General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsSurprise! The New Trade Deal Is Written for and By Corporations
There probably is no more (occasionally overly) judicious voice on the world economy than Jeffrey Sachs. He has taken a look at the soft spots in the monstrous Trans-Pacific Partnership and he has found them to be bad enough to vote down the bill as a whole.
The third is a set of regulations governing investor rights, intellectual property, and regulations in key service sectors, including financial services, telecommunications, e-commerce, and pharmaceuticals. These chapters are a mix of the good, the bad, and the ugly. Their common denominator is that they enshrine the power of corporate capital above all other parts of society, including labor and even governments. The fourth is a set of standards on labor and the environment that purport to advance the cause of social fairness and environmental sustainability. But the agreements are thin, unenforceable, and generally unimaginative. For example, climate change is not even mentioned, much less addressed boldly and creatively.
That sounds really bad. But, according to Sachs, there is worse to come.
The most egregious parts of the agreement are the exorbitant investor powers implicit in the Investor-State Dispute Settlement system as well as the unjustified expansion of copyright and patent coverage. We've seen this show before. Corporations are already using ISDS provisions in existing trade and investment agreements to harass governments in order to frustrate regulations and judicial decisions that negatively impact the companies' interests. The system proposed in the TPP is a dangerous and unnecessary grant of power to investors and a blow to the judicial systems of all the signatory countries. And, as in earlier trade agreements, the United States has pushed through overly strong intellectual property rights that strengthen the aggressive pricing practices of big pharma and unnecessarily extend the copyright protections far beyond their social usefulness.
<snip>
Perhaps most disappointing is the lack of creativity in the development, labor, and environmental chapters. Yes, they rhetorically defend global economic development, labor standards, and environmental sustainability, but they do so without specific enforcement powers. Why is it that companies can force arbitration tribunals to defend their investor rights, but workers have no such power? Why is climate change not even considered in the draft, despite the fact that it represents the most important environmental threat of the 21st century, and may have strong implications for future trade rules?
<snip>
http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/news/a39636/tpp-giveaway-corporations/
So no matter how great labor, environmental or other pieces of the TPP may sound, lacking provisions for meaningful enforcement, renders them as nothing but horribly cynical and hollows rhetoric.
TM99
(8,352 posts)And welcome back - you were sorely missed.
This is a problem.
arcane1
(38,613 posts)dorkzilla
(5,141 posts)Welcome back, Cali!!! Keep the TPP facts coming!!
Autumn
(45,090 posts)hobbit709
(41,694 posts)Despite what some deniers here thought.
Vincardog
(20,234 posts)historylovr
(1,557 posts)jeff47
(26,549 posts)Doctor_J
(36,392 posts)Our working conditions will meet those of the Bangladesh people somewhere in the middle.
cali
(114,904 posts)Let me add that the TPP is virtually unreadable. I've been trying. It's also a done deal. The vote on it is simply a formality. The real vote was the tpa. And this is hardly the end. Next up; the ttip, also pretty much a done deal.
Scalded Nun
(1,236 posts)but until we manage to craft one in the light of day, with public dialog and debate, I cannot bring myself to look at any trade deal with anything but distrust.
This thing needs to go into the shitter. Even looking at the bad things we are finding, know we are missing even more horrors that have been more effectively hidden or obfuscated.
cali
(114,904 posts)bvar22
(39,909 posts)....the most egregious parts will be near impossible for citizens...or even governments to change.
daleanime
(17,796 posts)shocked I tell you.
But don't worry, I'm sure President Hillary will wag her finger at it.
Cassiopeia
(2,603 posts)B Calm
(28,762 posts)MissDeeds
(7,499 posts)K&R
JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)a coup is taking our democratic government from us.
A CORPORATE COUP.
That is ALL THAT THE TPP and the other proposed trade agreements are.
They are a corporate coup, and we are being distracted by other issues like gun laws and ISIS.
We have a military. ISIS has now made themselves not just a terrorist group but a military force. They must be dealt with accordingly.
WE MUST DEAL WITH THE TPP.
Because if we get the TPP, our Constitution is gone. We have already lost the battle of the Fourth Amendment.
Let's don't lose jury trials in the most expensive law suits ever. The TPP law suits. We demand the end of these international trade tribunals. In fact, arbitration courts should, in American law, only be permitted when, at the very beginning of the arbitration hearings, both parties agree without the invocation of prior contractual agreements, to arbitrate their dispute.
Let's stick to our Constitution and have public trials with, when appropriate, juries.
The TPP is a great danger to our country.
WE CAN HAVE TRADE WITHOUT THE TPP AND WITHOUT NAFTA.
Let's have fair trade agreements that allow each nation to opt out of trade when another country does not play fair. But leave it up to the voters of the nation opting out as to when the trade is fair or not.
arcane1
(38,613 posts)Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)fasttense
(17,301 posts)At least not for long.
NRaleighLiberal
(60,014 posts)hifiguy
(33,688 posts)and a kick for an excellent article.
ETA: No lies from the usual (probably paid) cadre of TPP-defending gobshites yet? Maybe this truth is too much for them to gibber away.
cali
(114,904 posts)And thanks
hifiguy
(33,688 posts)with the possible exceptions of Robert Reich and Matt Taibbi. And Charlie is funny as hell on top of being intellectually incisive.
Dont call me Shirley
(10,998 posts)meow2u3
(24,764 posts)Whoda thunk it?
MisterP
(23,730 posts)merrily
(45,251 posts)Fuddnik
(8,846 posts)Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)azmom
(5,208 posts)d_legendary1
(2,586 posts)Welcome back !
deutsey
(20,166 posts)friendly_iconoclast
(15,333 posts)Art_from_Ark
(27,247 posts)had to say about USTR Michael Froman:
"私に言わせれば、アメリカの多国籍企業の投資家の代理人みたいな人"
"If you ask me, he (Froman) looks like a representative of investors of American multinational corporations".
cali
(114,904 posts)lpbk2713
(42,757 posts)The Telcos and The Cablecos and their lawyers make the laws that
regulate them. The FCC only exists to wield the rubber stamp.
Oh, and welcome back.
bvar22
(39,909 posts)Monsanto fan Tom Vilsack (mono cropping, factory pigs, and Monsanto Corn)
and former Monsanto exec and lobbyist, Micheal Taylor, to head the FDA.
Both these agencies, created to PROTECT the American People have been captured by Monsanto through Obama appointments, and NOW only work to promote Monsanto.
polly7
(20,582 posts)Elwood P Dowd
(11,443 posts)jfern
(5,204 posts)sabrina 1
(62,325 posts)Anyone who votes for this must be replaced. Maybe focusing on Congress is what we ought to be doing.
Welcome back, this article should be read on the air so every American knows what their government has been up to, handing over the power we gave them to Global Corporations. Isis is a mosquito to our democracy compared to this monster.
Response to cali (Original post)
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