SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Obama: Don't Sell Out America's Women
The proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership is bad news for workers and worse news for women
Nov 27, 2014
President Barack Obama has insisted up and down that he's willing to work with the Republicans who are taking over the Senate.
He proved it during his recent visit to Beijing, where he urged world leaders to come to agreement on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) -- a longtime priority of soon-to-be Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
What's the TPP, you ask?
It's a giant trade agreement between the United States and 11 other Pacific Rim nations -- including Australia, Japan, and Malaysia, among others -- now being negotiated in secret.
Well, mostly in secret. Around 600 corporations and a few labor unions with stakes in the talks have seen a draft. Except for a few chapters released by WikiLeaks last year, Congress and the public have not.
But here's what we do know: This so-called "partnership" is an insult to U.S. workers. And it's especially bad news for women.
According to Doctors Without Borders, for example, the agreement's intellectual property clauses could cut off access to generic drugs for people living with HIV/AIDS -- who are increasingly women and kids.
And the Communications Workers of America union says the pact will make it easier for corporations to outsource majority-female jobs -- not only in low-wage workplaces such as call centers, but also higher-wage sectors like human resources.
So it's no surprise that women in Congress have been leading the opposition to the TPP for some time.
In the House, Democrats Rosa DeLauro and Louise Slaughter pointed out in a forceful Los Angeles Times op-ed that the agreement would force Americans to compete against workers from extremely low-wage countries. It would also, they argued, roll back environmental standards and U.S. laws that protect food and drug safety.
In the Senate, Democrat Elizabeth Warren has expressed worries that the secretive agreement could weaken financial regulations. She opposed the appointment of Michael Froman as the U.S. trade representative -- a job that has made him the chief arbiter of the treaty-making process -- because he flatly stated his opposition to more transparency in the negotiations.
And there's another little-known provision.
Under the proposed rules, businesses incorporated in TPP countries -- any of them -- would be guaranteed equal treatment with U.S. firms when bidding on government contracts.
That means our tax dollars could go to underwriting companies in countries like Brunei, which imprisons unmarried women for getting pregnant and allows the stoning of gays and lesbians.
I'm all for cooperation in government, and I do hope President Obama and Mitch McConnell can agree on some things -- like a higher minimum wage for instance.
But the Trans-Pacific Partnership? Sink it.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
This column was distributed by OtherWords.
Martha Burk
Martha Burk is a political psychologist, women's issues expert, and director of the Corporate Accountability Project for the National Council of Women's Organizations (NCWO) and the author of the "Your Voice, Your Vote" (2020). Follow Martha on Twitter @MarthaBurk.
barack obamadoctors without borderselizabeth warrenlgbtqmalaysiamitch mcconnellpublic healthtpptradewikileakswomen
President Barack Obama has insisted up and down that he's willing to work with the Republicans who are taking over the Senate.
He proved it during his recent visit to Beijing, where he urged world leaders to come to agreement on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) -- a longtime priority of soon-to-be Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
What's the TPP, you ask?
It's a giant trade agreement between the United States and 11 other Pacific Rim nations -- including Australia, Japan, and Malaysia, among others -- now being negotiated in secret.
Well, mostly in secret. Around 600 corporations and a few labor unions with stakes in the talks have seen a draft. Except for a few chapters released by WikiLeaks last year, Congress and the public have not.
But here's what we do know: This so-called "partnership" is an insult to U.S. workers. And it's especially bad news for women.
According to Doctors Without Borders, for example, the agreement's intellectual property clauses could cut off access to generic drugs for people living with HIV/AIDS -- who are increasingly women and kids.
And the Communications Workers of America union says the pact will make it easier for corporations to outsource majority-female jobs -- not only in low-wage workplaces such as call centers, but also higher-wage sectors like human resources.
So it's no surprise that women in Congress have been leading the opposition to the TPP for some time.
In the House, Democrats Rosa DeLauro and Louise Slaughter pointed out in a forceful Los Angeles Times op-ed that the agreement would force Americans to compete against workers from extremely low-wage countries. It would also, they argued, roll back environmental standards and U.S. laws that protect food and drug safety.
In the Senate, Democrat Elizabeth Warren has expressed worries that the secretive agreement could weaken financial regulations. She opposed the appointment of Michael Froman as the U.S. trade representative -- a job that has made him the chief arbiter of the treaty-making process -- because he flatly stated his opposition to more transparency in the negotiations.
And there's another little-known provision.
Under the proposed rules, businesses incorporated in TPP countries -- any of them -- would be guaranteed equal treatment with U.S. firms when bidding on government contracts.
That means our tax dollars could go to underwriting companies in countries like Brunei, which imprisons unmarried women for getting pregnant and allows the stoning of gays and lesbians.
I'm all for cooperation in government, and I do hope President Obama and Mitch McConnell can agree on some things -- like a higher minimum wage for instance.
But the Trans-Pacific Partnership? Sink it.
Martha Burk
Martha Burk is a political psychologist, women's issues expert, and director of the Corporate Accountability Project for the National Council of Women's Organizations (NCWO) and the author of the "Your Voice, Your Vote" (2020). Follow Martha on Twitter @MarthaBurk.
President Barack Obama has insisted up and down that he's willing to work with the Republicans who are taking over the Senate.
He proved it during his recent visit to Beijing, where he urged world leaders to come to agreement on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) -- a longtime priority of soon-to-be Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
What's the TPP, you ask?
It's a giant trade agreement between the United States and 11 other Pacific Rim nations -- including Australia, Japan, and Malaysia, among others -- now being negotiated in secret.
Well, mostly in secret. Around 600 corporations and a few labor unions with stakes in the talks have seen a draft. Except for a few chapters released by WikiLeaks last year, Congress and the public have not.
But here's what we do know: This so-called "partnership" is an insult to U.S. workers. And it's especially bad news for women.
According to Doctors Without Borders, for example, the agreement's intellectual property clauses could cut off access to generic drugs for people living with HIV/AIDS -- who are increasingly women and kids.
And the Communications Workers of America union says the pact will make it easier for corporations to outsource majority-female jobs -- not only in low-wage workplaces such as call centers, but also higher-wage sectors like human resources.
So it's no surprise that women in Congress have been leading the opposition to the TPP for some time.
In the House, Democrats Rosa DeLauro and Louise Slaughter pointed out in a forceful Los Angeles Times op-ed that the agreement would force Americans to compete against workers from extremely low-wage countries. It would also, they argued, roll back environmental standards and U.S. laws that protect food and drug safety.
In the Senate, Democrat Elizabeth Warren has expressed worries that the secretive agreement could weaken financial regulations. She opposed the appointment of Michael Froman as the U.S. trade representative -- a job that has made him the chief arbiter of the treaty-making process -- because he flatly stated his opposition to more transparency in the negotiations.
And there's another little-known provision.
Under the proposed rules, businesses incorporated in TPP countries -- any of them -- would be guaranteed equal treatment with U.S. firms when bidding on government contracts.
That means our tax dollars could go to underwriting companies in countries like Brunei, which imprisons unmarried women for getting pregnant and allows the stoning of gays and lesbians.
I'm all for cooperation in government, and I do hope President Obama and Mitch McConnell can agree on some things -- like a higher minimum wage for instance.
But the Trans-Pacific Partnership? Sink it.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.