Obama hopes to enlist GOP in push for trade pact, despite Democratic resistance

[Jim Lane]

34. We progressives have multiple complaints, which aren't inconsistent

Complaint #1: The TPP is being negotiated in secret. (You got that part right.)
Complaint #1A: The Obama Administration apparently intends to try to get it through Congress on the "fast-track" process, which puts harsh time limits on the ability of the public -- including labor unions, internet freedom advocates, and environmental organizations -- to analyze a lengthy and complicated proposal. I put this as a subcomplaint under secrecy because it compounds the vice of secrecy.

Complaint #2: Well, it isn't completely secret. Some of the big business interests who'll be benefited have had a seat at the table. They not only know what's happening, they're shaping what's happening. It's secret only in the sense that the negotiators intend to exclude us peasants in the general public.

Another exception to #1 is that, although Obama and the other principals have wanted to keep it secret, they haven't completely succeeded. Fortunately, there've been some leaks. And that leads us to...

Complaint #3: Based on the leaks that we've seen so far, the TPP will be substantively horrible, even aside from the foul procedure being employed to draft and ratify it.

By the way, your use of the dismissive phrase "complaint du jour" conveys to me a connotation that anyone who has a problem with any of this is just a persistent whiner whose criticisms have no basis and who will be on to some other fancied gripe tomorrow. If you didn't intend to convey that disparaging view of the many decent people who are upset about TPP, you should clarify. On the other hand, if that is in fact your view of us, you certainly have a right to express it, and thank you for your honesty.