Wikileaks Drops Another Damning Trove Of Secret Trade Deal Documents

[Triana]

Source: Huffington Post

WASHINGTON -- The latest trove of secret trade documents released by Wikileaks is offering opponents of the massive deals currently being crafted by the Obama administration more fodder to show that such agreements can impact United States laws and regulations.

The latest leak purports to include 17 documents from negotiations on the Trade In Services Agreement, a blandly named trade deal that would cover the United States, the European Union and more than 20 other countries. More than 80 percent of the United States economy is in service sectors.

According to the Wikileaks release, TISA, as the deal is known, would take a major step towards deregulating financial industries, and could affect everything from local maritime and air traffic rules to domestic regulations on almost anything if an internationally traded service is involved.

The pact would be one of three enormous deals whose passage through Congress could be eased with passage of Trade Promotion Authority, also known as fast-track authority. The Senate has passed fast-track, and it could be taken up in the House this month.

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/03/wikileaks-secret-trade-deals_n_7504548.html

[Kelvin Mace]

1. Obama's legacy

and what he is fighting tooth and nail for.

[Helen Borg]

2. Yup...

[Plucketeer]

3. Yeah butt....

we got that soccer-swindle feather secured in our cap! These IMPORTANT things, we don't need secret clearances to hear about!!!

[arcane1]

4. "deregulating financial industries"... what could go wrong?

[Baitball Blogger]

5. Oh ye, of little faith.

Then Obama got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.

[erronis]

8. And we all see how well those ancient religious types left the world.

Carry on - it will ultimately be completely calm.......

[LuvNewcastle]

10. Peace, be still.

I was just thinking the other day about how I'm tired of working. Maybe now I won't have a job to go to and my friends won't either, and we can all spend more time together. Of course, we won't be able to afford gas or food, but we'll all have each other, right?

[Kip Humphrey]

6. So exactly how many secret trade deal negotiations are ongoing? Does anyone have a complete list?

[pampango]

16. FDR produced the IMF, World Bank, Bank for International Settlements, the International Clearing

Union and the International Trade Organization (which included GATT) all at the same conference in 1944.

But that's FDR's list from 1944. No idea what Obama's list looks like.

[Kip Humphrey]

18. and virtually ALL of FDR's initiative would be impossible to implement under TPP, so you point is?

...other than not answering my question?

[pampango]

20. My point is that international agreements can be a good thing. FDR was criticized for secret

negotiations too.

... virtually ALL of FDR's initiative would be impossible to implement under TPP

Why would the IMF, World Bank or the others be impossible to implement under TPP? FDR's ITO has many similarities to the TPP.

[Psephos]

30. BIS and IMF are utterly corrupt manipulative tools of the 1%.

The rest of your list is a nightmare too.

Don't fall for the propaganda. There is good information out there that enables one to see the reality of the banksters.

[cui bono]

32. *Can* being the operative word.

From what we know about the TPP, it will not be a good thing. We already saw NAFTA isn't.

[SoapBox]

7. This whole thing is SO wrong.

Really, I wonder if anyone person understands all that is involved in the monster?

[appalachiablue]

14. It's bigger than the United Nations, said a constitutional lawyer and conservative

former Asst. AG for Reagan who's opposed to it, on Hartmann's program today.

Monster and TREATY as he said, indeed. Treaties are to be approved by Congressional authority which has been bypassed by using Agreement and fast buck authority. Hopefully the whole TTP- TTIP thing will shipwreck.

[KoKo]

9. A bit more of Disturbing from the article:

"If secrecy is a concern, TPA is the solution," Buck said. "For the first time, it will ensure a trade agreement is public and posted online for 60 days before it can be sent to Congress."

However, fast-track authority also removes Congress' ability to change the trade deals in any way by barring all amendments to them. It also bars filibustering or other procedural hurdles that lawmakers in the minority can typically use to slow legislation, and requires a simple up-or-down vote to be held on the deals.

Fast-track opponents like Cohen warn that a corporate-friendly Congress -- especially a GOP-led Congress that is already hostile to regulations -- would be extremely unlikely to block any of the looming trade agreements, regardless of the details released Wednesday.

"Those in the U.S. Congress considering Fast Track should take heed," Cohen said. "TISA is as big a blow to our rights and freedom as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and in both cases our government’s secrecy is the key enabler."

[WillyT]

13. Yep... They'll Let Us See It... AFTER... It's A Done Deal...

And if we don't like it... it will be too late to change it.

What a country... huh ???

[markpkessinger]

19. Ex post facto transparency . . .

. . . what's not to love?

[malokvale77]

22. This should be it's own OP...

If it is already, mea culpa. I didn't see it.

[Enthusiast]

11. I called my Republican "representative".

[malokvale77]

23. "I called my Republican "representative"." Hah.

I learned a long time ago that calling, emailing, snail-mailing and/or confronting in person is as useless as teats on a boar hog.

Mind you I live in Texas. There is not a "representative" at any level of government that gives a damn about the constituents.

[malthaussen]

35. But how are you fixed for boar hogs? n/t

[malokvale77]

38. I personally have no use for them.

My daughter on the other hand is over run by them.

Maybe Texans should spend more time killing boar hogs and less time strutting their weapons in the streets of urban areas.

[KoKo]

24. Have e-mailed his site and called......

We keep at it.

[WillyT]

12. K & R !!!

[Unknown Beatle]

15. If only Obama fought as hard

for universal health care or for going after Wall Street for almost crashing the world economy and jailing the to big to fail assholes.

But when Obama and Dimon are golfing buddies, what do we expect. When he fills key posts with Monsanto people, what do we expect. When his pick as Secretary of the Treasury is Geithner and then Lew, what do we expect. When he expands Bush's war powers, what do we expect.

Obama had a chance of being the greatest president in US history, but if this passes and becomes law, then he'll go down in history as one of the worst presidents ever.

[NorthCarolina]

21. Why would he have done so

considering that he was obviously never truly FOR anything remotely resembling Universal Health Care. Campaign rhetoric is just that, rhetoric for the campaign. U,nless there is a voting history that serves to back up your campaign statements, as is the case with Bernie, than anything mentioned during a campaign can be conveniently dispensed with post election. That's exactly why I never put much faith in the 'but Bernie will help move Hillary to the left' push. Politicians don't change their political stripes when in office; that's just theater for the campaign.

[malokvale77]

26. Well said NorthCarolina.

This is why for me I will vote for Bernie or nobody. I have been disappointed (on the big issues) by every President since Jimmy Carter.

[turbinetree]

17. Just think

there use to be a constitution that says the word "TREATY" it does not say "fast track authority" anywhere in the document-----------no where and -so when was this invented "fast track".
FDR used "treaties" he did not use "fast track"
Kennedy used "treaties"
Eisenhower used "treaties"
Wilson used "treaties"
Coolidge used "treaties"
Teddy Roosevelt used "treaties"
Taft used "treaties"

I am quite perplexed----------anyone?

[Psephos]

33. We live in a time when "answers" come before questions.

No one is asking the right ones. But you made a good start there.

[pampango]

34. Under RTAA when FDR signed a trade agreement it did not go to congress for a vote.

It was law as soon as he signed a trade agreement with another country. Truman used that same presidential power to approve US membership in GATT without congressional approval.

I would say that FDR and Truman used "super fast track" authority.

[malthaussen]

36. Yeah, well, there used to be a thing in the Constitution about only Congress declaring war...

... we've seen where that one has gone.

-- Mal

[turbinetree]

37. Correct

and then when asked for the authority we the public haven't hardly heard one word from the illustrious MSM on when they are going to authorize this vote, no pressure------nothing.
So the public has no clue except to know that we have a two carrier battle groups over there , (http://www.public.navy.mil/airfor/cvn69/Pages/CARRIER%20STRIKE%20GROUP.aspx) not counting submarines.
So again we have no clue, no committee hearings-------- nothing to how much is being spent, trying to contain a open Civil War in Iraq, Syria .-----------none.

Good point------------- this particular Congress should be called "We sit on our Hands---------outa sight----outa mind



Mahalo

[LiberalLovinLug]

25. Where is the Ostrich Club?

The I-don't-want-to-hear-anything group.
The If-the-President-wanted-me-to-know-about-it-then-he'd-tell-me birds.
The Snowden is a traitor and Assange is an asshole crowd.

[malokvale77]

27. You forgot...

I trust this President with my very life. This President is so compassionate, he would never ever cause me or mine pain. This President, yada, yada bullshit.

I see the same thing with the Hillary Clinton supporters. Which is odd to me, because they are the same people.

[grasswire]

29. Yes, isn't that odd?

Same feelings of victimization, too. Everybody calling themselves progressive *hates* Hillary just as they *hate* Obama.

[malokvale77]

31. Really?

From what I have seen on DU, the self identified "progressives" love Hillary and Obama.

From the left of the party I don't see "hate", just disappointment.

JMO

[AzDar]

28. K & R