Bill Black: Obama & TPP – Every One That Doeth Evil Hateth the Light

[antigop]

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2015/04/bill-black-obama-tpp-every-one-doeth-evil-hateth-light.html

Here is the “money quote” from Warren and Senator Sherrod Brown’s letter responding to Obama’s attack.

“Executives of the country’s biggest corporations and their lobbyists already have had significant opportunities not only to read [the TPP text], but to shape its terms,” the letter reads. “The Administration’s 28 trade advisory committees on different aspects of the TPP have a combined 566 members, and 480 of those members, or 85%, are senior corporate executives or industry lobbyists. Many of the advisory committees — including those on chemicals and pharmaceuticals, textiles and clothing, and services and finance — are made up entirely of industry representatives.”

In sum, Obama stacked the committees to ensure that the CEOs’ lobbyists would completely dominate the secret drafting of TPP. And everyone in America know that the result of that has to be a Faux Trade agreement crafted to allow the CEOs to plunder with impunity.

Obama is demanding an additional reprehensible element – “fast track” – in which the cynical “CEOs’ Christmas in May” deal cannot be amended to remove even the most despicable provisions of the bill placed like land mines by the CEOs’ lobbyists. I don’t think opposing the TPP should be a partisan issue. Republicans should help lead the effort to stop Obama’s latest sell out.

TPP, of course, is being sold through a full court press of the economists who brought us the financial crisis and the Great Recession and the multiple Great Depressions in Spain, Italy, and Greece. Their lie, as always, is that this travesty of special interest deals drafted overwhelmingly by corporate lobbyists represents “free trade.” They first torture the language and truth before they torture the world.

TPP is the opposite of “free trade.” In the jargon of its economic supporters, it is a moldering midden hiding the secretly drafted “rent seeking” provisions designed to help CEOs enrich themselves at the expense of the people of the world. Adam Smith, who supported freer trade, warned over two centuries ago that when CEOs meet secretly it promptly turns into a conspiracy against the public interest and warned that CEOs use their power to aid their own interests at the expense of shareholders and the public. Smith’s warned that it “ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices.”

[Kelvin Mace]

1. He did pretty much the same thing

with health care reform. Pharma, insurance companies and hospitals all got to shape the ACA, while everyone else was just supposed to be greatful for whatever crumbs we got.

[blkmusclmachine]

2. TPP = Citizens United

on steroids

[daleanime]

3. And across borders...

[GoneFishin]

4. K & R

[GoneFishin]

5. It would be good for some of these TPP posts to appear on Discussionist. There was almost zero

information there the last time I checked. And the very few posts were dominated by an aggressive pro-TPP "advocate".

[antigop]

6. I don't do anything with Discussionist. nt

[GoneFishin]

7. I don't really blame you. Many of them don't seem very bright. But there may be a few who, if

they got some information from somewhere besides Fox news might actually be able to understand how badly average working Americans are going to be screwed by TPP.

They seem comfortably numb over there.

[swilton]

8. Strategically

I suspect that the Obama earth friendly rhetoric that recognizes threats to the planet from global warming is designed to mitigate this disaster. I have learned with this Administration to watch the actions rather than the flamboyant and ethereal language which has blind-sided the public because it's such a departure from Bush II.