Trans-Pacific Partnership

In the midst of chaos in Washington, it took more than a week of government shutdown for me to find something to be grateful to the Republicans for. It’s a short list, but not an insignificant one.

1) Keeping Obama from attending the TPP negotiations. Because of the continuing resolution and debt ceiling disputes, the president opted not to go to the APAC summit in Bali to join in advancing negotiations on the Trans Pacific Partnership, a “trade agreement” he has been promoting as a great opportunity for the U.S. economy. I put “trade agreement” in quotes because, as always, these pacts are not so much about trade as about investor’s rights. Like the Multilateral Agreement on Investments (MAI), Is this ill wind blowing us some good ... or just blowing us? NAFTA, and other similar instruments, the TPP would establish rules and requirements that would supersede those of national governments. That means environmental, food safety, labor, and a host of other regulations could be overridden in what would amount to a race to the bottom in pursuit of unfettered corporate-driven capitalism.

Candidate Obama promised to depart from this approach to trade and investment during his 2008 campaign, but he has since pulled a 180, very much like he has adopted the foreign policy portfolio of the 2006-08 Bush Administration. I think this is just a reflection of the permanent state of imperial governance that persists through administrations of both parties. This level of consistency is no accident. So, hey … thank you John Boehner for throwing a monkey-wrench into their efforts towards negotiating the TPP in secret and ramming it through Congress (on a fast track, with no amendments allowed). This sucker needs to be stopped. (Learn about it on the Public Citizen trade watch site.)

2) Historic lows in G.O.P. popularity. A recent Wall Street Journal / NBC poll showed the Republicans have driven their party to a new low in favorability ratings, boding ill for their fortunes in the coming election cycle. This is the sort of thing only self-inflicted wounds can achieve, so again, John Boehner, I thank you.

That’s all I’ve got, aside from some hilarious public statements that have come out of this. Given the amount of suffering they are causing amongst the poor, the unwell, the unemployed, etc., it’s useful to have something to smile about, however briefly.

luv u,

Once again, a bit pressed for times. Projects, projects, projects – you know the tune. Here’s what’s chewing on my nerves this week:

In search of a problem. The G.O.P. is obsessed with the notion of voter fraud, a phenomenon so rare that it makes injuries from lightning strikes seem frequent by comparison. Can we just stop pretending, for five minutes, that this is a sincere concern about the integrity of our elections? It’s pretty obvious what they’re up to – they are fighting a rear-guard action against demographic trends, long acknowledged, that do not favor a virtually all-white party such as themselves. The only way to do that is through the usual methods they have employed over the years: voter suppression. Voter I.D. laws, in particular, are meant to place significant hurdles of time, expense, and logistics between individuals and the ballot. Let’s call it what it is – a direct attack on voting rights. Time to push back … hard.

Crime and punishment. As was clear when he was in the White House, leaking the name of a CIA agent and pressing Federal Attorneys to prosecute non-existent voter fraud (see above), Karl Rove is a very nasty piece of work. Now he’s a major force in our electoral process, thanks in part to the Citizens United decision of the Supreme Court. Rove’s 501(c)4 “social welfare organization” Crossroads GPS has been sluicing corporate money into campaigns by the millions of dollars. In 2010 his group was instrumental in swamping Syracuse area congressman Dan Maffei with negative ads in the last two weeks of the campaign, electing tea party challenger Ann Marie Buerkle by a handful of votes – one of many such interventions. He’s doing the same this year. With regard to Rove, I agree with George W. Bush: criminals should know there are consequences to their actions. Should have put him in jail when they had the chance.

Stop TPP. The Obama administration’s trade representative is in the midst of very quiet negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement – basically a global NAFTA on steroids. The reason it’s being discussed behind closed doors is that the moment the provisions of these investor rights agreements become public, public outrage brings them down. (See the Multilateral Agreement on Investment and other similar pacts.) I suggest you take a look at this and do what you can to make others aware of it before they slip it in under the radar. This agreement would be a disaster for labor, for environmental regulations, for trade policy, you name it. Go to http://stoptpp.org/ to find out how.

Spread the word, friends. That is all.

luv u,

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Tag Archives: Trans-Pacific Partnership

Ill winds.

Stuff and … more stuff.

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