Fast Track to the Corporate Wish List by David Dayen.
From the post:
Some time in the next several days, the House will likely vote on trade promotion authority, enabling the Obama administration to proceed with its cherished Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Most House Democrats want no part of the deal, which was crafted by and for corporations. And many Tea Party Republicans don’t want to hand the administration any additional powers, even in service of a victory dearly sought by the GOP’s corporate allies. The vote, which has been repeatedly delayed as both the White House and House GOP leaders try to round up support, is expected to be extremely close.
The Obama administration entered office promising to renegotiate unbalanced trade agreements, which critics believe have cost millions of manufacturing jobs in the past 20 years. But they’ve spent more than a year pushing the TPP, a deal with 11 Pacific Rim nations that mostly adheres to the template of corporate favors masquerading as free trade deals. Of the 29 TPP chapters, only five include traditional trade measures like reducing tariffs and opening markets. Based on leaks and media reports—the full text remains a well-guarded secret—the rest appears to be mainly special-interest legislation.
Pharmaceutical companies, software makers, and Hollywood conglomerates get expanded intellectual property enforcement, protecting their patents and their profits. Some of this, such as restrictions on generic drugs, is at the expense of competition and consumers. Firms get improved access to poor countries with nonexistent labor protections, like Vietnam or Brunei, to manufacture their goods. TPP provides assurances that regulations, from food safety to financial services, will be “harmonized” across borders. In practice, that means a regulatory ceiling. In one of the most contested provisions, corporations can use the investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) process, and appeal to extra-judicial tribunals that bypass courts and usual forms of due process to seek monetary damages equaling “expected future profits.”
How did we reach this point—where “trade deals” are Trojan horses for fulfilling corporate wish lists, and where all presidents, Democrat or Republican, ultimately pay fealty to them? One place to look is in the political transfer of power, away from Congress and into a relatively obscure executive branch office, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR).
USTR has become a way station for hundreds of officials who casually rotate between big business and the government. Currently, Michael Froman, former Citigroup executive and chief of staff to Robert Rubin, runs USTR, and his actions have lived up to the agency’s legacy as the white-shoe law firm for multinational corporations. Under Froman’s leadership, more ex-lobbyists have funneled through USTR, practically no enforcement of prior trade violations has taken place, and new agreements like TPP are dubiously sold as progressive achievements, laced with condescension for anyone who disagrees.
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David does a great job of sketching the background both for the Trans-Pacific Partnership but also the U.S. Trade Representative.
Given the hundreds of people, nation states and corporations that have access to the text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership text, don’t you wonder why it remains secret?
I don’t think President Obama and his business cronies realize that secrecy of an agreement that will affect the vast majority of American citizens strikes at the legitimacy of government itself. True enough, corporations that own entire swaths of Congress are going to get more benefits than the average American. Those benefits are out in the open and citizens can press for benefits as well.
The benefits that accrue to corporations under the Trans-Pacific Partnership will be gained in secret, with little or no opportunity for the average citizen to object. There is something fundamentally unfair about the secret securing of benefits for corporations.
I hope that Obama doesn’t complain about “illegal” activity that foils his plan to secretly favor corporations. I won’t be listening. Will you?