corporate giveaway

To Pass TPP, U.S. State Dept. Upgrades Malaysia’s Human Trafficking Ranking Despite Discovery of Mass Graves

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When it comes to a choice between human rights, freedom and national sovereignty versus multi-national corporate giveaways, we know which decision the U.S. government makes every time. In the latest slap in the face to anyone stupid enough to still think the American status quo cares about anything other than money and imperial power, I bring you the following from TechDirt:

Earlier this week, we wrote about a troubling move by the US State Department to “upgrade” Malaysia from a “tier 3” country to a “tier 2” country regarding human trafficking. This move came despite a near total lack of evidence of any improvement by Malaysia. In fact, just two months ago 139 mass graves were discovered for migrant workers who had been trafficked and/or held for ransom. And the US ambassador to Malaysia had publicly criticized the country for failing to tackle its massive human trafficking problem.

So why would the State Department magically upgrade Malaysia? Well, because of a tiny provision in the fast track “Trade Promotion Authority” deal that Congress recently passed. It noted that fast track authority would not apply to trade deals involving countries that were categorized as “tier 3” by the State Department. In other words, this should have given the US tremendous leverage to push Malaysia to really tackle the problem. Instead, because it appears that the administration is so focused on getting the TPP officially finished and ratified, it got the State Department to just magically upgrade Malaysia, and effectively spit on the graves of those murdered migrant workers.

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America’s Most Wanted Secret – Wikileaks is Raising $100K Reward for Leaked Drafts of the TPP

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The only real information we have about the shady corporate giveaway known as the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), is via three chapters released by Wikileaks. Now, the whistleblower organization is raising $100,000 as a reward for additional leaked draft chapters. From Wikileaks.org:

America’s most wanted secret. The TPP is a multi-trillion dollar international treaty that is being negotiated in secret by the US, Australia, Canada, Japan, Mexico and others. This massive agreement has 29 chapters, of which 26 are still secret. It covers 40% of global GDP and is the largest agreement of its kind in history. The treaty aims to create a new international legal regime that will allow transnational corporations to bypass domestic courts, evade environmental protections, police the internet on behalf of the content industry, limit the availability of affordable generic medicines, and drastically curtail each country’s legislative sovereignty. US Senator Elizabeth Warren has said “[They] can’t make this deal public because if the American people saw what was in it, they would be opposed to it.” Over the last two years WikiLeaks has published three chapters of this super-secret global deal, despite unprecedented efforts by negotiating governments to keep it under wraps. The remaining 26 chapters of the deal are closely held by negotiators and the big corporations that have been given privileged access. The TPP is also noteworthy as the icebreaker agreement for the proposed ‘T-treaty triad’ of TPP-TISA-TTIP which would see TPP style rules placed on 53 nations, 1.6 billion people and 2/3rds of the global economy.

$24,000 has already been raised, which is pretty impressive considering I only heard about the campaign this morning.

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Julian Assange on the TPP – “Deal Isn’t About Trade, It’s About Corporate Control”

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It’s mostly not about trade. Only 5 of the 29 chapters are about traditional trade.

– Julian Assange in a recent interview with Democracy Now

I’ve focused a little bit more of my attention on the Trans-Pacific Partnership lately, as the Obama Administration scrambles to attain “fast-track” authority from Congress. The content of this unbelievably dangerous gift to multi-national corporations is being kept secret from the public, and for very good reason. For some background on the TPP and where it stands, see:

Trade Expert and TPP Whistleblower – “We Should Be Very Concerned about What’s Hidden in This Trade Deal”

As the Senate Prepares to Vote on “Fast Track,” Here’s a Quick Primer on the Dangers of the TPP

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