On trade issues, there has historically been little daylight between Repubs and Dems

[cali]

Yes, Republicans put high standards for the environment and labor in trade agreements. They don't, obviously, give a rat's ass about the environment or labor, but they know that they need democratic votes to pass them, and they know it looks bad if they exclude those standards.

But standards are nothing but cynical window dressing if they aren't enforced. So not only must the means of enforcement be specifically laid out, but there has to be the will to enforce those standards.

There hasn't been. That's true for Republican Administrations and it's true for Democratic Administrations. The USTR under Repubs and Dems is always well stocked with Wall Streeters, Corporate execs and lobbyists. No where in government is the revolving door between business interests and government more apparent. Democrats may be marginally better than Republicans, but sadly, the differences are slight and dwarfed by the similarities.

The FTA with Colombia is an example of an agreement with high environmental and labor standards that have been grossly violated repeatedly. The U.S. has done little to enforce the standards. The Colombian FTA may be the one with the highest standards, but it's not the only one where standards are being routinely violated, often with a boost from the ISDS system. And there is no counterpart to ISDS to provide labor and activists a venue for action.

Too often, corrupt government agencies and officials are in collusion with corporations. No one wants to touch this with a ten foot pole so it doesn't get addressed. Government corruption and corporate greed is a lethal mix.

All the talk about high standards rings false in the face of the record. And to return to my initial point, when it comes to trade there just isn't that much difference in the formula followed by Democratic and Republican Administrations.

Here are some examples of of the lack of enforcement:

<snip>

Broken Promises


However, the history of these agreements betrays
a harsh truth: that the actual enforcement of labor
provisions of past U.S. FTAs lags far behind the
promises. This analysis by the staff of Sen. Warren
reveals that despite decades of nearly identical promises,
the United States repeatedly fails to enforce or adopts
unenforceable labor standards in free trade agreements.
Again and again, proponents of free trade agreements
claim that this time, a new trade agreement has
strong and meaningful protections; again and again,
those protections prove unable to stop the worst
abuses. Lack of enforcement by both Democratic and
Republican presidents and other flaws with the treaties
have allowed countries with weaker laws and standards
and widespread labor and environment abuses to
undermine treaty provisions, leaving U.S. workers and
other interested parties with no recourse. This analysis
finds:
•
The United States does not enforce the labor
protections in its trade agreements.
A series of reports by the non-partisan Government
Accountability Office (GAO), as well as reports
by the Department of Labor (DOL) and the
Department of State, document significant
and persistent problems with labor abuses in
countries with which we have FTAs. While
GAO acknowledged progress by partners in
implementing commitments and by agencies in
tracking progress and engaging on problems,
their analysis concluded that the USTR and
DOL “do not systemically monitor and enforce
compliance with FTA labor provisions,” and
that the U.S. agencies generally have not been
“identifying compliance problems, developing
and implementing responses, and taking
enforcement actions.

http://www.warren.senate.gov/files/documents/BrokenPromises.pdf

In April 2008, the AFL-CIO, together with several Guatemalan labor unions, filed a petition under the Central America Free Trade Agreement. This is the first step in initiating a complaint when there has been a violation of the labor commitments in a trade agreement. The petition alleged that the Guatemalan government failed to enforce its own labor laws — tolerating repression of union activity and blacklisting, as well as violence and intimidation, including the assassination of two union officers.


Seven years later, a dispute settlement panel has yet to hear the case — and workers continue to wait for justice.

In March 2012, the AFL-CIO and more than 20 Honduran labor organizations alleged that Honduras, too, was failing to enforce its labor laws. This petition detailed egregious violations affecting hundreds of workers. Not only did the Honduran government fail to protect workers from beatings and assassination, but its own police and soldiers were implicated in a number of cases. Despite the egregious and repeated violations, the Obama administration took almost three years to even publish a report. Workers wait for justice.

In April 2010, the U.S. and Colombian governments, with an eye toward speeding ratification of the long-stalled U.S.-Colombia trade deal, announced a “labor action plan,” which was intended to bring Colombia into compliance with internationally recognized labor rights. Since the plan’s announcement, 105 Colombian trade unionists have been assassinated. Clearly, the new standard — reportedly similar to what’s included in the TPP — is insufficient to the monumental task of creating a fair playing field for U.S. and Colombian workers. Workers wait for justice.

<snip>

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-tpp-needs-to-ensure-workers-rights/2015/05/08/97ab0a9e-f583-11e4-b2f3-af5479e6bbdd_story.html

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

1. Not surprising. They're all dependent on the same bosses. And, the bosses ain't us.

[cali]

2. people keep bringing up what a disaster it would be

if a Republican president had TAA. Historically, it's made little difference