UK Guardian: 'Here’s how much corporations paid US senators to fast-track the TPP bill'

[seafan]

The UK Guardian, of course, brings us this valuable analysis of the amount of corporate payoffs to our politicians who voted for the TPA, now speeding the way for the final TPP push.

Make sure to look at the charts at the link, to see whose coffers those corporate dollars fattened.


Wednesday 27 May 2015 08.30 EDT

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Fast-tracking the TPP, meaning its passage through Congress without having its contents available for debate or amendments, was only possible after lots of corporate money exchanged hands with senators. The US Senate passed Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) – the fast-tracking bill – by a 65-33 margin on 14 May. Last Thursday, the Senate voted 62-38 to bring the debate on TPA to a close.

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Using data from the Federal Election Commission, this chart shows all donations that corporate members of the US Business Coalition for TPP made to US Senate campaigns between January and March 2015, when fast-tracking the TPP was being debated in the Senate:

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Two days before the fast-track vote, Obama was a few votes shy of having the filibuster-proof majority he needed. Ron Wyden and seven other Senate Democrats announced they were on the fence on 12 May, distinguishing themselves from the Senate’s 54 Republicans and handful of Democrats as the votes to sway.

In just 24 hours, Wyden and five of those Democratic holdouts – Michael Bennet of Colorado, Dianne Feinstein of California, Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Patty Murray of Washington, and Bill Nelson of Florida – caved and voted for fast-track.

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“How can we expect politicians who routinely receive campaign money, lucrative job offers, and lavish gifts from special interests to make impartial decisions that directly affect those same special interests?” (Mansur Gidfar, spokesman for the anti-corruption group Represent.Us.) said. “As long as this kind of transparently corrupt behavior remains legal, we won’t have a government that truly represents the people.”

That political revolution Bernie speaks of is on the horizon.