April, 16 2015, 12:00am EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Amanda Kistler, Communications Manager, 202-742-5832, akistler@ciel.org
Fast-Tracked Trade Deals Rush Us Toward a Toxic Future
Today, Senators Hatch (R-Utah), Wyden (D-Ore.), and Ryan (R-Wis.) introduced the Trade Promotion Authority legislation (TPA-2015), which would extend "fast track" negotiating authority for trade deals, including the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). With fast-track, Congress would lose its ability to ensure that trade pacts benefit workers, the environment, and communities around the United States.
WASHINGTON
Today, Senators Hatch (R-Utah), Wyden (D-Ore.), and Ryan (R-Wis.) introduced the Trade Promotion Authority legislation (TPA-2015), which would extend "fast track" negotiating authority for trade deals, including the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). With fast-track, Congress would lose its ability to ensure that trade pacts benefit workers, the environment, and communities around the United States. Modern agreements like TTIP are not simply about trade; they are about regulation, with wide-ranging effects on environmental, health and safety standards designed to protect the public interest.
Carroll Muffett, President of the Center for International Environmental Law, issued the following statement on the introduction of the bill:
Trade agreements like the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership and the TransPacific Partnership, negotiated out of sight and with no meaningful public input, reflect the wish-lists of industry lobbyists, not the needs of the American people. Increasingly, these agreements deal less with inconsequential border taxes than with critical issues of public policy. Chemical safety, consumers and workers rights, and the power of federal and state governments to protect the public from hazardous substances and products all will be affected by the deals being negotiated. These deals would grant new rights to corporations and investors to undermine democracy and public policy in the name of private profit. Deals like TTIP and TPP demand public scrutiny and careful Congressional review. Fast track fails that standard and fails the American people.
Since 1989, the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) has worked to strengthen and use international law and institutions to protect the environment, promote human health, and ensure a just and sustainable society.
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Dr. Oz Had Up to Tens of Millions Invested in Companies Involved With CMS
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Dr. Mehmet Oz, the "former daytime television fixture" who U.S. President-elect Donald Trump picked to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, reported "up to $56 million in investments in three companies" with direct CMS interests, the watchdog Accountable.US highlighted Friday.
The celebrity heart surgeon is already under fire for his record of peddling "baseless or wrong" health advice and pushing Medicare Advantage (MA)—an alternative to the government-run program administered by private health insurance companies—on The Dr. Oz Show, as well as his stake in UnitedHealth and CVS Health.
The new Accountable.US report—based on disclosures from Oz's unsuccessful 2022 run against U.S. Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.)—adds to conflict of interest concerns and fears that Oz may thwart the Biden administration's new rule intended to rein in privatized Medicare Advantage plans.
"Dr. Oz's conflicts of interest pose a serious threat to seniors' health security."
"In 2022, Oz's 'single biggest healthcare holding' was up to $26 million in Sharecare, a digital health company Oz co-founded that became the 'exclusive in-home care supplemental benefit program' for 1.5 million MA enrollees across 400 MA plans through its CareLinx service in 2022," the watchdog detailed. "By 2023, CareLinx was available to over 2 million MA enrollees. Sharecare was taken private in a $518 million private equity deal in 2024, and it is unknown if Oz still holds a stake."
Nick Clemens, Oz's spokesperson on the Trump transition team, told USA TODAY—which first reported on the Accountable.US findings—that Oz sold his stake in Sharecare but did not address further questions.
The group noted that "in 2022, Oz disclosed holding up to $25 million in Amazon and up to $5 million in Microsoft, which CMS called its 'two primary cloud service providers' in its FY 2025 budget document, which requested over $3.3 billion in information technology funding for the year. Notably, Amazon Web Services hosted 74 million Medicaid records as early as 2017 and the company has been contracted to streamline Healthcare.gov, the federal health insurance portal run by CMS."
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When asked if Oz still owned the stocks in the two tech giants, Trump transition spokesperson Brian Hughes only said that "all nominees and appointees will comply with the ethical obligations of their respective agencies."
Given the nominee's TV and investment history, Accountable.US executive director Tony Carrk declared Friday that "seniors deserve a CMS leader who will protect and strengthen Medicare—not someone like Dr. Oz who wants to privatize this vital and hugely popular program for great personal gain."
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While Trump has the power to pick the next CMS administrator, the selection requires Senate confirmation—unless the president-elect works around it to install his most controversial nominees.
On Tuesday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and six colleagues wrote to Oz to express their concerns about his qualifications, "advocacy for the elimination of traditional Medicare," and "deep financial ties to private health insurers."
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The lawmakers sent Oz a list of questions, requesting responses by December 23. They inquired about his views on traditional Medicare and revelations that "private companies overcharge taxpayers and unlawfully deny care." They also asked whether, as administrator, he would commit to "fully divesting of any and all financial holdings related to the insurance industry" and "recusing from any decisions that may impact insurers" in which he has a stake.
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In a first of its kind report, our Gaza based partner Community Training Centre for Crisis Management asked injured, separated and disabled children and their caregivers about the toll of the ongoing war on their lives. Their answers are devastating but sadly not a surprise. 1/5
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— War Child UK ( @warchilduk.bsky.social) December 12, 2024 at 3:31 AM
Israel's 434-day assault on Gaza—which is the subject of an International Court of Justice genocide case—has left tens of thousands of children dead, maimed, missing, or orphaned and hundreds of thousands more forcibly displaced, starved, or sickened. Doctors and others including volunteers from the United States have documented many cases in which they've concluded Israeli snipers and other troops have deliberately shot children in the head and chest.
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