Every year we know that Lucy will entice Charlie Brown to try to kick the football. We know it is her plan to pull it away at the last second. But every time, year after year, we know that Charlie Brown will fall for the same old trick. He will resist at first, reminding her that he doesn’t trust her, that he knows she will pull it away. But she eventually gets him to trust her, with the same inevitable results. We shake our heads and say, “Charlie Brown, you’re so gullible.”
If we allow Congress to approve the impending Trans-Pacific Partnership, we will have proven ourselves just as gullible as Charlie Brown. However, the consequences will be far more serious than Charlie Brown’s downfall. For decades here at The New American, we have been exposing the repeated bait-and-switch tactics and lies and deception used by the promoters of so-called free trade agreements.
In this regard and others, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, is following in the footsteps of NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Agreement), CAFTA (the Central America Free Trade Agreement), the WTO (World Trade Organization) agreement, and many others.
Lucy’s role has been played by both Republicans and Democrats in the White House and in Congress. Right now, President Obama is playing the top Lucy role, assisted by Secretary of State John Kerry. Not only is Kerry a supporter of the TPP, but he was also a supporter of NAFTA when he was in the Senate in the early 1990s.
Senator Kerry ignored our warnings that NAFTA’s Chapter 11 would establish supranational courts that would be used to undermine our sovereignty and override our Constitution, as well as our local, state, and federal laws. In 2002, almost a decade after NAFTA was passed, a Canadian real estate company appealed a U.S. court decision to a NAFTA tribunal. Senator Kerry feigned amazement. Kerry said at the time: “When we debated NAFTA, not a single word was uttered in discussing Chapter 11. Why? Because we didn’t know how this provision would play out. No one really knew just how high the stakes would get.”
Former Congressman Abner Mikva is another NAFTA supporter who claimed to have been surprised by the sovereignty-invading tribunals spawned by the agreement. Mikva stated, “If Congress had known that there was anything like this in NAFTA, they would never have voted for it.”
It is just like Kerry and Mikva to claim ignorance to excuse their shortcomings, but let’s not allow any more politicians to “Charlie Brown” us again.
It is the responsibility of every senator and congressman to know what is in the legislation they pass and the treaties and agreements they approve. They are supposed to read the bills before voting on them.
It is time to hold our politicians accountable.
Contact your representatives now to stop the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and see the additional articles listed below that we’ve published detailing the dangers of the TPP.
Related articles:
Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP): Bigger and More Dangerous Than ObamaCare (Video)
Dangers of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Secret “Trade” Agreement (Video)
Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP): Assault on Our Sovereignty, Our Constitution, Our Liberty (Video)
WikiLeaks Publishes Key Chapter of Secret TPP Agreement
Regional Scheme for the Pacific Rim
Trans-Pacific Partnership Ready for Christmas Delivery?
TPP Secret Trade Agreement Puts International Tribunal Above U.S.
