Chris Hedges: The Most Brazen Corporate Power Grab in American History

[monicaangela]

79. I agree Zalinda

It appears President Obama is either out of touch, or trying to make us believe he is out of touch. Reading the agreement I don't find anything that solidifies a living wage for workers in this country. As a matter of fact, the way it reads is that if workers in this country try to organize against a corporation and ask for higher wages, that company can sue because those workers would be costing them profits if they were somehow to win a lawsuit in court. By the way, cases against these corporations will no longer be going to court it appears, they will instead be going to arbitration and guess who we will have to appear in front of if we have a grievance? You guessed it, members of the corporations, 3 to be exact. Corporate lobbyist who will be selected as arbitrators. The agreement also does absolutely nothing to prevent forced labor or slave labor in the smaller and weaker nations that will be a part of the agreement. I think the toughest language against that is we will strongly suggest countries follow the rules and not participate in these practices or something to that effect. I mean, really I'm wondering if the President himself has read this stuff, and the TPP is only the beginning, there are 2 or 3 other agreements that are connected to this. I found this article over at Public Citizen very interesting: http://www.citizen.org/tpp

I guess it's time to begin calling our congressmen and women and threatening their jobs if they vote to pass this monstrosity. I believe it is also a good idea for every caring citizen to start discussing this with family, friends, and neighbors so that all who will be affected by this are informed.

Thank you for replying to my comment, thank you for this informative post Zalinda, and thanks for sharing your example of what is happening in business these days. You are correct about us being able to import goods already. Just order anything online, and if it is made outside the country it will be imported and will reach you within days. We don't need this agreement. We definitely need Bernie Sanders and his approach to government for our next President. I am donating to his campaign, I am volunteering with his organization here where I live. I am networking with friends and family in just about every state in the country, and am trying my best to get everyone I know to realize Bernie is our only choice.

We sure don't need Hillary Clinton, someone who is more out of touch than Obama in office IMHO. Hope your situation has gotten better and that you can afford more than what you might find at a garage sale these days; however, sometimes I believe a person can find some things at yard sales and garage sales that are of much better quality than you can find in the stores these days.