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Corporations Win Again: Senate Passes Obamatrade Fast-Track Bill
Ten days ago it seemed as if America's corporatism would finally be slowed in its tracks after the House unexpectedly killed the fast-tracking of Obamatrade, aka the fast-tracking of the Trade Promotion Authority. Alas, it was not to last, and moments ago, in a "nailbiting" 60-37 vote, the Senate advanced Obama's fast-track tarde bill.
The Senate on Tuesday voted to advance President Obama’s trade agenda, approving a measure to end debate on fast-track authority.
The 60-37 motion sets up a vote on final passage on Wednesday. If the Senate approves fast-track or trade promotion authority (TPA), it would then be sent to Obama’s desk to become law. Fast-track authority would allow Obama to send trade deals to Congress for up-or-down votes. The White House wants the authority to conclude negotiations on a sweeping trans-Pacific trade deal.
Thirteen Democrats backed fast-track in Tuesday’s vote, handing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) a major legislative victory.
They did so even though the trade package did not include a workers assistance program for people displaced by increased trade. The Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program was a part of the last fast-track package approved by the Senate in May, but became a key part of opposition to the package among Democrats in the House.
To move fast-track forward, the White House and GOP leaders in both chambers decided to break TAA away from fast-track, and to try to approve both in separate votes.
After the Senate votes Wednesday on final passage for fast-track, it will take a procedural vote on a package that includes TAA and trade preferences for African countries known as the African Growth and Opportunity Act.
McConnell has promised both bills, as well as a customs and enforcement bill favored by Democrats, will reach Obama’s desk by the end of the week.
“If we all keep working together and trusting each other, then by the end of the week the President will have TPA, TAA, and AGOA and Preferences on his desk — with Customs in the process of heading his way too,” he said on the floor.
And since the House has already passed fast-track, and now must only vote on the package including TAA, which faces token opposition from conservatives, expect the TPA and shortly thereafter, the TPP, to be enacted despite yet another round of dramatic theater by the best representatives US corporations can bribe.
Finally, as a reminder, "This Is How Little It Cost Goldman To Bribe America's Senators To Fast Track Obama's TPP Bill"
* * *
Earlier:
Today brings Round 2 in "the most transparent administration ever"'s attempt to pass the incredibly opaque Fast-Track Authority enabling Obama to negotiate the Trans-Pacific-Partnership corporate coup d'etat (and all the other trade deals currently floating around) without fear of irritation from any outsiders. However, it won't be easy-sledding as The Hill reports, labor groups led by the AFL-CIO are furiously lobbying Democrats to oppose fast-track authority when the Senate votes on a procedural motion Tuesday. Union leaders warn enabling Fast-Track prematurely would "compound its expected negative impacts, leaving U.S. workers in the lurch and depriving the U.S. manufacturing sector of vital tools necessary to combat unfair trade."
But once again - after more drama - the corporations win!
- *U.S. SENATE ADVANCES OBAMA'S FAST-TRACK TRADE LEGISLATION
But, as The Hill reports, Obama may face some trouble ahead
The measure would help Obama negotiate the largest trade deal in history with 11 other countries along the Pacific Rim by limiting interference from Congress.
Obama’s trade bill needs 60 votes, and he can afford no more than two Democratic defections who previously backed fast-track. As of Monday evening, he had not yet secured public promises from all the Democrats he needs.
Backers of fast-track likely need a dozen Democratic votes because five of the Senate’s Republicans voted against the trade package last month and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is indicating in an op-ed on Breitbart News that he will change his vote from yes to no. Cruz, who is running for president, says he is wary of backroom negotiations, expressing concern that the Export-Import Bank reauthorization will be included in the horsetrading.
...
The Senate’s vote Tuesday to end debate on fast-track — if it gets 60 backers — will set up a final roll call on the measure later in the day or Wednesday.
The chamber would then vote on a package of trade preferences combined with the African Growth and Opportunity Act and TAA. That measure is expected to clear Wednesday or Thursday.
Senate Democratic leaders are not whipping against fast-track, leaving it to unions to do the heavy lifting to defeat it.
The AFL-CIO urged Democrats Monday to vote against fast-track and warned they had no guarantee that TAA will pass the House, where many Republicans oppose it.
“Without assurances that TAA will pass the House, or that the customs bill will ever see the president’s desk, considering Fast Track prematurely could compound its expected negative impacts, leaving U.S. workers in the lurch and depriving the U.S. manufacturing sector of vital tools necessary to combat unfair trade,” William Samuel, the union’s director of government affairs, wrote in a letter to senators.
...
Heritage Action for America urged Republican senators to vote against fast-track Tuesday.
The conservative advocacy group argued that passing fast-track would pave the way for later passage of what it called the “ineffective” TAA program, which is paid for with tax penalties.
“The new pay for — included in H.R. 1295 which the Senate will also consider this week — increases revenue by raising certain tax penalties. New spending should not be offset by new revenues,” the group wrote in a legislative alert Monday.
But there are supporters, toe-ing Obama's tyrannical line...
“The trade package currently before the Senate is a blueprint for trade done right,” Wyden said in a statement. “It will make our country stronger by opening new markets to American products and creating new opportunities for good-paying American jobs.”
Supporters of fast-track argue that trade supports more than 4.7 million jobs in California.
But we leave it to Ellen Brown to sum up just what this "sentence first, verdict afterwards" bill is really all about... a corporate coup d'etat...
`Let the jury consider their verdict,’ the King said, for about the twentieth time that day.
`No, no!’ said the Queen. `Sentence first–verdict afterwards.’
`Stuff and nonsense!’ said Alice loudly. `The idea of having the sentence first!’
`Hold your tongue!’ said the Queen, turning purple.
`I won’t!’ said Alice.
`Off with her head!’ the Queen shouted at the top of her voice.
— Lewis Carroll, “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”
Fast-track authority is being sought in the Senate this week for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), along with the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA) and any other such trade agreements coming down the pike in the next six years. The terms of the TPP and the TiSA are so secret that drafts of the negotiations are to remain classified for four years or five years, respectively, after the deals have been passed into law. How can laws be enforced against people and governments who are not allowed to know what was negotiated?
The TPP, TiSA and Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (or TTIP, which covers Europe) will collectively encompass three-fourths of the world’s GDP; and they ultimately seek to encompass nearly 90 percent of GDP. Despite this enormous global impact, fast-track authority would allow the President to sign the deals before their terms have been made public, and send implementing legislation to Congress that cannot be amended or filibustered and is not subject to the constitutional requirement of a two-thirds treaty vote.
While the deals are being negotiated, lawmakers can see their terms only under the strictest secrecy, and they can be subjected to criminal prosecution for revealing those terms. What we know of them comes only through WikiLeaks. The agreements are being treated as if they were a matter of grave national security, yet they are not about troop movements or military strategy. Something else is obviously going on.
The bizarre, unconstitutional, blatantly illegal nature of this enforced secrecy was highlighted in a May 15th article by Jon Rappoport, titled “What Law Says the Text of the TPP Must Remain Secret?” He wrote:
It seems like a case of mass hypnosis. . . .
Members of Congress are scuttling around like weasels, claiming they can’t disclose what’s in this far-reaching, 12-nation trade treaty.
They can go into a sealed room and read a draft, but they can’t copy pages, and they can’t tell the public what they just read.
Why not?
If there is a US law forbidding disclosure, name the law.
Can you recall anything in the Constitution that establishes secret treaties?
Is there a prior treaty that states the text of all treaties can be hidden from the people?
To Congressmen who say they cannot reveal what is in a treaty that will adversely affect the lives of hundreds of millions of people, Rappoport says:
Wrong. You’re lying. You can reveal secret text. In fact, it’s your duty. Otherwise, you’re guilty of cooperating in a RICO criminal conspiracy.
A Corporate Coup d’État
What is going on was predicted by David Korten in his 1995 blockbuster, When Corporations Rule The World. Catherine Austin Fitts calls it a “corporate coup d’état.”
This corporate coup includes the privatization and offshoring of the judicial function delegated to the US court system in the Constitution, through Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) provisions that strengthen existing ISDS procedures.
As explained in The Economist, ISDS gives foreign firms a special right to apply to a secretive tribunal of highly paid corporate lawyers for compensation whenever the government passes a law to do things that hurt corporate profits — such things as discouraging smoking, protecting the environment or preventing a nuclear catastrophe. Arbitrators are paid $600-700 an hour, giving them little incentive to dismiss cases. The secretive nature of the arbitration process and the lack of any requirement to consider precedent give wide scope for creative judgments – the sort of arbitrary edicts satirized by Lewis Carroll in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
To date, the highest ISDS award has been for $2.3 billion to Occidental Oil Company against the government of Ecuador over its termination of an oil-concession contract, although the termination was apparently legal. Under the TPP, however, even larger and more unpredictable judgments can be anticipated, since the sort of “investment” it protects includes not just “the commitment of capital or other resources” but “the expectation of gain or profit.” That means the rights of corporations extend not merely to their factories and other “capital” but to the profits they expect to receive. Just the threat of a massive damage award for impairing “expected corporate profits” could be enough to discourage prospective legislation by lawmakers.
The Trade in Services Agreement adds additional barriers to proposed legislation. TiSA involves 51 countries, including every advanced economy except the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa). The deal would liberalize global trade in services covering close to 80% of the US economy, including financial services, healthcare, education, engineering, telecommunications, and many more. It would restrict how governments can manage their public laws, and it could dismantle and privatize state-owned enterprises, turning those services over to the private sector. It would also block the emerging trend to return privatized services to the public sector, by limiting or prohibiting governments from creating or reestablishing public utilities and other “uncompetitive” forms of service delivery.
It seems that the TPP, TTIP and TiSA are not about the sort of “free trade” that would free local businesses to sell abroad. They are about freeing international corporations from the government regulation necessary to protect the economy, the people, and the environment. They are about preserving privatized monopolies and preventing competition from the public sector. And they are about moving litigation offshore into private arbitrary tribunals – the sort of tribunal that might have lost Alice her head, if she had not awakened from her bizarre dream.
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some folks are gonna be outta jobs ....
Cheaper to put them on the dole and let it run out. A special thanks to the leader of the Democratic Party, John Bonier!
Another hit to this already weak economy... sad sad
Layoff / Closing List: http://www.dailyjobcuts.com
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"Obama's fast-track tarde bill"
I know that is a misspelling, but don't you dare change it, Tyler. It's absolutely perfect the way it is.
The Douchetatorship is complete
On the contrary, the douchebags sold America out, because they got nothing left to steal from us, and corporations are wanting their reign of power, like Greece, America is insolvent.
Prepare for Corporate Terrorism!!!
From what I understand from the very brilliant John Rapapapapapaport, it's the Ugly Huxlyans who win, the Pharma giants.
They want everyone medicated.
I want everyone meditated... ;-)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqO8IxnHLUs
I think this bill is an encouraging step in the right direction. We can no longer deny that we live in a globalized economy, and our legislation needs to be updated accordingly. We must not succumb to protectionism and nationalism - global integration is vital in the globalized modern economy and if we fail to breach international trade barriers, we risk being left behind in the next wave of global economic growth.
So long, America ! It was nice to know you...
Yep, I fell as though I have no country anymore. But hey, maybe one state will get a clue and secede from this cluster then I can relo.
Say it with me - U! S! A! U! S! A! U! S! A!
Time for everyone to be rewarded with your very own medical marijuana card.
You're going to need it.
Let me be the first to Welcome You to the New World Order
And it ain't nuffin but!
Wake up!
Thank you, Republicans and Obama. Two peas in a pod.
the illusion of choice
The betrayal of my country is now complete.
Rare time for all the politicians to show their true colors out in the open.
What a coincidence that it happened while everyone is arguing about flags. Weird.
" We unemployed some folks. "
One of Barry's many dismal legacies.
THE BRIBES!
Tell me about the bribes.
I want to know who got what from whom and how much.
It had to be more than just campaign contrbutions.
7 figure jobs when thrown out of office?
Hookers & unlimited blow?
C'mon. Tell me.
F*** YOU, TRAITORS!
“When a government is dependent upon bankers for money, they and not the leaders of the government control the situation, since the hand that gives is above the hand that takes. Money has no motherland; financiers are without patriotism and without decency; their sole object is gain.”
? Napoléon BonaparteYou guys complain and cry like a bunch of girls. But who's voting for Bernie Sanders? Not one of you. You are slaves to the system you hate.
F*** YOU, TRAITORS!
Pfft, they were promised a cell in the underground nuclear fallout shelter or not if they didn't comply....
The future is rising taxes because that's all the wealthy can do to FORCE payment....
Obomber already outlined in his SOU address that he was going to raise Import taxes...
I suspect that's all they are really after, more taxes, becuase the government is broke & they have to pay for THEIR pensions, but to hell with yours, and I'm sick of talking about it all already, which is why I write my blog, cause it's a broken record really, steal, legislate, repeat...
http://galeinnes.blogspot.com/2015/06/how-wealthy-keep-everyone-poor.html
I think it was complete around the end of 1913, but hey, tomato tomahto.
The Myth of Global Free Trade
The key to TTIP is the so-called Investor-State Dispute Settlement mechanism that essentially gives corporations free reign to sue governments using a “failure to implement” provision, if state policies or legislation interfere with profits. But is this all about trade?
here was a direct, crucial "secret" agenda linking the G7 meeting in Germany and the Bilderberg meeting in Austria last week; the advancement of the virtually secret negotiations towards the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), the massive free trade agreement between the US and the EU.
Even though the corporate powers behind TTIP are itching for a deal to be reached before the end of 2015, serious (negotiation) trouble remains.
And then there was last Friday's vote in the US Congress.
What happened were in fact two votes; one on giving the US government the "fast track" authority to conclude trade deals, mostly, in this case, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP); and another one on help for US workers struggling to compete with imports as a result of trade deals.
"Fast track" passed, but not the adjustment assistance. So the US Senate will need to review "fast track". The corporate powers behind TPP — and TTIP for that matter — were not amused.
Yet the whole thing goes way beyond total presidential authority to negotiate shady deals such as the TTIP, the TPP and the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA).
The Obama administration is obsessed with plugging a torrent of benefits for US workers once a Pacific deal is clinched. That's eminently debatable.
From the point of view of other nations, TPP is hardly a panacea. Washington offers no new, improved market access. TPP shuts out China completely — which is ridiculous; Beijing is the top trading partner of most of these nations. And the key to TPP is corporations laying down the law on intellectual property rights — which opens the door to all sorts of social Darwinist abuses.
On TTIP, Brussels is saturated with spin swearing trade deal negotiations are not that "secret". The European Commission (EC) brags they post negotiation texts on its website, unlike Washington. Some they do. But not all, including the most sensitive.
The key to TTIP is the so-called Investor-State Dispute Settlements (ISDS); that essentially gives corporations free reign to sue governments, any government, using a "failure to implement" provision, if state policies or legislation interfere with profits. In sum: corporate ethos wins; workers, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and democracy, lose badly.
One can already foresee the proliferation of kangaroo courts labeled "arbitration tribunals" stuffed with pricey corporate lawyers. So much for social "justice".But is this all about trade? Of course not.
Welcome to NATO on trade
The giveaway is how the Obama administration is desperate to wrestle down Japanese resistance — going on two solid years now — against many of TPP's provisions. The proverbial "US officials" have been frantically spinning that TPP is crucial for the US "pivot to Asia".
Even Pentagon supremo Ash Carter went overboard two months ago, saying that TPP was "as important to me as another aircraft carrier."
And all this has happened as Washington was trying to force its allies — with no success — to shun the Chinese-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). Can't blame the Obama administration for not being on message; China can't lead a development bank, and China can't have a say writing global rules and standards for trade and investment.
The heart of the matter is these three mega-deals — TTP, TTIP and TiSA — are the ultimate template of a Bilderberg group wet dream: global corporate "governance".
And the Pentagon's own giveaway that TPP is the "strategic" economic arm of the "pivot to Asia" reveals how politicized "trade" has become. Under TPP, Chinese companies will have tremendous handicaps competing with US companies in both US and Asian markets. Call it yet another facet of "containment".
TTIP, TTP and TiSA are in fact a Hydra-like head; they follow the same geostrategic logic of NATO on trade — transatlantic and trans-Pacific; the "West against the Rest". Not accidentally, the BRICS are excluded. And no wonder the negotiations are secret; global corporate "governance" is not exactly a pop hit in any latitude.
Plastic ham, anybody?
Make no mistake; there's plenty of opposition to TTIP in Europe, at least among the few concerned — and horrified — EU citizens who took the trouble of trying to cut through the secrecy.
In Germany, there have been serious demonstrations. The SPD — part of the coalition government under chancellor Merkel — is definitely against it. Italians learned TTIP would cost the country no less than 1.3 million jobs. It's useful to compare TTIP with NAFTA; in 12 years, the US actually lost 1 million jobs, as corporations and companies preferred to delocalize to Mexico, where costs are much lower.
Even Brussels was forced to admit TTIP will actually mean unemployment; a lot of jobs will definitely move Stateside, where labor standards and trade union rights are much lower.
TTIP will concern 850 million people between North America and Europe; that's roughly 45% of global GDP. Trade in question amounts as it stands to 500 billion euros a year. That could be arguably configured as "advanced globalization" — with not so much interference from emerging markets.
Enter the European idea that as a consequence of this leading role, the EU has the most advanced rules on health, consumer protection and quality of public services (it varies a lot from country to country; can't compare France with Romania, for instance).
Thus no wonder high-quality agricultural producers in the Club Med countries are terrified that TTIP will mean a de facto barbarian invasion. Italians are terrified about the onset of a monster, false made in Italy market, with US corporations calling any mongrel GMO concoction a "Parma" ham or a "gorgonzola" cheese.
A good test is to hit your average US supermarket. Talk about a horror show; at least 70 per cent of all processed foods are GMO-infested. The EU allows virtually no GM foods. Not to mention the toxic front; in the EU a company must prove a substance is safe before it's commercialized. In the US, anything goes.
Under TTIP, public health, education and water services in the EU will be devastated, and taken over by US corporations. Food safety laws, key legislation over the environment, and banking regulations will be turned upside down.
The spin from TTIP peddlers is that Globalization 2.0 will lead to a "surge" of 0.5% of the EU's collective GDP. That's not exactly a Chinese rate.
But when you're austerity-ravaged, you drink any Kool aid you can get. And eat it with plastic Parma ham.
Time for some Rollerball! James Caan syle
you make a little mistake, mister steel: european corporations are as interested in lowering standarts as US corporations. and EFSA is as corrupt as FDA or any other institution (you should study stuff about animal testing and then we talk about "most advanced rules" again... or just read this:
http://www.testbiotech.org/sites/default/files/GRACE_sold%20out%20to%20i...
If there is anybody left after this vote who still believes there are two distinctly different political parties in DC, please report to detox.
Dems voted against their own president on this. It's those who thought/ think obama is a liberal who need the detox, on all key issues except guns & abortion (the two biggest sideshow issues) he is almost totally aligned with republicans.
Here's the roll call....as if it matters.
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm...
Alphabetical by Senator Name
Alexander (R-TN), YeaAyotte (R-NH), Yea
Baldwin (D-WI), Nay
Barrasso (R-WY), Yea
Bennet (D-CO), Yea
Blumenthal (D-CT), Nay
Blunt (R-MO), Yea
Booker (D-NJ), Nay
Boozman (R-AR), Yea
Boxer (D-CA), Nay
Brown (D-OH), Nay
Burr (R-NC), Yea
Cantwell (D-WA), Yea
Capito (R-WV), Yea
Cardin (D-MD), Nay
Carper (D-DE), Yea
Casey (D-PA), Nay
Cassidy (R-LA), Yea
Coats (R-IN), Yea
Cochran (R-MS), Yea
Collins (R-ME), Nay
Coons (D-DE), Yea
Corker (R-TN), Not Voting
Cornyn (R-TX), Yea
Cotton (R-AR), Yea
Crapo (R-ID), Yea
Cruz (R-TX), Nay
Daines (R-MT), Yea
Donnelly (D-IN), Nay
Durbin (D-IL), Nay
Enzi (R-WY), Yea
Ernst (R-IA), Yea
Feinstein (D-CA), Yea
Fischer (R-NE), Yea Flake (R-AZ), Yea
Franken (D-MN), Nay
Gardner (R-CO), Yea
Gillibrand (D-NY), Nay
Graham (R-SC), Yea
Grassley (R-IA), Yea
Hatch (R-UT), Yea
Heinrich (D-NM), Nay
Heitkamp (D-ND), Yea
Heller (R-NV), Yea
Hirono (D-HI), Nay
Hoeven (R-ND), Yea
Inhofe (R-OK), Yea
Isakson (R-GA), Yea
Johnson (R-WI), Yea
Kaine (D-VA), Yea
King (I-ME), Nay
Kirk (R-IL), Yea
Klobuchar (D-MN), Nay
Lankford (R-OK), Yea
Leahy (D-VT), Nay
Lee (R-UT), Not Voting
Manchin (D-WV), Nay
Markey (D-MA), Nay
McCain (R-AZ), Yea
McCaskill (D-MO), Yea
McConnell (R-KY), Yea
Menendez (D-NJ), Not Voting
Merkley (D-OR), Nay
Mikulski (D-MD), Nay
Moran (R-KS), Yea
Murkowski (R-AK), Yea
Murphy (D-CT), Nay
Murray (D-WA), Yea Nelson (D-FL), Yea
Paul (R-KY), Nay
Perdue (R-GA), Yea
Peters (D-MI), Nay
Portman (R-OH), Yea
Reed (D-RI), Nay
Reid (D-NV), Nay
Risch (R-ID), Yea
Roberts (R-KS), Yea
Rounds (R-SD), Yea
Rubio (R-FL), Yea
Sanders (I-VT), Nay
Sasse (R-NE), Yea
Schatz (D-HI), Nay
Schumer (D-NY), Nay
Scott (R-SC), Yea
Sessions (R-AL), Nay
Shaheen (D-NH), Yea
Shelby (R-AL), Nay
Stabenow (D-MI), Nay
Sullivan (R-AK), Yea
Tester (D-MT), Nay
Thune (R-SD), Yea
Tillis (R-NC), Yea
Toomey (R-PA), Yea
Udall (D-NM), Nay
Vitter (R-LA), Yea
Warner (D-VA), Yea
Warren (D-MA), Nay
Whitehouse (D-RI), Nay
Wicker (R-MS), Yea
Wyden (D-OR), Yea
Fast track to 3rd world status. Check.
Yeas: 47 repubs + 13 dems = supermajority. Dem president at total odds with his party:
Nays: 5 repubs. 31 Dems (including sanders), one I.
Funny thing it's being called 'bipartisan'
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell praised his colleagues. "We demonstrated we can work together on a bipartisan basis" to achieve a goal, he said.
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell praised his colleagues. "We demonstrated we can work together on a bipartisan basis" to achieve a goal, he said.
When the goal is selling out our freedom.
I hate to tell you this, but Detox is likely going to be forced, and soon, so say goodbye to your alcohol....
http://galeinnes.blogspot.com/2015/06/conspiracy-theory-war-on-alcohol.html
FL ???
your link to the role call was for this measure;
Measure Number: H.R. 2146 (Defending Public Safety Employees' Retirement Act ) Measure Title:A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow Federal law enforcement officers, firefighters, and air traffic controllers to make penalty-free withdrawals from governmental plans after age 50, and for other purposes.
Cruz and Paul both voted nay. Some sense in a couple candidates for the GOP at least.
yabut so did crazy bernie
WOLVERINES
No, the dems only turn-coated enough to just barely get the bill passed, and not a single one more, as evidenced by Pelosi's dedicated whipping of "yea" votes and her own personal "no" vote. This is and has been the general strategy for some time now. There may be some genuine opposition amongst the Democrat ranks, but, it is for all intents and purposes, statistically insignificant insofar as it applies to the act of governance.
Nancy, whipping Yes, voting No. In short, they're putting on a show.
ORI, I think your thinking of Jon Rappappaport (Rappaport)
so is it time to feed the tree of liberty with the blood of traitors yet or are we waiting until we are all in chains and have nothing left to give these scum?
Definitely time to fight. You can start on a local level. As an example my family unit and I are moving to NH as part of the Free State Project. That move will occur next month.
There is no way for me to make a difference in western Wa since it was overrun by bastards and whores a long time ago.
https://freestateproject.org/about/101-reasons-move-new-hampshire
I was thinking Texas myself however I have a bad feeling the fed's will try to make an example of it to the other states to keep them in line
The thing about Texas is that it has the most miliary bases and military troops of any state in the union.
If the Feds really are going to declare martial law someday, Texas will be on the front lines.
How about Maine? It's 90% rural.
We don't need any more southerners creeping up here.
We're full up.
Now that is funny. I guess the entire population of the U.S. could be considered Southerners if you live in Maine. As a real, below the Mason-Dixon Line Southerner, I can honestly say I have never known anyone who moved to Maine. Never even heard of anyone moving there.
+1 for Texas
-1 for Maine, sorry. Their taxes suck ass. It is so rural even Stephen King lives there.
Ever been? Not that New Hampshire isn't trying to do something special and all, but there's a bit of an ongoing "power struggle" between the more anarchic factions and the big-L Libertarians who started FSP. They spend more time fighting amongst themselves these days than they do the big, bad Goobermint. The Free State Project was, after all, set up as an inherently political entity, and not even necessarily a local one; at the time NH was picked, it was the first caucus State in national Presidential elections (as opposed to Iowa today) and was deemed small enough in population to "make a difference" in national politicks. Lots of the infighting relates to this difference in vision, and honestly, you're gonna make an enemy out of half the Free State Project simply by IMPLYING you're willing to fight the State with more than just your words. Ask Chris Cantwell how that's turned out for him.
The highest property taxes in the nation also don't help, nor does rocky soil that makes autonomy (i.e. growing food) a tough bid. They don't call it the "Granite State" for nothin'. PorcFest is the glittering, pseudo-Utopian advertisement for the move itself, and conflating PorcFest with FSP is about the same as comparing Woodstock during a Jimi Hendrix set to the week after everyone's already packed up. One's a party, the other's just a field in upstate New York.
Not trying to dissuade you from your move and truly wish you the best. The Keene area activists really do sound like your kinda guys, and given that they've already won major legislative and judicial battles through their local rabblerousing, hopefully you'll be in a position to make a difference. Just understand you're trading one set of bullshit for another, and like any heirarchically-driven "social club," participating in FSP is about as draining as participation in local politics in whatever part of Slavelandia you currently live, if not (potentially) a bit more successful.
From a dude who knows quite a few FSP cats and the loopy game of "inside baseball" they play out in Manchester.
(PS: My overarching point is that Globalism is GLOBAL. Safety in numbers and all that, sure, but this idea of packing freedom-lovers in New England in hopes of resistance is a bit silly to me. Local resistance is the only type that isn't futile at this point, but does that require moving to Appalachia? For you, perhaps it does, but the Neomercantile Federalists are already in every nook and cranny in this country, and thus, there's local activism against the ramparts of the "New Multilateral Economic Order" in every State in America; you just might have to go a bit more rural to find it. I know for a fact that the communities surrounding Spokane are very active in this regard, but again, much more rural than the Left Coast you're on now.)
Say it with me:
War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.
War (for the masses) is Peace (for the elite). Freedom (for the elite) is Slavery (for the masses). Ignorance (of the masses) is Strength (for the elite).
Doublethink complete, Comrade. I propose a toast to Big Brother, Victory Gin's on me tonight.
"Say it with me: War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength."
...and enough is fucking well enough already. This is absolutely infuriating and utterly outrageous! We're going from being chastised with whips (NAFTA and GATT) to being chastised with scorpions; at some point someone needs to shout the modern-day equivalent of "To your tents, O Israel!"
At what point did the primary objective of America become turning it into a massive economic rape camp? Or was that the whole idea from the very beginning?
I take the letter T
Not sick are you MDB ?
Not up to your usual high standard of irony.
He cannot hide the fact he is just as pissed, disillusioned, sick to heart and ready for real change as the rest of us.
On paper, it works perfectly. So does communisme.
In reality, the bureaucracy surrounding it is the killer and make sure it will be a big fail.
America is already doomed, so this only speeds thing up.
Lately, we, I mean some fellow travelers, have been laying traps for corporations. Like yesterday we were in lower Manhattan and when a corporation walked past the alley we whispered, "Psst, wanna exploit some $.08/hr. Thai laborers?" Of course, the corporation was intrigued and so entered the alley hoping to gain the hot tip and learn more. Well, we jumped the corp with our knives and left it bleeding $1 FRNs. Bills that gushed in glorious green rivulets that merged with the rest of the effluent of Gotham....
Brilliant Ignatius....light them fires...
@MDBonus - Maybe you should read up a bit on what little is known about this secret and unconstitutional treaty before endorsing it. The only thing 'protectionist' about it is protecting corporations' right to sue a government when the country passes a law they don't like.
"The only thing 'protectionist' about it is protecting corporations' right to sue a government when the country passes a law they don't like."
Indeed! The whole point of all free trade deals.
"The real danger lies in the way that this agreement subverts the sovereignty of nations. The TPP would create a system of shadowy trade tribunals which would allow companies to to override and nullify laws in any member country.http://www.citizen.org/tppinvestment
These tribunals are extrajudicial. Their authority is outside above national justice systems. The arbitrators are unelected, and completely unaccountable to the people.
The laws which will be subject to this new agreement include (but are not limited to) intellectual property rights, food and product safety, environmental standards, and just about any regulation that may affect the way companies do business.
Under the TPP, if a country passes a law to protect its citizens or reduce pollution in a particular sector, a multinational corporation which is affected by that law can take that country to a tribunal. The ruling will be legally binding. It doesn't matter what people voted for."
The TPP - What You're Not Being Toldlegally binding is bull shit--enforcement is the whole game-- you gotta enforce your will upon the subjects or you are hanging from a lamp post post haste. Enforcement is where it breaks down-- IMHO.
This shit isn't their first rodeo, remember NAFTA?
"If you were wondering about why environmentalists are so concerned about the so-called trade deal, the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, have a look what is happening in Canada.
Still surpriSed to see posters who dont get MDB's sly sarcasm. Kinda like when that moron from FIFA held up a Onion article to justify his position.
When sarcasm loses all irony and its ability to be distinguished from rational opinion, we're hosed.
Might want to brush up on what constitutes 'legislation' and what is actually extra-Constitutional, supra-National amendable corporate agreements negotiated it secret by stakeholders..
Who pays you to write this shit? Surely you don't troll ZH with FT and Bloomberg talking points on your own time..
It's a very encouraging step in the direction of one world government with no need for pesky voting rights!
Your treason has been noted MDB. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you asshole!
MDB .. your sardonic sense of humor .. has been greatly missed.... you are the best.
Oops...lol
Global integration. Is that like racial integration where we deliberately lower people's property values and personal security through government FORCE....all for the good of the collective? Does anyone notice that when ever they are acting for the good of all of us, for the collective, that it never actually includes "us"? Who is the collective anyway, because its interests never seemed aligned to mine?
Also, if we are to have global integration, does that imply that we also must share in the world's maladies, Ebola, SARS and all the rest. Will it be "imported" to ensure egalitarian equality is maintained?
MDB, could you have picked a worse time to troll!
Well, China does have a lot of empty buildings that need fillin. Absolutely no connection I'm sure ;)
What a rubbish comment. Globalisam is the narrative that underpins US corporate hegemony. In other words the US empire. It is an attempt to subjugate by legal means and has little to do with open and free trade. The last deperate play of the empire of chaos.
Great comment! I've made a few edits to make your point very plain to zero hedge readers.
I think this bill is an encouraging step toward facism. We can no longer deny that we live in a globalized fascistic economy, and our legislation needs to be bypassed to support fascism. We must not succumb to protectionism and nationalism - global integration is vital in the globalized facist economy and if we fail to breach international trade barriers, we risk being left behind in the next wave of global economic fascism.
What isn't talked about is the financial services part which guarantees GS access to all of those Asian nations with no restrictions on the type and complexity of financial services they can offer. Same with insurance companies. The TPP covers everything from immigration, agriculture, banking, insurance, real estate, healthcare, big pharma, the music industry, the internet. More than likely, it also addresses water rights and access to natural resources.
There are few industries which do not benefit from this secret agreement.
Only time will tell just how screwed the averaga peeps will be. A Cartel Of Corporate leaders will inform you of your right to live and how you will live your life.
Perhaps Americans deserve what they are about to get...and get it good, they will. Sadder may be the Westernization and ultimate destruction of Asian cultures.
Yeah, Americans' culos are frickin' ginormous from the pounding we have been taking - we are used to it and our sphincters are extremely accomodating now.
The rest of you in the world who have not been pounded by our banksters - go and get yer lube - it's going to be an incessant and displacing experience.
Emphasis on incessant - they will never stop until you neutralize them, and no one has had the fortitude to accomplish that thus far.
Will countries outside the anglo-zino really sign up? Some that have a beef with China, like The Philipines or VietNam, but that's about it in Asia. Europe with its zombie kool-aide drinking rulers, who knows? Maybe many will happily turn over even more sovereignty?
Guiotinnes for the Cartel Of Corporate leaders, too, then.
Let the festivities begin.
"More than likely, it also addresses water rights and access to natural resources."
That's ALWAYS the number one aim! (please note that ALL wars are about/over resources): "Pipelanistan" was perhaps one of the best words ever coined that makes this very point. BTW - "water" IS a natural resource.
Food, Shelter and Water. Got it?
Nothing left? They'll be coming for our retirement accounts soon. The writing has been on the wall for years now...
The douchebags who voted sold us out. There comes a point when citizens need to take responsibility for their voting record. Hope they enjoy unemployment.
Obama and Congress have gone Full Tarde.
The stupid, corrupt congress cunts don't even realize that they've just given away a lot of their own power.
The blackmail and bribery were STRONG on this one. I hope those bribes turn out to be worth it!
This is going to make Obamacare look like a minor nuisance.
This is the big one. The one Obama was groomed for. The one all the blackmail was gathered for. The one that above all others must pass.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
I just canceled my republican party membership
do yourself a favor and don't tell them shit---just let them keep sending the surveys and the "fill in the amount, do you agree that" form letters --throw them in the trash for that "good feeling" --just saying
If both houses of CONgress hadn't passed it, there would immediately be new allegations - aired in the media, of course - of child pornography pointed at a few hundred of them.
The sad part is that many of them might prove to be true.
It's paper power. Rest assured that each still has power: refer to: "Revolving Door."
I don't know why but all these things seem to me more and more irrelevant as time goes by. Much has already been revealed; we can identify who is who and what motives stand behind desperate acts of falling empire. And most importantly, a viable alternative is on the rise on global scale.
So what is this? A farce, a joke? It reminds me of resuscitation of dead horse. Something that already lost all signs of inherent importance and silently passed away.
You overestimate the average american peon by quite a bit. It will take much more than this to get everyone up in arms.
In fact, I'd bet this is another pivot point to separate the people and pit them against each other. If a race war won't work, they will start up another was of demographics and use something like this trade bill to separate which side you are on.
Global battle lines are drawn and the sides are almost finalized. Time for the same thing on a national level too.
Perhaps you're right but I personally don't care about battle lines or finalized sides. I don't want me to get dragged into shell games and fabricated lies and thus to add fuel to the fire of anger, hatred and fear, which only further weakens my abilities and hopes. That's exactly what they want me to be - a scared, powerless, and disintegrated personality. I'd rather opt for a more positive direction leaving the old garbage behind. You can find something new and refreshing in the latter case but certainly not in the former.
I wish more people would reach the conclusion you have. imo, it's the only way things start getting better when enough people just walk away from the bs we are being sold and figure out how to live a happy fulfilling life without 'leaders'.
It's a natural decay. It's how all empires and large powerful social structures wend their way toward their end. Consolidation of power. Not a damn thing new or unique here. No one involved is stupid, not in the context of the game; sadly, many make the mistake of blaming the players, failing to understand that it's the "game" that is stupid: again, and until people finally get it through their ever-hope-seeking brains, our game, since the very beginning, has been about promoting growth- the mathematical certainty of growth ending (perpetual growth on a finite planet is NOT possible) was always running alongside, now it's speeding up and will soon jump in front of us and force us to come to a complete halt.
"nailbiting" 60-37 vote, the Senate advanced Obama's fast-track tarde bill."
Yeah, but perhaps it should read "fast-track" turd bill. I could live with that.
I think changing it to "turde" would be more appropriate personally being the giant steaming dump that it is.
I can't wait until Obama's reign is over and the Republicans control something once again.
Then this will stop.
LOL!
Pull my finger!
+1 for classic satire
Grandma used to tell me about how things were back in 'The Old Country` before she emigrated and how sometimes the `Little People` would become upset at the actions of `Their Betters` she always said she didn’t worry about what the betters did because there was nothing she, or any little Person. could do about anything, besides, things didn’t go well for little people who challenged their betters, The Betters had little tolerance for uppityness among the little folks.
Things are changing, how are you going to adjust to the changes.
Grandma prayed for her betters, she was nothing and she knew it, but they,,they, they were more to her tham Milly Cyrus or Kim K. Is to America today, almost God like untouchable apparitions existing in the Heavenly realm just beyond ordinary mortals reach.
Grandma prayed that God would give them everything they desired she believed; when the Betters have enough then the will begin to look out for the `Little People`.
(Was this the birth of `Trickle Down theory`.)
I'm sure those that are creative and motivated enough will find ways of performing meaningful work and being compensated for it without permission from .gov or .gov's corporate masters. Just another escalation in the real war we as the human race are facing.
Ha-ha-ha. You bet!
However, this is so close to evil - to Big Brother - that why not call it what it is:
An Obamanation.
Agree with you about the people pushing for this being evil. I would consider their .gov underlings evil as well. They are finally becoming so obvious that even the ordinary american can see the evil though, which is a good thing.
A lot of folks are going to be out of jobs.
Of course these assholes passed it, they are bribed lackey's for the Kleptoligarchy, they're the kleptocrats in the steaming crock of shit formerly known as the U.S.A., they are the whores of the money-grubbing Satan worshippers of Wall Street.
Look for more waves of illegal immigrants, visa holders, .gov "programs" that give money to the destitute and former middle class that are nothing more than a circle jerk for the corporatocracy they feed and that is just enough to keep the youth from rioting and tearing down the New Rome.
The U.S.S.A. sucks ass. Some good people and nice places but the heinous immorality and shameless unethical wave of destruction that has been allowed to take over our lives is unforgivable.
EB, everywhere sucks ass. Like watching Bruce Jenner with a vacuum behind his head whle he is on the merry go round.
"...Like watching Bruce Jenner with a vacuum behind his head whle he is on the merry go round."
LMAO
Shit, I may as well leave the country now. The pirate flag has been hoisted.
This nightmarish trade agreement only serves two purposes: preserving the U.S. Dollar as the world's reserve currency and abolishing the U.S. Constitution.
Of course, I'm wondering if China is too dense to understand that this could prevent their currency from becoming the reserve currency. They're so busy pursuing their 100-year plan that they're getting flanked.
Yes I have been wondering if this trade deal has anything to do with the currency wars? Could the U.S. want this so that they can stop Japan from doing its standard we win or we'll make sure everyone loses by devaluing our currency to zero. If so interesting timing given the possible interest rate hike in Sept.
I think Trump was right, the U.S. has a bunch of losers negotiating trade deals. Get some smart mother f&$%kers out there to negotiate and take those japanese and chinese clowns to school.
Outrageous.
Criminal.
Politics.
Can anyone provide a link to the individual votes?
Let me save you some time...
Doesn't matter who your congress critter is or how they voted on this, they are corrupt, mentally ill, and don't give a shit about you or any other human being in your state.
The roll call is here: http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm...
Can anyone provide a link to the individual votes?
it's official. we have NO ONE left in government to represent the people of the united states.
"Consent of the governed" was always just an aspirational notion, Snob, something luminous and unobtainable at the end of the theoretical highway.
But seriously, this is sickening, a total sell-out, and it should go down in history as America's "Let them eat cake" moment.
sad but true
so really it pointless to vote
the 2 party system.
Not that I approve of the red vs blue shit but Sen Jeff Sessions seems to be the only one bringing forth any shred of information of what a bad deal it is to the public. Rand Paul pretended to be against it for a bit but most libertatians were already asleep due to how boring libertarianism is.
I am sure that is not nearly as ominous as it sounds.
So another important piece of The Plan B puzzle now goes in place. Evil has gone berserk.
http://just-a-thought-from-thinair.blogspot.com/
And some of you silly folks thought that the Democrats were heroes last week for voting it down. All part of the theatrics. Some people never learn.
This is fucking criminal...
On the bright side, maybe we should embrace the inevitable logical conclusion of this orgy of greed, power, and violence. It will give a country full of neurotic millienials the chance to develop some character.
Obama has never kept his promises. So he is used to this backlash and anger.
Obama Promised to Label GMO Foods!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyrcZMcvlxc
Big biz hates organised labor as they form their own klepto-union against the sheep.
Everyone hates domination which is what corporations AND unions seek to do. No one is interested in cooperation, unless it is to fuck someone else.
At this point I would just as soon have no law than laws that seek to eliminate freedom of choice, be it a flag, a word, who I hire (or don't) or who I trade with. I am legally bound to not discriminate which at this point pretty much tells me to bend over to whom ever asks. If we think it is simply through the control of guns that they seek to disarm us, we are mistaken. It goes much further than that. Any action, any speech, that conflicts with the greater good, greater goal, is verboten. We will conform or else.....
All politicians and ceo's are just like this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQ_3Ngaw4yc
What about the heads of unions? they are no different than CEO's and politicians to me.
Can't argue with that.
@ Oldwood, the biggest (only) difference between the two is the amount of $$$ involved. Labor unions have pretty much been stamped out except for gov and asscoiated croney outfits so these corps represent a ton more money. Watch this...the secret TPP corporate union will band together and not accept cash for their monopolised products.
Two 'decent' unions remain- The longshoreman and the Railroad unions....And big corps have been pushing to computerize railways in the last few years so they can whittle away at the promised pensions. Talk to anyone who works for the railroad and ask them if they think their pension will be there when they retire.
So what? The unions and the black vote are in the bag for the Democrat party.
What are they gonna do? Vote Republican? That will never happen and Obama/Dems know that so they can screw them over with no consequences.
Fuck you Bernanke.......wait a minute, wrong thread.
Never mind.
Where's riot dog?
Licking his balls in heaven.
Stupid is as stupid does and we're setting new records for stupid, everywhere, every day.....
This is the US Military's day to prove themselves as true Americans. Go for it boys. Stop the takeover of America.
You'd better duck down low then.
Gone fishin.
Sincerely,
The troops.
Actually its past due time for the military to uphold the oath they all swore on day one. Pretty sure domestic was listed as potential enemies that they will fight.
So does 'dual passport' count as domestic?
Ever noticed that once you have had the shit kicked out of you that is words had together put?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xQBV9Vafvs
I assume that all y'all who want the people in the military to do something are going to grab your rucksack and rifle and join them. It's so easy to be a sunshine patriot. As for myself, I have a good chance of not surviving it because I will be involved. I'm just hoping to leave enough useful things to help restart society....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YASXnxeBsLE
Yeah, well....
Mercenaries turn-coating on their current employers for free, LOL, good one. Funniest comment of the day right there.
I hereby declare, on oath... that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic;
Yeah, right.
Domestic terrorists, as defined by our loving protectorate. There are no domestic enemies within our government, as only they can define who is and isn't an enemy. It is a very convenient arrangement that relies on the standard policy that only each government entity and agency is qualified to judge itself. The government has determined that the constitution only exists to serve the state, and the state can only define what the constitution actually infers, effectively circling their wagons against any challenge. I'm sure that SCOTUS would agree with me.
Government of, by, and for the 1%.
Yes and the Republican Party sold out American workers to line their pockets despite the fact that 58% of the country did not want this deal. They did so when the public’s attention was directed by the fraudulent media to the lunatic who shot up the church. Nothing is done above board with the US government anymore except outright lies. Disgusting and disgraceful!!
Sounds like Obamacare, doesn't it? Even in democrat majority districts, where the democratic voters didn't want it, it was voted up anyway by their democratic representative. So much for "representation".