Barack Obama ran on a campaign of transparency, but his administration has been anything but that. If it weren’t for whistleblowers and leaks we would have very little knowledge of what our nation is doing in certain areas, such as the Trans-Pacific Free Trade Partnership.
Like Bush and Clinton before him, this president has been the frontman for shady treaties, the details of which are kept from the public until it is too late for any meaningful debate. The liberal website Huffington Post has released a document it claims was provided by one of the 12 nations debating the Trans-Pacific Partnership. If authentic, the document paints an unpleasant picture of an administration at the beck and call of corporate power.
First of all the document paints an image of a treaty being rammed down the throat of most of the “partners” involved.
“The Obama administration appears to have almost no international support for controversial new trade standards that would grant radical new political powers to corporations, increase the cost of prescription medications and restrict bank regulation, according to two internal memos obtained by The Huffington Post.”
And then there is the matter of moving the world even further from democracy and deeper into a new corporate feudalism where companies can challenge nations in court. And that “court” is a private court.
“One of the most controversial provisions in the talks includes new corporate empowerment language insisted upon by the U.S. government, which would allow foreign companies to challenge laws or regulations in a privately run international court. Under World Trade Organization treaties, this political power to contest government law is reserved for sovereign nations. The U.S. has endorsed some corporate political powers in prior trade agreements, including the North American Free Trade Agreement, but the scope of what laws can be challenged appears to be much broader in TPP negotiations.”
The document has yet to be authenticated. To read more of the Huffington Post report and to see the actual document, press the link here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/08/tpp-trade-agreement_n_4409211.html