Trans Pacific Partnership – a gift to corporations against people and the environment

Scarier still is the part of the TPP that will give corporations the right to sue governments for lost profits. The proceedings will be conducted before secret corporate tribunals.

Foreshadowing nasty corporate suits are what is happening now in Australia, Egypt, and Germany.
Philip Morris, an American tobacco company, is suing Australia for prohibiting the sale of cigarettes to underaged smokers in that country.

Why Obama Is Making the Mistake of Pushing the TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership) Michael E. Drake Democratic Perspectives on the corporate take-over of America, 15 May 15

He has convinced himself that American labor cannot compete with labor forces in the rest of the world, particularly in Asia. He said, “That ship has already sailed.” Obama has given up. He has given in to corporate interests who want things both ways for the sake of short term profit. Corporations, who recognize no international boundaries, insist on producing goods for the lowest possible cost in labor. That means, first of all, outsourcing and building factories in other countries. Secondly, they insist on this country importing those goods for sale here in the United States with no tariffs.

What has this way of doing business cost us already? Start with 60,000 factories in this country since the year 2000. Also disappearing is the millions of manufacturing jobs that went along with these factories. Then comes the gigantic trade deficit that we as a country has been running for decades. Lately, the trade deficit (the difference between what we sell to other countries and what other countries sell us) has been running around 50 billion dollars a month. Our wealth is flying out the door at an incredible rate, and we, suckers that we are, are left holding the bag. Congressman Alan Grayson of Florida has helped produce a short film which explains it all. I urge you to take a look at it…….

Now, in addition to the economic loss that has already occurred, our president is asking us to give away even more. He wants us to do it on a fast track in Congress, which means no real debate, no amendments, no changes whatsoever to an agreement negotiated by corporate executives and corporate lobbyists. He’s asking us to continue being dupes, suckers. He wants us, the PEOPLE, to go on giving away everything so corporations can get even wealthier and our government can go on operating on a shoe string because of a depleted tax base. Remember, people without jobs do not pay much in income taxes. Corporations tend to stash profits abroad paying no taxes on the offshore money. What they claim in profits here at home is taxed at a paltry 13%.

Scarier still is the part of the TPP that will give corporations the right to sue governments for lost profits. The proceedings will be conducted before secret corporate tribunals. Obama sugar coats this part of the deal by suggesting that bad laws in the other countries involved will allow us to sell more in those countries because they won’t be able to block our goods with unfair laws. But since we will be buying more from them, like we do now, it is they who are more likely to be suing us for market access. They will be able to challenge our laws, and they will at a far greater rate than we sue them.Foreshadowing nasty corporate suits are what is happening now in Australia, Egypt, and Germany.
Philip Morris, an American tobacco company, is suing Australia for prohibiting the sale of cigarettes to underaged smokers in that country. A French trash collecting company is suing the Egyptians for Egypt’s recent law which raises the country’s minimum wage. The Swedes are suing Germany for losses due to Germany’s adopted policy of limiting nuclear power plants. If we pass the TPP, this kind of lawsuit will be capable of undermining national laws in CORPORATE courts. Duly elected national governments will have to bow to corporate interests. One major concern is that drug prices will explode around the world because pharmaceutical profits will supersede the human right of health care. In short, the drug companies will be able to screw the world the same way they have been screwing Americans since the passage of Medicare Prescription Part D was passed over ten years ago.

There is little to recommend the trade agreement Obama is pushing. It’s hard to understand his dismissal of progressive Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren and Independent Senator Bernie Sanders, both of whom are vehemently opposed to this trade agreement. “They’re just wrong,” Obama has said with little explanation of why……..http://michaeledrake.blogspot.com.au/2015/05/why-obama-is-making-mistake-of-pushing.html

May 16, 2015 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, politics international

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