Why the Trans-Pacific Partnership should be rejected at all costs

Wednesday, May 18, 2016 by: J. D. Heyes
Tags: TPP, elections, secret trade agreements

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(NaturalNews) In a recent major foreign policy speech, leading GOP presidential contender Donald Trump decried globalization, and essentially described it as a series of bad deals that have harmed U.S. growth and limited (or eliminated outright) jobs and opportunities for Americans.

In pledging to always put "America first" in any future economic and other foreign affairs negotiations, Trump was particularly critical of globalization – the integration of cultures and economies, often with less-developed nations – describing it as an outsourcing of American jobs, especially in manufacturing.

One of the latest efforts to broaden globalization of American ingenuity and jobs, Trump has said, is the Obama administration's push for ratification of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement. Last fall, with the race for the Republican presidential nomination still split between scores of candidates, Trump called the deal "insanity," and said that it "should not be supported and it should not be allowed to happen."

'Treason'

One undercover reporter unequivocally believes that Trump is right. In fact, he believes that to support the TPP is no less than "treason."

In a series of articles published online, Brett Redmayne-Titley – who says he scored a coveted press pass and "stakeholder's pass," thanks to some help from activists – attended a TPP event in San Diego recently. He says the agreement, which has been negotiated in secret and only shown to U.S. lawmakers by the White House after they signed a non-disclosure agreement, amounts to the largest corporate-inspired deal to ever be considered in Congress.

According to Brooke Harper with Global Trade Watch, an organization based in Washington, D.C., this agreement – which is really a treaty, and therefore must be ratified by the U.S. Senate – is nothing short of a complete sell-out of the American people to corporate interests. Understand that of the corporations based in the United States these days, most are "multinational corporations," meaning they do business with anyone and everyone, and have no real allegiance to any country. Their interest is purely profit, which helps explain why, in Obama's low-to-no growth economy, companies listed on Wall Street are still doing relatively well.

And now, they want to do even better, and they don't care who wins or who loses. Americans are no exception, and our president (and far too many in Congress who are co-opted by mega-corporations), are willing to sacrifice our future and that of our children and grandchildren at the altar of the almighty dollar.

'Overthrow of legal sovereignty'

"The concept, inception, and mechanism of the TPP treaty – as well as the effort to secretly pass it – come, solely, from the Obama administration. In doing so, our one-time constitutional scholar president attempts to create a new, world-wide, corporate dynasty," writes Redmayne-Titley. "TPP effectively allows for the overthrow of the legal sovereignty and national jurisdiction of the United States' courts and political system to a foreign power. This is the very definition of treason."

Indeed, the agreement essentially gives mega-corporations legal protections to usurp duly-passed laws and regulations of nation-states, by allowing those corporations to actually sue countries that attempt to enforce rules at odds with provisions of the TPP.

"Should state, local, or federal governmental agencies attempt to enforce American laws in favor of their citizens that conflict with the wishes of the multi-nationals, a separate corporate court will have supreme jurisdiction – and the last say – over any American governmental agency," Redmayne-Titley notes. "Ominously called, 'The Tribunal,' it has the power to override any existing American regulation. Absurdly, Federal agencies, State Gov'ts [sic], City authorities, citizen's property rights, and competing American corporate interests will be considered as the Defendant before this tribunal. When brought to the dock, these defendants – these nations – will be charged, by the plaintiff corporation, with a new crime: 'Technical Barrier to Trade.' Really."

Trump is the only viable and electable candidate, at this juncture anyway, who opposes TPP. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., opposes it, too, but he's not likely to beat Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton for their party's nomination, and she supports the agreement (of course).

Read the full Redmayne-Titley column here, and check back daily, because this link is to the first in an upcoming series, portions of which will be published daily until the entire essay is online.

Sources:

CNN.com

ActivistPost.com

Bloomberg.com