As Countries Line Up to Sign Toxic Deal, Warren Leads Call to Reject TPP

[JEB]

http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/02/03/countries-line-sign-toxic-deal-warren-leads-call-reject-tpp

Elizabeth Warren warns agreement 'would tilt the playing field even more in favor of big multinational corporations and against working families'
by
Deirdre Fulton, staff writer

"I urge my colleagues to reject the TPP and stop an agreement that would tilt the playing field even more in favor of big multinational corporations and against working families," Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said on the U.S. Senate floor on Tuesday. Noting that "most of the TPP's 30 chapters don't even deal with traditional trade issues," she argued, "most of TPP is about letting multinational corporations rig the rules on everything from patent protection to food safety standards—all to benefit themselves."

Warren was one of 38 senators who voted against a bill last year allowing the president to "Fast Track" trade agreements like the TPP through Congress on a simple majority vote, with senators unable to amend the deals or challenge specific provisions.

"A rigged process produces a rigged outcome," she continued, blasting the composition of advisory committees that were made up of industry executives and the cloak of secrecy that surrounded the negotiations.

Warren specifically called out the TPP's Investor-State Dispute Settlement, or ISDS, provisions, which she said give "big companies...the right to challenge laws they don't like—not in court, but in front of industry-friendly arbitration panels that sit outside any court system. Workers, environmentalists, human rights advocates, they don't get that special right—only corporations do."

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Much more at the link including Warren's full speech on video. This is important stuff.
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/02/03/countries-line-sign-toxic-deal-warren-leads-call-reject-tpp

[JEB]

1. Another voice of leadership...

"The TPP is a giveaway to big corporations, special interests and all those who want economic rules that benefit the wealthy few. It is no wonder the presidential front-runners from both political parties oppose it."
—Richard Trumka, AFL-CIO

[Octafish]

2. VIP K&R

Thank you for a Very Important Post, JEB! It's a fork in the road and the People may be too irradiated or poisoned by the leaden water to notice.

UBS at Davos:

Last year, a report by Bank of America Merrill Lynch also pointed to the potential for a rise in inequality as a result of increased automation. That report cited research by Oxford University which said that up to 35% of all workers in the UK, and 47% of those in the US, are at risk of being displaced by technology over the next 20 years.

Fourth industrial revolution set to benefit richest, UBS report says

[JEB]

3. The futures planned by the oligarchs for us workings stiffs

is grim beyond imagination. Flint gives us glimpse under the curtain. These trade deals mean death and pain for many.

[Octafish]

4. Lead in the water helps keep people stoopid.

Defunded public education and six-figure college debt for those who make it through help, but if there are no jobs, We the People will be left to fight over the scraps from the oilgarch's table.

You know, some days, I ask: Why so glum? UBS is doing great things for those who need Wealth Management!

See if you can spot some familiar names on the UBS payroll:



Buy Partisanship: The senator who ramrodded repeal of New Deal era bank deregulation and the president who signed it into law now work together at the same UBS -- which received uncounted billions in bailout money -- to specialize in "Weath Management."

PS: Forensic economist and former Fed regulator William K. Black wrote it reminds him of what happened during the Savings and Loans Crisis of the late 80s and early 90s. At the time, that was the greatest bank heist in history.

Yes, JEB. What the future holds is grim beyond imagination. Which is why they leave that to the professionals at Capitalism's Invisible Army.

[JEB]

5. I'd wager if I had anything to spare that every name on the list

favors these horrid trade deals.

[Octafish]

9. Fourth industrial revolution set to benefit richest, UBS report says

Odd how they keep their names out of the papers.

Fourth industrial revolution set to benefit richest, UBS report says

Greatest disruption could be experienced by workers who have so far felt immune to robotic competition, Swiss bank adds

by Jill Treanor in Davos
The Guardian, Jan. 19, 2016

The richest stand to gain more from the introduction of new technology than those in poorer sections of society, according to a report which warns that policymakers may be required to intervene to tackle the widening inequality.

The so-called fourth industrial revolution, following on from the introduction of steam power, electricity and electronics, will have less of an impact on developed economies, such as Switzerland, Singapore and the UK. Emerging markets – notably in parts of Latin America and India – will suffer when artificial intelligence and robots become widely used, reducing the competitive advantage of their cheap labour.

The report by Swiss bank UBS, published on Tuesday to coincide with the start of the World Economic Forum in Davos, warns that some skilled work is also at risk as robots become more sophisticated.

SNIP...

Last year, a report by Bank of America Merrill Lynch also pointed to the potential for a rise in inequality as a result of increased automation. That report cited research by Oxford University which said that up to 35% of all workers in the UK, and 47% of those in the US, are at risk of being displaced by technology over the next 20 years.

The theme of this year’s gathering of business leaders and policymakers in Davos is the introduction of new technology. The WEF organisers have already predicted that 7 million jobs could go in five years, with women losing out the most.

CONTINUED...

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/jan/19/fourth-industrial-revolution-set-to-benefit-richest-ubs-report-says

All of this is missing from NSA NSA NSA tee vee.

[JEB]

6. Another excellent point...

"If countries are serious about addressing the climate crisis, they need to stand up to coal, oil and gas companies, not reward them with new rights and privileges."
—Payal Parekh, 350.org

[countryjake]

7. A great big KICK!

[cascadiance]

8. The world's people hate this CORPORATE BULLSHIT!!!

The Corporate Media has us more worried about what is happening in "signing day" for college athletes happening today rather than TPP "signing day" in Aukland, NZ, where their citizens are protesting in the streets and shutting them down as noted here...

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11584458







https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/live-stream-tpp-protesters-block-auckland-roads.html

[JEB]

10. Great photos. Thanks for posting.