If it wasn't so sad, it would be funny. I do not know how this President maintains his composure and doesn't just full out facepalm re this TPP kerfuffle but he does!
This
is my big picture point of view today so don’t expect my usual details and
citations –
I’m way too tired of doing TPP homework for other people so I’d much rather you
determine your own concerns, do your own homework and make your own decisions after you have done said homework because the loudest voices out on the circuit just may not be giving you the facts.
Seriously.
Of course, actually getting facts has always been our job but it is more important than it has ever been right now because
the ignorance out there just, well, quite frankly, abounds and even our most trusted
sources need to be fact checked.
Perhaps the most
distressing thing I have heard throughout this TPP debate, though, has been the mocking of TPP supporters for accessing and reading and disseminating information from the
source. In this case, I would be one of those TPP supporters and the source would be the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.
But,
the mockers say it’s propaganda from, you know,
the government…
The
more I heard that the more I came to believe ~
One: Said mockers do not know that the
government is us and that the government, in the form of the Obama
Administration, is serving us via their duly elected positions,
representing us at the table shall we say, based on the majority vote of the
President X’s 2 or
Two: Said mockers
do know that the government is us but they do not accept our form of government
and until they get their preferred form of government, which is this case seems
to be direct democracy, they will obstruct progress.
Or both. Because one can be uninformed of a process and still want a new one, right?
Don’t
get me wrong ~ of course we should not just blindly believe and of course we don't have to agree on the form of government
we have but, as one who does favor our current system, I find it disrespectful and destructive to not work within that system while working to change it, assuming that is what one wants, via running
for election and amending and legislating as one sees fit after one wins.
To
do otherwise is to give the GOP the states (nearly completed) the Congress
(accomplished) and the White House – perhaps coming soon…
That is not a progressive outcome.
But,
I digress. Like it or not, President Obama is the chief negotiator re
TPP. His vision is on the table. And all of his negotiations flow from it.
Further, per our process, those negotiations are
accessible, first, by our representatives who can see and discuss and, second, by us who can also see and discuss.
And, frankly,
if one is ignorant of the vision and ignorant of the process one's assessment (s) will be lacking context required to test veracity and one will merely be an ill-informed comment on a thread and one's motivation will be questioned -- at least by me.
But,
it’s not too late ~ everyone can actually find all they need re video and publications and catch up … kind of like we all do with the new Neflix concept
of series binging! It’s easy. Just schedule the time!
My Talking Points 1, 2 & 3:
One:
I
was a Hillary supporter for the Democratic nomination for President in 2008.
When President Obama won the nomination, I checked him out very, very carefully
and concluded that he shared Hillary’s thinking -- to say it simply, The
Common Good (my thinking, too!) and that he was going to shift American foreign
policy from -- to also say it simply, Might is Right to Diplomacy juxtaposed
with demanding responsibility for world problems from all nations – not just
the U.S. and I voted for him President Obama twice to represent me in a
representative form of government. I tend to let him do that job.
I was
pretty clear that he believed in American values and principles and that he also believed those values and principles just might be able to be extended
beyond our borders to benefit us and those who would like to partner in that work with us so a larger vision of what a trade agreement could be was not a leap for me...
I observed him because policies speak louder than words and every decision he makes lends itself to what I have come to refer to as
The Obama Doctrine:
Loosely defined as, moving us into the 21st
Century by positioning us to attain peace and prosperity through the building
of strong economies based on The Common Good on a global level in conjunction
with willing partners.
Two:
Staying within
the framework of the big picture, I have read the President’s
2015 Trade Agenda and I use the document to check information as provided – via the source – against the vision
and the values and the principles and the actual Agenda of the chief negotiator to gauge if he is on
track:
Key
to that Agenda is the to-date, in my experience, non-disputable fact that the
President’s trade policy is focused on “Middle Class Economics and negotiating
strong agreements with enforcement essential to our ability to compete on a
global level in the 21st Century, setting a new standard based on our values
and principles protecting our workers and our environment and the understanding
that under TPA, Congress (our representation) is in charge. Presidents negotiate
with foreign countries – but only Congress can implement a trade agreement.
Congress retains all of its Constitutional authority and, as provided for in
the Constitution, either chamber of Congress can change its procedures at any
time – including revoking TPA. This is exactly what House Democrats did in 2008
when they were unhappy with the outcome of trade negotiations.
Three:
I am committed to sharing the truth as
it is presented by the chief negotiator across my favorite social media
platforms. I am open to evidence-based information on either side of the debate.
I am not open to he
said/she said; to I like him or her so it must be true (or not); to NAFTA references or; to representative democracy resisters.
I am
not alone in this work, there are many people out there who are doing the same thing –
stop and
read and learn and offer truth you can cite if you believe their truth to be wrong or, perhaps, keep on going…
I
have actually had people known to me insult my intelligence, accusing me of following blindly and I have actually had people defriend me because they simply
cannot tolerate my point of view. Crazy. And unproductive. Just sayin'.
G., aka Partisan Democrat
(Please
follow me at http://gkmtnblogs.blogspot.com/
where
you can sign up for an e-mail notification when GKMTNblogs posts!)
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The reason that the government has a level of secrecy with isn't a result of National Security, but because if the American people knew what was in it they would be totally alarmed. The Trans Pacific Partnership is a secretive negotiation being steered by lobbyists and corporations to benefit the biggest and worst of the worlds huge corporations. Our members of Congress are allowed to only read the text and are forbidden from taking notes or keeping a copy of the text. The deal will allow foreign companies to challenge environmental laws if those laws threaten their profits. Negotiators of the TPP are asking Congress to vote on the treaty as written, with no changes, or (Fast Track).
ReplyDeleteFast track has passed the senate! This will allow even less Congressional and public oversight. The TPP is not just another trade agreement; it would allow foreign firms to avoid domestic courts to directly sue TPP governments in foreign tribunals. They can demand compensation for domestic, financial, health, environmental, land use, labor laws, GMO labels and country of origin labels on foods, and other pesky laws that undermine their TPP privileges. All countries involved in TPP talks (with the exception of Australia) have agreed to submit to the jurisdiction of foreign tribunals. These tribunals would not meet basic standards of transparency, consistency or due process common in the USA or in most TPP Nations domestic legal systems, or provide a fair, independent and balanced venue for resolving trade disputes.
In a manner that would be unheard of in the Courts of the USA, the tribunals would be staffed by private sector lawyers that rotate between acting as judges and as advocates for the investors suing the governments.
This agreement will do away with our National Sovereignty for the benefit of mega Corporations bottom line. This TPP is not about encouraging free trade and the flow of goods, but all about protecting the bottom line of huge Corporations who want to pollute and exploit with impunity and have been part of writing and negotiating this deal in secret.
If NAFTA is any indication, this will result in a trade imbalance and a loss of jobs in the USA while encouraging a race to the bottom for the rights of workers and the environment. TPP not only replicates, but expands NAFTA's special protections for firms that offshore U.S. jobs. In keeping with current policies you may now delete in order to suppress any information that does not agree with your own. After all the German People once found denial a great comfort as well