The TPP “ObamaTrade” Clock is Ticking
A dangerous finale approaches. On November 5, President Obama posted the text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement on the U.S. Trade Representative’s website and notified Congress of his intent to sign the document. The long-secret text was finally available for inspection, after years of ultra-clandestine negotiations that kept the American people in the dark while granting special access and participatory privileges to representatives of select corporations, labor unions, and handpicked NGOs. Even members of Congress, the constitutionally elected representatives of the American people, were rigidly restricted in their ability to view the TPP draft text.
Nevertheless, despite this hermetically sealed secrecy, draft texts leaked out, allowing us the opportunity to warn about the coming dangers posed by the agreement. Now that the final TPP text is officially out, we find that none of our warnings were in the least exaggerated; in fact, there are additional perils that have come to light. And, undoubtedly, even more Trojan Horses are hidden in the more than 5,500 pages of the agreement. But before we get to the substance of the TPP text, we must first say a word about the urgency of the moment. Since President Obama and the Republican leadership in Congress teamed up last year to pass “Fast Track” (Trade Promotion Authority, TPA), the TPP clock is now ticking.
Under TPA rules, President Obama has to give Congress 90 days notice before signing the TPP, which means that he could, and most likely will, sign the agreement as early as February 3, 2016. Then he must wait 30 days before submitting TPP implementing legislation to Congress, which means that Congress may begin taking action on TPP as early March 2. In a worst-case scenario, both houses would immediately approve the TPP on that day, March 2.
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