Trans-Pacific Trade Partnership: Another Deal Under the Radar

Earlier today,  I watched a recent video from the archives of Moyers & Company,   an excellent public affairs program hosted by the seasoned journalist Bill Moyers.  (He never misses).   His guests were two well-regarded bloggers with backgrounds in business and economics:   Susan Webber (who uses the penname Yves Smith)  and Dean Baker.


Apparently,  both guests have,  through reliable Obama administration contacts,  been privy to some of the contents of a trade bill that's  being ramrodded through Congress:  The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).  (In more genteel circles,  this process is known as "fast tracking").    130 members of Congress have appealed for some transparency regarding this measure.   But apparently,  they're being  sloughed off.   Interestingly,  the folks involved in this appeal span the political spectrum from progressive Alan Grayson to Tea Partier Michele Bachmann.

Regardless of motive,  their mutual concern is justified.   Supporters of the TPP live on both sides of the aisle as well.
What's unsettling about this pact,  as well as its predecessors,   the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA),  is that they were crafted by and for corporate interests.   No one else was ever allowed a seat at the table  --- labor advocates,  environmentalists, or community activists.  (H. Ross Perot,  who ran a spirited independent presidential campaign in 1992,   warned us of the consequences of an enacted NAFTA:  a "giant sucking sound"  of jobs leaving the US for friendlier environs [read low-wage].   He turned out to be prophetic).

Twelve nations have signed onto the TPP:  The US,  Canada,  Mexico,   Peru,  and Chile,  as well as Japan, Australia and New Zealand.   Rounding out the dozen are Malaysia,  Vietnam,  Brunei,  and Singapore.   With the exceptions of Mexico and Vietnam,   none of the listed nations (as far as I know) appear to have an extensive history of factory labor abuse.   The maquiladoras  that once caressed the Mexican border with the US are largely history,  as corporate poobahs discovered that overseas labor was even cheaper.

But here's something to consider:   the TPP is still a work in progress.   Policy honchos in Indonesia (the world's fourth most populous nation) and Thailand  are receptive to clambering on-board the TPP bandwagon.  Both nations also  maintain policies that are tolerant of oppressive working conditions.  (The presence of Indonesian sweatshops have been well-documented by Oxfam).

I campaigned vigorously for the president and have no regrets.  Furthermore,  I recognize that Obama and the majority of Democrats have expressed a far greater concern for social and economic  fairness than most of their Republican counterparts.    Occasionally,  they succeed in acting upon those concerns:  consider the Affordable Care Act.  As flawed as it appears to be,  it's a vast improvement over the alternative,  which for a lot of folks was nothing.

Based on what's known about the TPP,   it should merit more public attention.   It seems to be  a work in progress with open-ended provisions,  such as enabling admission of additional nations with dicey labor history.   If the corporate universe continues to call the shots without any meaningful counter-balance,   the world-wide race to the bottom will continue to gather momentum.  

Touch bases with your reps in the House and Senate;   urge them to defeat the TPP.    There's a great,  bearded adage:  "A stopped clock is right twice a day".    Even a stopped clock that happens to be named Michele Bachmann.