People Are Stopping The TPP; Time To Finish Off Corporate Trade [View all]

[eridani]

http://www.mintpressnews.com/people-are-stopping-the-tpp-time-to-finish-off-corporate-trade/213620/

First, in order to eke out a legislative victory, Obama and his shrinking number of allies in Congress had to compromise and make the TPP public for 90 days before it was signed. Originally, the trade negotiators planned to keep the TPP secret for four years after it was signed. This has been a costly compromise, as people now know what is in the agreement and the U.S. trade representative and the president can no longer deny it.

Second, the Toxic Political Poison of the TPP ended the career of Boehner, a long-time corporate trader. In order to get the agreement through the House he had to twist the arms of dozens of Republicans who opposed fast track. And, after the vote, he sought retribution against the leaders of the revolt against fast track by removing them from committees and leadership positions. This led to a counter-revolt that ultimately ended his political career. When a speaker of the house is defeated over an issue, everyone in Congress will step lightly to avoid that political poison.

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On Feb. 9, Rep. Ryan told The Racine Journal Times that there is bipartisan skepticism of the agreement. He said that if Obama pushed a vote on the TPP he would lose, adding: “There are enough concerns about this agreement, some that I also have, where I don’t see enough support for it right now.” This was the first time Ryan admitted there was not enough support for the agreement. At the same time, the White House moved from saying Sen. McConnell will not dictate the schedule to saying the administration will not go forward without congressional leadership.

People are calling Congress to urge their representatives not to support the TPP, and protests are being planned for mid-February when representatives are home for the president’s week recess. We all know that Obama and the transnational corporations want these agreements, so we need to continue to build our people power to defeat the TPP.