Fellow Democrats line up here single file..

[madfloridian]

The Republicans are already on board with the TPP. Now Obama is having to get Democrats on board.

Seems like herding cats, but it's working.



From The Guardian:

The president’s statement that there’s nothing secret in the classified agreement is plainly wrong

The TPP is a massive, legally binding, agreement involving 12 countries that has been negotiated entirely behind closed doors by government officials and industry lobbyists. The text of the TPP agreement is classified. The public can’t see it. Even members of Congress’ access to the text is severely restricted, and they face criminal prosecution if they tell their constituents what they’ve read.

In fact, the only portions of the TPP text the public is able to see are those released by Wikileaks, an organisation President Obama has all but personally chased to the ends of the earth. Thanks to the leaked draft texts, we know the TPP could impact everything from internet freedom, to jobs, to national sovereignty, and even how much we pay for the medicines we need.

International agreements like the TPP, and the non-transparent Fast Track/Trade Promotion Authority process, provide the perfect venue for industry lobbyists to push for policies the general public would never accept if they were done in the open or attempted as legislation in Congress. Special interest groups like the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) who helped write the resoundingly rejected Sopa and Pipa internet censorship bill are literally paying for a seat at the table, shaping the TPP to make sure it prioritises the profits and power of multinational corporations over people’s basic online rights to communicate and express themselves.

The latest draft of the TPP’s intellectual property chapter (which again, we only have access to thanks to Wikileaks) shows the Obama administration’s United States Trade Representative (USTR) is pushing for extremist copyright and internet policy provisions that would incentivize internet service providers to monitor more of their users’ activities, threatening online privacy. The TPP would also undermine “fair use” limitations intended to protect freedom of speech from overzealous copyright enforcement, harshen criminal prosecution for whistleblowers and journalists, and open the door for global internet censorship by setting up a system to remove allegedly “infringing” content from the web without a court order.

[Skittles]

1. WE THE PEOPLE means JACK SHIT now

[L0oniX]

16. "WE THE PEOPLE" certainly doesn't mean the common US citizen anymore.

[truedelphi]

2. So it is true what some of us have been saying -

This emperor (Mr Obama) has been wearing no clothes.

And few Congress critters in either party wear any either.

The TRANS Pacific Plan will enable America's billionaires to continue to keep our jobs overseas, where workers in third world countries will continue to be treated as the slaves they are.

The jobs cannot be brought back here, as even minimum wage in the US is ten times more than what the slaves in the other countries make.

A lack of serious environmental protections also make it more cost effective to have the jobs over there. (Yet the Democrat Leadership is continually bleating abut the need to stop Global Climate change, but I now guess they mean they only want it stopped by efforts of us in the middle and lower classes, and not at the third world factories where most of our domestic goods are produced.)

It might be thought by someone reading this that it simply is not possible to pay decent wages, and have environmental policies in place, as it would decimate the profits of those Fortune 500 companies that place the factory orders, but Apple disproved this notion when it recently posted a record 48 billion dollar profit in just one quarter.

If it is not possible for a company to somehow pay people decently and to also care about the environment, the posting of that profit indicates otherwise.

And fortunately for America's Big Pharmaceutical companies, the outrageous prices that are paid for drugs here can soon be extended to other nations, as well.

YEAH TPP! (Of course in the good old days, someone would have organized, and done so successfully!, a boycott to bring Apple to its knees, but that type of activism no longer seems to exist. Gotta have that new iWatch! Gotta have that new Apple iPhone 876! Gotta have - gotta have - gotta have - although gee, don't we all really wanna stop the Global Climate Change? And don't we all think slavery is wrong? I guess not!)

[cantbeserious]

3. ^^^ THIS ^^^

eom

[Enthusiast]

9. Oh, he's as naked as a jaybird.

Whatever that means.

[FloriTexan]

18. Kick!

[madfloridian]

20. .....

Thanks for that.

[Major Hogwash]

4. "Even members of Congress’ access to the text is severely restricted . . ."

Not true.

[stillwaiting]

5. Yes it is true. Their access has severe restrictions placed on it.

And, ultimately they can't talk about it with anyone (not even their fellow legislators). That's a pretty big fucking restriction.

Details have been posted here many, many times so not going to bother reposting for you. You've seen them.

[Enthusiast]

10. It's a ridiculous restriction in a democracy.

[cali]

6. gee, I guess Barbara Boxer is a liar.

your ability to say that in the face of OBVIOUS evidence to the contrary, is impressive... hogwash.

[Enthusiast]

11. +1

[Enthusiast]

7. The nation and the world should be moving in the exact opposite direction of the TPP.

Anyone that does not recognize the inherent danger of granting these multinational corporations even more power and influence hasn't been paying much attention over the past 15 years.

At the exact moment in history when we should hold corporations more accountable for their abuses someone felt it would be a good idea to forgive them for all their sins and give them the keys to the kingdom. How can anyone think that is a good idea?

[cordelia]

17. This. Thank you.

[RiverLover]

8. 1993 - "Most of President Clinton's support comes from Republicans, some 120 of whom...

Most of President Clinton's support comes from Republicans, some 120 of whom (two-thirds of their total) are expected to vote for the accord. To win, he needs to get an additional 100 out of 258 House Democrats and, since the Gore- Perot debate three days ago, he says he has picked up another 27 votes.

Given the energy Mr Clinton is putting into winning the vote, it would be a serious repudiation by the Democratic Party if he fails. The administration is also asking Congress to rally round the flag by supporting Mr Clinton before he goes to the Seattle trade summit to meet leaders from China, Japan and 13 other Pacific nations.

David Bonior, the No 3 Democrat in the House who has been co- ordinating opposition to the agreement, said he believed the opponents of Nafta still had 222 votes. Emphasising the fears of American workers, he held up a Mexican government advertisement aimed at US businesmen, which said that Mexican workers in Yucatan will work for less than dollars 1 an hour, less than a quarter of the American minimum wage.

President Clinton has countered fears of job losses and US wages being depressed by competition from Mexico by saying that this process is already under way and has little to do with the agreement....

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/clinton-woos-republicans-to-secure-nafta-vote-president-offers-to-support-reelection-of-all-who-help-get-trade-accord-through-us-congress-as-narrow-victory-predicted-1504425.html

This really pisses me off. Its happening again, in the exact same way.

[Enthusiast]

12. Another betrayal by Third Way "Democrats".

[madfloridian]

14. Amazing how similar the times are.

Last edited Thu May 14, 2015, 12:17 PM - Edit history (1)

Back then when Clinton didn't toe the line, it was the DLC who lectured and threatened him. Now it's the Third Way behind Obama's drive.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/05/12/the-trade-deal-tearing-the-dems-apart.html

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/7932

[RiverLover]

19. Thanks for posting. I've learned so much about why Dem leaders are behaving as republicans

from DU. From post like yours. Your journal concisely sums up the DLC to Third Way connection (& the Clinton to Obama to Clinton connection).

So much has happened these past 20 years, but the TPP is the final straw in my mind. If people can't see the Democratic Party has been infiltrated by the Republicans now, they never will. And its our country who will suffer.

[Javaman]

13. when our rights as workers and citizens are continually compromised

and we choose not to bend over and take the TTP corporate give away to further destroy what's left of the American Middle Class, we are now called cats that are difficult to herd.

in other words, we won't march lock step with the administration when we see what is left of our rights given away.

funny that.

then call me a cat.

meow, mr president, meow.

[L0oniX]

15. Imagine the global corporate backing for a POTUS with fast track power.

[KoKo]

21. Recommend...And, that Cartoon says it all!

[madfloridian]

22. .....