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The Trans-Pacific Trade Scam
Despite what President Obama says, the TPP does indeed create a corporate end run around our laws.
Dec 25, 2015
Last spring, President Barack Obama got downright crabby about people criticizing the mammoth Trans-Pacific Partnership he's trying to sell to Congress and the public.
More and more Americans are learning that the TPP would undermine America's very sovereignty, giving multinational corporations direct access to secretive tribunals that could roll back any consumer, labor, or environmental laws that global corporate giants don't like.
Yet an irked Obama denies that this is true: "They're making this stuff up," he cried. "No trade agreement is going to force us to change our laws."
Perhaps he was misinformed. Perhaps he hasn't actually read the deal he's pushing. Or -- dare we say it? -- perhaps he's lying.
In unmistakable language, the TPP does indeed create the private, corporate-run mechanism for changing our laws. Moreover, surely Obama knows that foreign corporations are already doing this indirectly.
Through little-known provisions in past trade scams, powerful corporations in other countries have pressured their governments to challenge our laws in similar tribunals.
From Canada to Malaysia, many countries have -- on behalf of their corporate powers -- successfully forced Congress and U.S. agencies to weaken or eliminate everything from environmental protections to consumer right-to-know laws.
In fact, this very year, Obama's own administration has been told by the World Trade Organization that it must alter or repeal America's laws on labeling foreign agricultural products.
This TPP flimflam would elevate profiteering corporations to the legal status of sovereign nations, empowering them to sue directly in rigged corporate courts "to force us to change our laws." Obama knows this--and if he doesn't, he should.
Either way, it destroys his presidential credibility and moral authority to keep pushing this giveaway of our people's sovereignty.
We are at a crossroads
This country and this world are at a monumental crossroads. US voters have an opportunity to beat back the forces of fascism and confront the billionaires who are rigging the economy, our media system, and our democracy, making it increasingly impossible for ordinary people to get by. We’re not just talking about the election. We’re talking about what must be done once these fascist elements are vanquished from power. We need a bolder set of solutions than what either major party has so far been willing to offer and a working-class movement ready to fight like hell for it. Trump didn't emerge from nowhere. The conditions that fueled MAGA authoritarianism were created by decades of radical neoliberal economic policies and a corrupt political system dominated by corporate interests. They slashed taxes on the super-rich, promising that the benefits would trickle down. They said giveaways to the corporate titans would make life more affordable for the rest of us. It was all bullshit. And when a bitter, betrayed populace searches for someone to blame, right-wing demagogues have little trouble finding scapegoats. People know when they're being lied to, but you won't hear any of this from the corporate media. Only independent journalism—powered and funded by people who believe in building a better world—can deliver truly trustworthy daily news. If you share our vision, please contribute whatever you can to sustain our work. |
This column was distributed by OtherWords.
Jim Hightower
Jim Hightower is a national radio commentator, writer, public speaker, and author of the books "Swim Against The Current: Even A Dead Fish Can Go With The Flow" (2008) and "There's Nothing in the Middle of the Road But Yellow Stripes and Dead Armadillos: A Work of Political Subversion" (1998). Hightower has spent three decades battling the Powers That Be on behalf of the Powers That Ought To Be - consumers, working families, environmentalists, small businesses, and just-plain-folks.
barack obamacongressconsumer rightsjim hightowermalaysiamultinational corporationstpptradetrans-pacific partnershipworld trade organization
Last spring, President Barack Obama got downright crabby about people criticizing the mammoth Trans-Pacific Partnership he's trying to sell to Congress and the public.
More and more Americans are learning that the TPP would undermine America's very sovereignty, giving multinational corporations direct access to secretive tribunals that could roll back any consumer, labor, or environmental laws that global corporate giants don't like.
Yet an irked Obama denies that this is true: "They're making this stuff up," he cried. "No trade agreement is going to force us to change our laws."
Perhaps he was misinformed. Perhaps he hasn't actually read the deal he's pushing. Or -- dare we say it? -- perhaps he's lying.
In unmistakable language, the TPP does indeed create the private, corporate-run mechanism for changing our laws. Moreover, surely Obama knows that foreign corporations are already doing this indirectly.
Through little-known provisions in past trade scams, powerful corporations in other countries have pressured their governments to challenge our laws in similar tribunals.
From Canada to Malaysia, many countries have -- on behalf of their corporate powers -- successfully forced Congress and U.S. agencies to weaken or eliminate everything from environmental protections to consumer right-to-know laws.
In fact, this very year, Obama's own administration has been told by the World Trade Organization that it must alter or repeal America's laws on labeling foreign agricultural products.
This TPP flimflam would elevate profiteering corporations to the legal status of sovereign nations, empowering them to sue directly in rigged corporate courts "to force us to change our laws." Obama knows this--and if he doesn't, he should.
Either way, it destroys his presidential credibility and moral authority to keep pushing this giveaway of our people's sovereignty.
Jim Hightower
Jim Hightower is a national radio commentator, writer, public speaker, and author of the books "Swim Against The Current: Even A Dead Fish Can Go With The Flow" (2008) and "There's Nothing in the Middle of the Road But Yellow Stripes and Dead Armadillos: A Work of Political Subversion" (1998). Hightower has spent three decades battling the Powers That Be on behalf of the Powers That Ought To Be - consumers, working families, environmentalists, small businesses, and just-plain-folks.
Last spring, President Barack Obama got downright crabby about people criticizing the mammoth Trans-Pacific Partnership he's trying to sell to Congress and the public.
More and more Americans are learning that the TPP would undermine America's very sovereignty, giving multinational corporations direct access to secretive tribunals that could roll back any consumer, labor, or environmental laws that global corporate giants don't like.
Yet an irked Obama denies that this is true: "They're making this stuff up," he cried. "No trade agreement is going to force us to change our laws."
Perhaps he was misinformed. Perhaps he hasn't actually read the deal he's pushing. Or -- dare we say it? -- perhaps he's lying.
In unmistakable language, the TPP does indeed create the private, corporate-run mechanism for changing our laws. Moreover, surely Obama knows that foreign corporations are already doing this indirectly.
Through little-known provisions in past trade scams, powerful corporations in other countries have pressured their governments to challenge our laws in similar tribunals.
From Canada to Malaysia, many countries have -- on behalf of their corporate powers -- successfully forced Congress and U.S. agencies to weaken or eliminate everything from environmental protections to consumer right-to-know laws.
In fact, this very year, Obama's own administration has been told by the World Trade Organization that it must alter or repeal America's laws on labeling foreign agricultural products.
This TPP flimflam would elevate profiteering corporations to the legal status of sovereign nations, empowering them to sue directly in rigged corporate courts "to force us to change our laws." Obama knows this--and if he doesn't, he should.
Either way, it destroys his presidential credibility and moral authority to keep pushing this giveaway of our people's sovereignty.
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