The Solution: Let The Pubic See The Agreement And Decide
There is, of course, an easy way to settle disputes about what is in the TPP and what its consequences might be: let We the People see the text of the agreement and we can decide for ourselves.
The president says that we can't see the text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership because it is still being negotiated. He says other countries will not "make their best offers" if the people in their countries can see what they are offering.
I'm not sure that it is the job of the United States to help other countries hide things from their own citizens, but OK, then how about letting us see the parts that are not still being negotiated?
Surely allowing We the People to read and analyze the "settled" provisions cannot cause other countries to hold back offers in the unsettled provisions.
Show Us the Current ISDS
The ISDS provisions of TPP leaked to Wikileaks and the New York Times earlier this year. What leaked clearly shows that corporations will be able to overrule U.S. laws and regulations.
So maybe the ISDS provisions have changed. Let We the People see the current ISDS provisions that the president says will not do this. The previously leaked provisions say they will, so they must have changed. But we can't know until we see the text.
Show Us Labor And Environmental Provisions
The president says that there "are," not "will be," very good labor and environmental standards in TPP. In other words, this part is not being negotiated; it is completed.
So let us see the labor and environmental provisions so we can see for ourselves how "progressive" they really are and how "progressive" the enforcement mechanisms are.
Public Only Now Hearing About TPP
President Obama is selling TPP as rewriting the rules of doing business in the 21st century. But the nation's "corporate" news media has (until very recently) largely been silent on this massive trade agreement. The big network broadcast news shows have maintained what can only be called a blackout of information on the TPP.
The dispute is finally forcing the news media to begin reporting that the TPP is coming. Right now many in the public are hearing for the first time that there is a massive trade deal before Congress. This is occurring while Congress is already voting on fast track, which essentially preapproves this deal. This is not a great record for an industry whose function is supposed to be providing the citizens with the information they need to make the important decisions about the direction of our country.
Damage Done By Past Agreements
Maybe TPP will turn out to be the best thing that ever came along for our working people and for the people who are exploited in countries like Vietnam. Maybe it will require a good minimum wage that lets Vietnamese workers buy things we make here, and will let them organize unions. Maybe it will require balanced trade instead of petting other countries sell to us without buying from us -- not something you can really call "trade."
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