration, everyone who questions their approach is branded as a protectionist—or worse—dishonest. They broadly criticize organized labor, despite the fact that unions have been the primary force in America pushing for strong rules to promote opportunity and jobs. And they dismiss individuals like me who believe that, first and foremost, a trade agreement should promote the interests of domestic producers and their employees.
I’ve been deeply involved in trade policy for almost four decades. For 21 years, I worked for former Democratic Leader Richard Gephardt and handled all trade policy issues including “fast track,” the North American Free Trade Agreement and the World Trade Organization’s Uruguay Round, which is the largest trade agreement in history. I am also a consultant to various domestic producers and the United Steelworkers union, for whom I serve as a cleared advisor on two trade advisory committees. To top it off, I was a publicly acknowledged advisor to the Obama campaign in 2008.
Obama may no longer be listening to my advice, but Hillary Clinton and Elizabeth Warren might as well be. Warren, of course, has been perhaps the deal’s most vocal critic, but even the more cautious Clinton has raised the right questions on what a good TPP would look like. Her spokesman, Nick Merrill, said: “She will be watching closely to see what is being done to crack down on currency manipulation, improve labor rights, protect the environment and health, promote transparency and open new opportunities for our small businesses to export overseas. As she warned in her book Hard Choices, we shouldn’t be giving special rights to corporations at the expense of workers and consumers.”
On this count, the current TPP doesn’t measure up. And nothing being considered by Congress right now would ensure that the TPP meets the goal of promoting domestic production and job creation.
The text of the TPP, like all trade deals, is a closely guarded secret. That fact makes a genuine public debate impossible and should make robust debate behind closed doors all the more essential. But the ability of TPP critics like me to point out the deal’s many failings is limited by the government’s surprising and unprecedented refusal to make revisions to the language in the TPP fully available to cleared advisors.
Bill Clinton didn’t operate like this. During the debate on NAFTA, as a cleared advisor for the Democratic leadership, I had a copy of the entire text in a safe next to my desk and regularly was briefed on the specifics of the negotiations, including counterproposals made by Mexico and Canada. During the TPP negotiations, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) has never shared proposals being advanced by other TPP partners. Today’s consultations are, in many ways, much more restrictive than those under past administrations.
All advisors, and any liaisons, are required to have security clearances, which entail extensive paperwork and background investigations, before they are able to review text and participate in briefings. But, despite clearances, and a statutory duty to provide advice, advisors do not have access to all the materials that a reasonable person would need to do the job. The negotiators provide us with “proposals” but those are merely initial proposals to trading partners. We are not allowed to see counter-proposals from our trading partners. Often, advisors are provided with updates indicating that the final text will balance all appropriate stakeholder interests but we frequently receive few additional details beyond that flimsy assurance.
Those details have enormous repercussions. For instance, rules of origin specify how much of a product must originate within the TPP countries for the resulting product to be eligible for duty-free treatment. These are complex rules that decide where a company will manufacture its products and where is will purchase raw materials. Under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), 62.5 percent of a car needed to originate within NAFTA countries. In the US-Australia Free Trade Agreement, it was lowered to 50 percent. It further dropped to 35 percent in the US-Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS). In essence, under our agreement with Korea, 65 percent of a car from South Korea could be made from Chinese parts and still qualify for duty-free treatment when exported to the U.S.
That fact is politically toxic, and for that reason, we should expect the TPP agreement to have higher standards. But will it reach the 62.5 percent NAFTA requirement? Or will it be only a slight improvement over KORUS? Without access to the final text of the agreement, it’s impossible to say.
State-owned enterprises may, for the first time, be addressed in the TPP. But, once again, the details are not clear. Will exemptions be provided to countries like Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore, all of which could be heavily impacted by such a rule? What will be the test to determine what is or is not acceptable behavior? Will injury be required to occur over a substantial period of time, or will individual acts of non-commercial, damaging trade practices be actionable? Again, it’s impossible to say for sure.
Advisors are almost flying blind on these questions and others.
Only portions of the text have been provided, to be read under the watchful eye of a USTR official. Access, up until recently, was provided on secure web sites. But the government-run website does not contain the most-up-to-date information for cleared advisors. To get that information, we have to travel to certain government facilities and sign in to read the materials. Even then, the administration determines what we can and cannot review and, often, they provide carefully edited summaries rather than the actual underlying text, which is critical to really understanding the consequences of the agreement.
Cleared advisors were created by statute to advise our nation’s trade negotiators. There is a hierarchal structure, starting with the USTR’s Advisory Committee on Trade Policy & Negotiations at the top—a committee that includes people like Steelworkers President Leo Gerard, Mastercard CEO Ajay Banga, Etsy CEO Chad Dickerson and Jill Appell, co-owner of Appell’s Pork Farms. Then there are specific Committees covering subjects like labor, the environment and agriculture that make up the next tier. The last tier consists of the Industry Trade Advisory Committees (ITACS), which focus on individual sectors such as steel and aerospace. At last count, there were more than 600 cleared advisors. The vast majority of them represent business interests.
In an effort to diminish criticism, USTR is now letting cleared advisors review summaries of what the negotiators have done. In response to a question about when the full updated text will be made available, we’ve been told, “We are working on making them available as soon as possible.” That’s not the case overseas: Our trading partners have this text, but the government’s own cleared advisors, serving on statutorily-created advisory committees, are kept in the dark.
How can we properly advise, without knowing the details?
Questions pervade virtually every chapter of the proposed agreement, including labor and the environment, investor-state, intellectual property and others. The answers to these questions affect the sourcing and investment decisions of our companies and resulting jobs for our people. Our elected representatives would be abdicating their Constitutional duty if they failed to raise questions.
Senator Warren should be commended for her courage in standing up to the President, and Secretary Clinton for raising a note of caution, and I encourage all elected officials to raise these important questions. Working Americans can’t afford more failed trade agreements and trade policies.
Congress should refuse to pass fast track trade negotiating authority until the partnership between the branches, and the trust of the American people is restored. That will require a lot of fence mending and disclosure of exactly what the TPP will do. That begins by sharing the final text of the TPP with those of us who won’t simply rubber-stamp it.
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And then, moments ago: OBAMA SAYS HE'S `PLEASED' WITH DEAL IN CONGRESS ON TRADE
It almost makes one wonder just whom does "elected" government represent...
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Obama the idiot could've used the expansion of RMB trading centers to twist China's arms into completely removing their barriers to the U.S. financial sector.
Unfortunately, the only cash flow into the U.S. is through the Treasury and that only gives the government a monopoly of power over the people. The faux pas "republicans" don't want to fix that, which is the tragedy.
But I'm expecting the racebaiting Nazi in chief to fuck this up to hell for Americans even more then keep it all a secret.
Everybody hurry! Let's start yet another round of MacCarthyism to take the blame off of evil politicians.
"the President has returned to a stance of transparency and ethics that hasn't been matched by any other White House.... the President believes strongly in transparency"
vs
2012 5mio people in the US had security clearance (1,4 Mio at the top-secret level) a 50% increase since 1999.
forget damage, we are into total destruction
proffered and promulgated by people who
do not read legislation and vote on it
to receive a pittance for their wallets.
they are not concerned where you might be.
who votes for a law they have not read?
there a sign that you are being sacrificed
and eventually crucified. is that representative
governance today? be sure.
Not ONE Trade agreement in the last sixty years has been of benefit to the American worker/taxpayer. They have all been done for the profit of the crony capitalist, and the politicians who support them. Another reason why they are pushing all of these trade agreements, is that they are part and parcel of the grand strategy: diminish America's role and influence in the world, so that their heir apparent {Asia} can ascend the throne as the economic and political driver of the world. Wolfensohn even tells you so if you are paying attention. Look at the look of terror on the faces of the university students as they are told their future won't be as they expected it to be. Priceless. You know Wolfensohn enjoyed that!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOwZwkhFemQ
Those university students are future guerillas in the war against cybernet. Hopre some of them took some ROTC courses and learned how to shoot a gun.
this heap big bad, honest injun
is there not ONE official in Washington who could read this bill and tell america wtf is in it, even risking going to jail? Are they all pussies? Any decent lawyer would get the case squashed in a minute anyway. what has happened to us????
We have the best gubmint money can buy.
The U.S. Gubmint sold out to, and works for, the billionaires and trillionaires.
There's your answer.
exactly. Obama in WH, repubs both houses, and nothing he wants gets stopped. Correction, nothing THEY all want gets stopped. ZWO tools from top to bottom.
ZWO rolls off the tongue nicely- but it's really around 50% Zionists, 50% other factions in reality.
ZAWO (Zio-Anglo World Order) is a more accurate moniker, methinks.
.
The fundamental flaw of American Society is excessive respect for authority. All politicians should be required to wear a clown nose in public.
I'd prefer an electronic dog collar be worn by every politician.
And every voter armed with a remote control.
That way every time they opened their lying mouth,
well you get the picture ;-)
I was a die-hard Reagan Republican as a youngster in college. One night I went to an empty, quiet classroom to study and on the chalk board (yes, chalk) two words were written. They were two ridiculous words which had been obviously chalked up there by some wacked-out liberal (the university was full of them) or some anarchist, who knows which, and I was going to erase their annoyance out of existence but decided not to waste the time prefering to study for a upcoming exam instead. But after hundreds of hours of formal education and many years of reflection, those words stuck with me somehow, and I now recognize them as the most important two words I ever learned in college (though not even from a tenured professor).
And what were the two words scribbled in haste on that chalkboard?
"QUESTION AUTHORITY!"
And that, my friends, has made all the difference.
...and take all the fun out of clown noses?!?
There's an old saying; If it ain't worth fighting for, It ain't worth keeping.
Pretty well speaks for the people of America. We the People have allowed them to completely eviscerate the constitution and Declaration.
We the People have allowed our family members to die for their useless foreign wars.
We the People have allowed the to destroy our money.
We the People have allowed them to turn our police into rabid Rambo wannabees.
We the People have allowed them to peek unlawfully into our private lives.
We the People have allowed then to export our means of earning.
We the People have allowed them to import the cheap labor to take the jobs that are left.
We the People have allowed them to allow almost unlimited immigration.
We the People are allowing them to openly practice waging war against We the People in the West.
And We the People will most likely allow them to finish us off with the TPP.
While we dally they prepare...
fuck it, let the selling-out become whole.
like we had any say-so to begin with under the successive regimes.
these fuckers are toying with us the same way a child does when she/he knocks food off the tray only to TEST for reaction.
just don't react..
so fucking what?!?!
let them have their illusion of wealth and power, go along to get along and let the fires burn as WE planned..
at the end of the day, we pull the levers and make the machine hum along. they can decide what they want, we shall ACT accordingly.
a prayer...
'
'
'Just watched Denish Desouza's document Obama 2016.
Yikes.
The self-loathing and self-hatred this man has for his new country is astonishing.
•?•
V-V
Dey all wite folks so u knowd dey jus lie.
What gud a treaty wit wit folks? You talkin' like a fool!
What did dey do to they po' Injuns? What dey do to dey poor China-men work the railroad? What happen to dey Japan-folk when dey go to war on the Nazzie?
It aint just the Nigers that get beat.
Dey EEO. Dey beat ever'one. Onnie u don't knows it. Dey act very po-lite and cour-jial. Den when thins look right, dey pull dey carpet.
Make Deal wit devil see what u git. You Kaint make deal with devil. U just get beat agin. No deal is best way. 'Merica need lernin'. No deal best. Jus no deal.
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, on Tuesday took procedural steps aimed at bringing a debate on a fast-track trade bill to a close, moving the controversial bill a step closer to a vote on passage.
For all you who idolize those conservative Repugs. Hope your unemployment doesn't run out....
http://www.trust.org/item/20150519233226-tq8st/?source=search
Ok, the trade "deal" will be a steaming pile of horse sh!t, what else would you expect from Team (I can't out negotiate a 3rd grader) Obama...
but,
allow me to translate the author's main point...
"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA, I don't have access anymore. I'm not important. Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa."
By the way, stuff like this doesn't come out just because. This guy is a Clinton lackey. The purpose of this message is to put daylight between Obama and Clinton, so she can suck up to the unions. They hate her, but she needs their cash.
For Obama, the purpose is to pass something so he can have a retort when historians rightly call him the most divisive president ever. While he certainly agrees with everything Elizabeth Warren has said on the trade deal, his narcissism demands that his legacy is more important than the cause.
1. Obama knows this will damage the American Middle Class.
2. Obama knows that if he opposed TPP, Republicans would pass it, because he's Black.
3. Obama knew that if was in favor of TPP, Republicans would be against it, because he's Black.
The racists in Congress got played like a fiddle at a hootnanny, LOL....
Correction, Mister Factoid.
Fuckbama is BIRACIAL....unless you're one of the twats who is in denial of his WHITE FUCKING MOTHER.
"Ok, the trade "deal" will be a steaming pile of horse sh!t, what else would you expect from Team (I can't out negotiate a 3rd grader) Obama..."
That's just your opinion, man. Care to hear some facts???
Does anyone know who signed NAFTA?
George H. W. Bush.
A majority of Republicans voted for it, a majority of Democrats voted against it. Democrats were outnumbered. It passed.
Fact. Fact. Fact. Fact.
LOL...
Bill Clinton signed the implementation law for NAFTA, without which the trade agreement would have been null and void.
The more wealth sucked out of an economy by large multinational corporations less wealth there is for the rest of society so the people of planet earth should expect to become much less wealthy if these treaties take effect.
The treaty clause of article 2 section 2 does not grant the president any authority to keep secret the text of any proposed treaty. Furthermore, it cannot be said that the American people do not have a right to know the text of any proposed treaty because rights not prohibited by the Constitution are automatically retained by and reserved to the people thanks to the ninth amendment of non-enumerated rights and the tenth amendment of non-delegated powers.
Can someone please tell me why the government of the USA is such a train wreck of bulls**t ?
Rotten to the core bunch of ignorant psychopaths. That simple!
Excellent Points....
".....The treaty clause of article 2 section 2 does not grant the president any authority to keep secret the text of any proposed treaty. Furthermore, it cannot be said that the American people do not have a right to know the text of any proposed treaty because rights not prohibited by the Constitution are automatically retained by and reserved to the people thanks to the ninth amendment of non-enumerated rights and the tenth amendment of non-delegated powers....."
Further, the matter of proscribing any discussion runs afoul of the First Amendment......
Nonetheless, this "Trade Treaty" will soon be moot.
"Globalization" has already hit it's Zenith.
It has already begun to unwind, and will accelate in a disorderly way as "Protectionism" begins to Rule to Roost.
No Man nor any Group of Men can swim against the Tide of history....
Many have tried in the Past, and Many are trying now.....In this Matter and Many others...
Despite Tremendous Power, such Men eventually come to understand the old saw:
"The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men"......
Indeed....
O RLY? And I thought all this avoidance of the limelight was merely due to stage fright.
When you see repubicans going along with Obama you know something is wrong. Passing this bill is Senate Leader McConnells pet project. Good for CEO's bad for you no matter what is in the bill. Even if protections Are in the bill they will be ignored just like NAFTA, CAFTA. Just say, NO.
The corporate fascism in control of the puppets in our "democracy" makes me fucking sick!!! Down with the whole system, pretending to be righteous, fair and transparent.
Yes, because having your elected representatives decide your fate in secret is what democracy is all about.
Let me count the ways and reasons for just going Galt on their system.
Banks pay less then the deposit on a soda bottle for manipulating world currencies and loan rates which F'd EVERYONE real good (except named persons), with the CFTC giving them written promises and a B job not to arrest anyone (we shall see on that one -the kitchen is getting pretty hot).
More than a few years worth of congress' that have become worthless illiterate lap dogs that won't read before signing anything the administrative branch, with loyalties always going to K Street and the mega corporations, throws a tantrum about.
No matter what proof is presented of the frauds in global warming data manipulation, ALL will pay indulgences to the trading desks (via the IRS) for their next Snickers bar and the truck that brought it to the store in C02 taxes
Two or three "presidential hopefuls" who could not tell the truth, ever, even under Dick Cheney's waterboard.
Need I go on?
Ah, duh. If you can't see it, don't pass it.