You Can't Read This

Have you seen what's in the new TPP trade deal?

Most likely, you haven't - and don't bother trying to Google it. The government doesn't want you to read this massive new trade agreement. It's top secret.

Why? Here's the real answer people have given me: "We can't make this deal public because if the American people saw what was in it, they would be opposed to it."

If the American people would be opposed to a trade agreement if they saw it, then that agreement should not become the law of the United States.

Let's send a loud message to our trade officials: No vote on a fast-track for trade agreements until the American people can see what's in this TPP deal. Sign this petition right now to make the TPP agreement public.

The Administration says I'm wrong - that there's nothing to worry about. They say the deal is nearly done, and they are making a lot of promises about how the deal will affect workers, the environment, and human rights. Promises - but people like you can't see the actual deal.

For more than two years now, giant corporations have had an enormous amount of access to see the parts of the deal that might affect them and to give their views as negotiations progressed. But the doors stayed locked for the regular people whose jobs are on the line.

If most of the trade deal is good for the American economy, but there's a provision hidden in the fine print that could help multinational corporations ship American jobs overseas or allow for watering down of environmental or labor rules, fast track would mean that Congress couldn't write an amendment to fix it. It's all or nothing.

Before we sign on to rush through a deal like that - no amendments, no delays, no ability to block a bad bill - the American people should get to see what's in it.

Sherrod Brown has been leading this fight, and he points out that TPP isn't classified military intelligence - it's a trade agreement among 12 countries that control 40% of the world's economy. A trade agreement that affects jobs, environmental regulations, and whether workers around the globe are treated humanely. It might even affect the new financial rules we put in place after the 2008 crisis. This trade agreement doesn't matter to just the biggest corporations - it matters to all of us.

When giant corporations get to see the details and the American people don't, we all lose. Let's level the playing field: No vote on fast-tracking trade until the public can read the TPP deal.

We've all seen the tricks and traps that corporations hide in the fine print of contracts. We've all seen the provisions they slip into legislation to rig the game in their favor. Now just imagine what they have done working behind closed doors with TPP.

We can't keep the American people in the dark.