Posted on 01/30/2015 9:08:07 AM PST by yoe
What Is the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP)?
The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a secretive, multinational trade agreement that threatens to extend restrictive intellectual property (IP) laws across the globe and rewrite international rules on its enforcement. The main problems are two-fold:
(1) Intellectual Property Chapter: Leaked draft texts of the agreement show that the IP chapter would have extensive negative ramifications for users’ freedom of speech, right to privacy and due process, and hinder peoples' abilities to innovate.
(2) Lack of Transparency: The entire process has shut out multi-stakeholder participation and is shrouded in secrecy.
(Excerpt) Read more at eff.org ...
UNITED NATIONS – Giving President Obama fast-track authority to conclude an international trade agreement is like playing Russian roulette with six bullets in the chamber, says one of America’s leading gun rights organizations.
Gun Owners of America is blasting a congressional proposal that empowers Obama to unilaterally negotiate international agreements as “a ‘bait and switch’ scheme that could seriously impact the Second Amendment.”
Secret Government bump for later....
When the State Department negotiates a trade agreement with another country, it always involves a lot of give and take. They don't want Congress to then mess it up by adding in special favors for their constituents. Up or down vote for the whole things, no amendments.
However, I don't trust the Administration to get a good trade agreement by negotiating in secret. Not any Administration, and especially not this one. Negotiating in secret means Congress has no voice while the negotiations are taking place. They are handed a package, with both good and bad in it, and told to take it or leave it.
To paraphrase a politician of a long time ago, if Congress is to be in on the crash landings, it should also be in on the takeoffs. A trustworthy Administration would keep the appropriate Congressional committees involved while the negotiations are taking place, so there will be no surprises later.
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