Closely guarded text...

[rbnyc]

From Robert Reich's Facebook page:

“I’d like to see the text of the Trans Pacific Partnership trade deal,” I told the person I reached in the office of the U.S. Trade Representative.

“I’m sorry,” she said, “it’s classified.”

“But representatives from some 600 private corporations have access to it by way of a secured Internet portal,” I said. “I’d like the password to the secured portal, please.”

“That’s not possible,” she said.

“But I’m a former cabinet official. I had security clearance. Why can representatives from 600 private corporations have access to this text and not me?”

“I’m very sorry,” she said.

“Look, Congress will be voting shortly on whether to fast-track this deal without amendment or discussion. Several members of Congress have called me to get my advice before they vote. All I’m asking for is the same access to it that people who work for 600 corporations are getting.”

“I can't help you,” she said.

"WikiLeaks has already published three leaked chapters and is selling the entire thing for $100,000. Wouldn't it be cheaper and simpler just to give it to me?"

She laughed and said goodbye.

I don't think this is a laughing matter.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1012254125453850&id=142474049098533

[Angry Dragon]

1. That is called "Obama Transparency"

[Plucketeer]

28. Like gazing thru

a window of lead!

[Betty Karlson]

38. Disgustingly disappointing

I can only call this calumny on his part.

[DhhD]

70. It is transparent enough to Paul Ryan in order for him to add deregulation to air quality in.

[lark]

77. Sadly so!

Transparent to corporations, corporations can provide text and attend meetings. Citizens, nah, we get nothing, except screwed.

Obama's legacy could come to a net negative due to his late allegiance to the corporate altar and total repudiation of labor and the environment concerns with this bill. Yes, there is some lip-service, but there are zero, repeat zero, mechanisms for legally addressing these. However, there are whole sections on the relief available to big business. They are given extra-governmental powers with this agreement, so can over-ride any environmental or labor law that decreases their "expected profits". This could be his Glass-Steagall moment on steroids, to compare him to the last Dem president.

[Hoyt]

2. You'd think Robert knows it's not finished yet. Did he pull this junk when pushing for NAFTA?

Then -- just a year or so ago when he said the mistake they made with NAFTA was not putting in enough Labor and Environmental protections. Since Obama is correcting that, Reich must be ticked Obama is going to show him up. He's already ticked because Obama has basically ignored him.

[daleanime]

4. ......

[cali]

6. it is very, very close to finished. In any case you dodge the issue he is addressing.

And he is certainly far more qualified than you to speak to these issues. And it's a stinking lie that labor and environment standards will be meaningfully enforced. This administration has a shit record in that regard.

[Hoyt]

7. Better than any other Admin by a long shot.

[Romeo.lima333]

11. such an endorsment

[daleanime]

17. Agreed, like we should be happy....

with a better grade of shit.

[Enthusiast]

67. This new shit is studded with corn. You should see it.

[URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL] [URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]

[Art_from_Ark]

69. "Try it, you'll like it"

"But what is it?"
"Try it, you'll like it"

[frylock]

27. Doesn't quite roll off the tongue like HOPE or CHANGE.

[Enthusiast]

68. Not quite.

[BeanMusical]

24. +1

Very well said.

[tkmorris]

10. I've heard this argument a hundred times...

And it's still as stupid as it was the first time.

It doesn't need to be finished to be available to read. That's what working drafts ARE. What do you think they allowing those "600 corporations" (I have no idea what the real number is) access to? What IS this thing that certain Congresspeople are allowed to access but take no notes on?

Stop being absurd.

[daleanime]

19. Fairly sure....

there's no chance of that happening.

[OnyxCollie]

20. The incentives are too good.

[Hoyt]

22. Along with those 600 corporations, are Unions, Brookings, Consumer Union, Humane Society, etc.

The folks writing this stuff, purposely leave them out because they know there are a lot of gullible -- to be nice -- people out there who aren't going to check the facts.

[1StrongBlackMan]

36. In another thread about the emails that PROVE corporate lobbyists are writing the TPP ...

I posed a few questions. I wonder if these corporate emails represent the same access that Labor has, but are not told about. I know we are being led to believe, otherwise; but, I am not/have not found anything to counter it.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=post&forum=1002&pid=6811609

[FairWinds]

60. This is flat out wrong - will you correct it?

That "Unions, Brookings, Consumer Union, Humane Society"

have access to the TPP text.

SHAME ON YOU !!

[1StrongBlackMan]

18. Not to mention ...

can you say, vanity writing? I think I'll call a receptionist and ask to see a classified document, then run to facebook to post my rejection!

Robert, get one of those "several" representatives that want you take on the TPP to walk you into the archive and get to reading.

[GeorgeGist]

21. No guests are allowed.

[Unknown Beatle]

23. It's not that easy.

Reich would need clearance, and I'm sure the Obama administration wouldn't give it to him.

[Dont call me Shirley]

31. And so that's supposed to be a good thing Obama is ignoring Reich?

Just like O is ignoring Paul Krugman, Ravi Batra, Michael Hudson, William Black, and The Nobel Economist (forgot his name)

TPP TTIP Tisa are all the workings of a corporate constitution and they are the rulers!

[tblue37]

51. Joseph Stiglitz? nt

[Dont call me Shirley]

55. Oh thanks, that's it!

[Dont call me Shirley]

66. And how could I forget Richard Wolff

[They_Live]

34. "Labor and Environmental protections"...such as?

be specific. Oh that's right. You DON'T KNOW.

[1StrongBlackMan]

40. Labor Advisors such as the AFL-CIO ...

I’ve heard “labor” has a seat at the table and gets to see the TPP texts. Is this true?
No. Under U.S. law, there are several trade advisers—private citizens appointed by the President—who advise on trade policies. Of these advisers, the vast majority
(85% according to the Washington Post) represent businesses. About 5% of the advisers represent labor. The other 10% represent local and state government officials, academics, think tanks and non-governmental organizations. Labor advisers are allowed to review and advise on draft U.S. proposals—advice that the United States Trade Representative (USTR) can freely ignore. But we are locked out of the negotiating room and cannot see the actual negotiating texts, which combine the proposals from all 12 countries and evolve over time as negotiations progress. Nor can we share what we learn with members without violating national security laws.

http://www.aflcio.org/Issues/Trade/Fast-Track-Legislation/Labor-s-So-Called-Seat-at-the-Table-at-TPP-Negotiations

There is nothing to suggest that corporations have no great access to the negotiations than labor ... other than, in terms of the number of corporate advisors.

[They_Live]

47. thanks

that's about what I thought.

[1StrongBlackMan]

48. My bad ... I miss read your post to be asking about Labors' Advisors/lobbyists ...

I don't know a great deal about NAFTA, other than that (unlike the USTR's Negotiating Objectives) the Labor/Environmental terms were NOT negotiated as a part of NAFTA ... but rather, were separate agreements.

[They_Live]

58. Well I was, but with TPP

sorry for the confusion.

[Logical]

56. If it is not finished how can Obama be supporting it? nt

[Hoyt]

63. First, he knows what wants. Second, if it ends up bad, he doesn't sign it.

Third, he probably knows what he can get if he has the proper leverage. He won't have that if another party thinks our Congress is going to take years arguing over every little detail for political purposes.

[Skittles]

62. OMG are STILL pimping this garbage?

[L0oniX]

71. "it's not finished yet" ...but it's good enough for corporations to view.

Good thing Obama isn't ignoring the corporations.

[lark]

78. What a nice fantasy.

Wish it were even in the neighborhood of what's actually going on. There are zero labor and environmental enforcement mechanisms in TPP. Winner, 1%.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

3. The Audacity of Secret Government

[daleanime]

5. K&R.....

[Octafish]

8. Most transparent administration in history, it is said.

Transparency and Open Government

Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies
SUBJECT: Transparency and Open Government

My Administration is committed to creating an unprecedented level of openness in Government. We will work together to ensure the public trust and establish a system of transparency, public participation, and collaboration. Openness will strengthen our democracy and promote efficiency and effectiveness in Government.

Government should be transparent. Transparency promotes accountability and provides information for citizens about what their Government is doing. Information maintained by the Federal Government is a national asset. My Administration will take appropriate action, consistent with law and policy, to disclose information rapidly in forms that the public can readily find and use. Executive departments and agencies should harness new technologies to put information about their operations and decisions online and readily available to the public. Executive departments and agencies should also solicit public feedback to identify information of greatest use to the public.

Government should be participatory. Public engagement enhances the Government's effectiveness and improves the quality of its decisions. Knowledge is widely dispersed in society, and public officials benefit from having access to that dispersed knowledge. Executive departments and agencies should offer Americans increased opportunities to participate in policymaking and to provide their Government with the benefits of their collective expertise and information. Executive departments and agencies should also solicit public input on how we can increase and improve opportunities for public participation in Government.

Government should be collaborative. Collaboration actively engages Americans in the work of their Government. Executive departments and agencies should use innovative tools, methods, and systems to cooperateamong themselves, across all levels of Government, and with nonprofit organizations, businesses, and individuals in the private sector. Executive departments and agencies should solicit public feedback to assess and improve their level of collaboration and to identify new opportunities for cooperation.

I direct the Chief Technology Officer, in coordination with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Administrator of General Services, to coordinate the development by appropriate executive departments and agencies, within 120 days, of recommendations for an Open Government Directive, to be issued by the Director of OMB, that instructs executive departments and agencies to take specific actions implementing the principles set forth in this memorandum. The independent agencies should comply with the Open Government Directive.

This memorandum is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by a party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

This memorandum shall be published in the Federal Register.

BARACK OBAMA

https://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/TransparencyandOpenGovernment/

[Romulox]

9. Pro-NAFTA article still on robertreich.org:

It’s a shame the Democratic candidates for president feel they have to make trade – specifically NAFTA – the enemy of blue-collar workers and the putative cause of their difficulties. NAFTA is not to blame.

http://robertreich.org/post/257309371

[Maedhros]

32. Well, this OP is about the heinous secrecy surrounding the TPP.

Care to make a relevant post?

[gratuitous]

46. Another quote from that article

NAFTA has become a symbol for the mounting insecurities felt by blue-collar Americans. While the overall benefits from free trade far exceed the costs, and the winners from trade (including all of us consumers who get cheaper goods and services because of it) far exceed the losers, there’s a big problem: The costs fall disproportionately on the losers – mostly blue-collar workers who get dumped because their jobs can be done more cheaply by someone abroad who’ll do it for a fraction of the American wage. The losers usually get new jobs eventually but the new jobs are typically in the local service economy and they pay far less than the ones lost.

Perhaps the Nobel Laureate has learned a couple of things in the seven years since he wrote this article? After all, he was an official in the Clinton administration when NAFTA was negotiated and ratified, so he had an insider's perspective on NAFTA. It would appear that for a lot of people, Reich acknowledges that NAFTA was not a net gain; the impact of the TPP could be the coup de grace for the middle class in the United States.

[pa28]

12. Wait. So the corporate stakeholders involved with TPP have a private portal with real time access?

Meanwhile our elected leaders can only view the TPP under supervision from the USTR's office in a secure room with no cell phones or cameras allowed?

[Volaris]

30. Of course they have real-time access...they're the ones writing it.

[awoke_in_2003]

43. Who do you think really runs the government? nt

[pa28]

44. Apparently it's these "stakeholders" I keep hearing about.

As a US citizen and good little taxpayer and after reading the Princeton study on wealth and efficacy I have come to the conclusion the needs of 99% mean exactly jack shit.

[Scootaloo]

52. If they keep it up, they'll be "stakeholders" alright

[pa28]

57. Lol. Some of them understand the need for economic balance to ensure a stable future.

Cartier boss says rising inequality will spark class war

"We cannot have 0.1% of 0.1% [of rich individuals] taking all the spoils. And folks, those are our clients. But it's unfair and it is not sustainable," he said to an audience that appeared stunned by his remarks. "So I don't know what new social pact we'll have, but we'd better find one."

http://www.ktuu.com/news/business/cartier-boss-says-rising-inequality-will-spark-class-war/33502188

If you live, work and pay taxes in a society that is the richest in the world you should have a share. It seems there is a certain group who would reserve all the "stakes" for themselves. Maybe they should be careful what they wish for.

[newfie11]

61. Lol

Thanks for the badly needed laugh. Now back to being pissed.

[Rex]

13. It is a Select Club and none of us here are in it nor will we ever be.

They really do want to rule the world or at least own it.

[WillyT]

14. K & R !!!

[marym625]

15. I love this guy

He just keeps getting better and better

[Omaha Steve]

16. K&R!

[jalan48]

25. I see millions of dollars in corporate speaker fees in Obama's future.

[BeanMusical]

26. Kick and R

[arcane1]

29. Yet the pro-TPP con-artists here expect us to do the Brittney Spears routine

[Octafish]

35. That coulda been a big chunk of DU on Sept. 12, 2001.

IIRC, a lot of people lost their minds.

[arcane1]

37. There were some damn good songs on that album

And it was a DUer who turned me on to it back in 2003, while protesting Iraq

[Dont call me Shirley]

33. Call the whitehouse and your Congress members to ask for full disclosure

Whitehouse Comments: 202-456-1111

United States Capitol switchboard: 202-224-3121

[Thespian2]

39. We will know all about TPP

once it is passed...and America is f*cked...

[Art_from_Ark]

72. We're going to get screwed so hard

we'll end up looking like this guy

[Thespian2]

76. Wow!!!

Great picture

[libodem]

41. WORD!

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

42. How about a Kickstarter to raise the $100,000?

There's got to be 10,000 people who'd kick in $10 each for access to the documents.

[Octafish]

45. IMO, if Assange and WikiLeaks have them, they should release them to the public for free.

That would be the democratic thing to do.

Charging for interviews is so...so...Repuglian.

[rbnyc]

49. The $100.000 thing...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/in-the-loop/wp/2015/06/02/wikileaks-offers-100000-for-details-of-obamas-trade-deal/

WikiLeaks put a hit out on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal Tuesday, offering $100,000 to anyone who turns over the chapters that have yet to be leaked.

Reich's reference is confusing.

[MelissaB]

73. Thanks for that!

[Egnever]

50. Good lord people can't even get that right

How can you be taken seriously on these issues.

Wiki leaks is trying to raise 100k to offer to someone willing to leak the documents. They are not asking for 100k to leak them themselves.

They are trying to come up with the money to try to bribe someone to leak them.

Wikileaks does not have the full text of the agreement as it currently stands.

[rbnyc]

54. I honestly couldn't figure out...

...if Reich just plain had it backwards or if he was just twisting it up to make a joke, but I thought that was a minor point.

[99Forever]

53. Ut oh, under the bus with Robert Reich!

He always hated Obama anyway.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

59. I'm sure Dubya's people can see it.

[dembotoz]

64. Someone stole a copy if the next 50 shades book perhaps we new to hire them

Remember the story of jk having trouble getting on a plane because the airline insisted the potter manuscript be checked as baggage. Find a lobbyist who is traveling with it

[Enthusiast]

65. If the TPP is so fucking great why is it a goddamned secret?

And don't reply by telling me it isn't secret. It is secret.

[denvine]

74. Great news from Kentucky

My Representative is Thomas Massie. We disagree on most things as he is a Tea Party Republican BUT he has decided to vote against giving President Obama authority for fast track on the TPP. I've called him 3 times and emailed him but just got the news today when I called the third time. WooHoo!

[Buns_of_Fire]

75. Silly man. It's out there for anyone who wants to read it:

https://www.readthetpp.com/
(Kudos to kpete for digging this up! )