The TPP isn't 'free trade,' it's corruption. - Petition

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) takes power away from individuals and democratic institutions and hands it to multinational corporations. That's not "free trade," that's the definition of corruption.

Sign Here:
https://www.fightforthefuture.org/2016/Stop-TPP-corruption/

The TPP is a secretive pact between the US and 11 other countries that would give multinational corporations new powers to override national sovereignty and violate people’s rights. Congress and President Obama are trying to pass it during the post-election “lame duck” session.

Its supporters call it a “free trade” proposal, but only 5 of the TPP’s 29 chapters actually deal with trade issues. The rest of the 5,544-page text is packed with special-interest handouts and new ways for multinationals to challenge democratically-passed policies.

At the heart of the TPP is the creation of a new tribunal system that multinational corporations could use to win taxpayer-funded compensation from TPP countries that pass laws or regulations that they believe would limit their potential for profits. These tribunals would be decided by private lawyers who would be allowed to rotate between serving as arbitration judges and working as advisors to the corporations bringing the cases to the tribunal.

And then there are the thousands of pages of provisions straight from the wish lists of special interests that weren’t able to get their policies passed through the regular legislative process. These provisions threaten good-paying jobs, Internet freedom, access to medicine, environmental protections, and much more.

For example, copyright notice-and-takedown procedures similar to SOPA, the web censorship bill that was defeated by the historic Internet blackout protest, has been resurrected in the TPP. Other “zombie” proposals in the TPP include limits on competition for pharmaceutical companies, increased fracking through automatic approval of gas exports, and lower food safety standards in the US by allowing big food companies to import meat and seafood from countries with lenient inspection practices.

The TPP was written in secret by hundreds of corporate lobbyists and government officials. No public-interest groups, academics, or policy experts without industry ties were allowed to view the working text or participate in the negotiating process.

The skids have already been greased for it to pass Congress quickly. Last June the Senate and House apporved "fast track" legislation that restricts their ability to fully debate and offer amendments to the TPP text. Not surprisingly, the representatives who voted to approve this "fast track" procedure received, on average, $234,000 more in campaign contributions from interests that support the TPP than the representatives who voted against "fast track."

The people working on the TPP say they needed to keep the details secret (from everyone except the lobbyists and political donors that were let in) to keep from undercutting the negotiatons. We get that. But if striking a deal requires undermining national sovereignty in 12 countries and giving special interests all of the pet policies they couldn't pass through the regular lawmaking process, we don’t want it.

Sign Here:
https://www.fightforthefuture.org/2016/Stop-TPP-corruption/