Americans across the political spectrum need to rise up and stop Fast Track now!
The good news is that overwhelmingly House Democrats will vote No! The bad news is that lined up against them, and all of us, are the Republican congressional leaders, the White House and the US Chamber of Commerce.
Fast Track or “Trade Promotion Authority” as it is formally known was a secret itself until a week ago, yet Speaker Boehner and Leader McConnell are trying to fast track it through as soon as next week. In contrast, think back to 2009-10, when the 111th Congress passed 400 bills and other items that were never debated or voted on in the Senate, including a much better health care bill, the Employee Free Choice Act, the Dream Act, and DISCLOSE (on campaign finance). All were held hostage by the Republican minority in the Senate as they manipulated Senate rules.
This Fast Track for secret, unread trade deals must be a wake up call that our democracy is in trouble and that politics as normal does not work. The corporate lobby from Nike, Microsoft, Google, Big Pharma, and led by the US Chamber of Commerce are all lined up against us like never before. But if we mobilize like never before as part of a Populist movement regardless of party we can stop this “bum’s rush” and begin to chart a positive direction for US trade policy.
1. No Other Nation Has Fast Track
Of the 12 nations in the TPP only the US will use Fast Track, that is, if Congress caves and passes it. Eight of those nations are democracies, yet their parliament or congress will debate the deal itself, not Fast Track. From Canada to Chile, New Zealand to Japan, elected officials will read and debate the actual Trans-Pacific Partnership and any other deals for the next five years, not sign a blank check to pass something they never read. With Fast Track our Congress would pledge in advance that all trade deals as they define them would get Yes or No votes within months of signing, with no amendments. This would be Fast Track for the next President.
2. Secret Trade Deals Have No Place in Our Democracy!
The details of the 1,000 plus pages of TPP must be read, not just voted up or down. Leaked chapters indicate great deals for US based multinational corporations, particularly when they invest in other nations. No incentives to invest in the US but guarantees that the other nations will do nothing that harms their future profits, even if those governments are improving environmental regulations or workers’ rights or acting in the interests of public safety.
3. Enforcement for Citizen Rights is at Least as Important as Corporate Rights
Nothing in Fast Track as proposed by Hatch, Wyden and Ryan improves the enforcement of worker, environmental or safety provisions. In some cases the words may be a bit better, but the enforcement is the same—government to government, with years of reports and discussions as the norm. But corporate investment profits remain guaranteed by Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS), a process increasingly rejected by nations around the world while our Trade Representative (USTR) promotes it. Ask Ecuador, which thanks to ISDS, owes Occidental Petroleum $2.3 billion for failing to grant drilling rights because it was protecting its environment. Five hundred ISDS cases are now pending. But our USTR is still discussing gross violations of human rights complaints filed six years ago regarding Guatemala and three years ago regarding Honduras. We get reports and Occidental gets billions in reparations.
4. There Are No Useful Improvements in This Fast Track
Senator Wyden, a key sponsor, believes that his provision allowing 60 senators who oppose a future trade deal to prevent Fast Track for that deal is an improvement. But this provision is purely cosmetic, since as few as 50 senators voting “No” can block any future trade deal. Without Fast Track, it would take 60 Senators to put the TPP on the floor for a vote. If anything, this version of Fast Track is worse than last year’s since Trade Adjustment Assistance is removed and now must be passed separately, and many Republicans are lined up against it.
If we don’t continue to mobilize millions of Americans against Fast Track, the TPP is likely to be rammed through by the same congressional leaders and White House that are trying to roll us now. We are under attack. And we must STAND UP against fast track and FIGHT BACK.
For more on Fast Track and the Trans-Pacific Partnership and to take action, visit stoppthetpp.org.
