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Fast Track for the Trans Pacific Partnership Accords with Democracy
Library of Law and Liberty ^
| MAY 29, 2015
| JOHN O. MCGINNIS
Posted on 06/17/2015 10:16:15 PM PDT by SoConPubbie
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"If we must have an enemy at the head of Government, let it be one whom we can oppose, and for whom we are not responsible, who will not involve our party in the disgrace of his foolish and bad measures." - Alexander Hamilton |
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"We don't intend to turn the Republican Party over to the traitors in the battle just ended. We will have no more of those candidates who are pledged to the same goals as our opposition and who seek our support. Turning the Party over to the so-called moderates wouldnt make any sense at all." -- President Ronald Reagan |
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"A thing moderately good is not so good as it ought to be. Moderation in temper is always a virtue; but moderation in principle is always a vice." - Thomas Paine 1792 |
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"It does not take a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men." - Samuel Adams |
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"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen." - Samuel Adams |
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To: SoConPubbie
Sessions: Fast Track Would Lead to 3 Pacts Encompassing 90% of World GDPWeekly Standard ^ | 6/17/15 | Daniel Halper
Senator Jeff Sessions is worried that the adoption of the Trans-Pacific Partnership would lead to an "historic international regulatory Commission" that would eoncmpass 90 percent of the world's GDP. He's concerned that it would "[create] a self-governing and self-perpetuating Commission with extraordinary implications for American workers and American sovereignty."
The House is preparing to vote again tomorrow on providing fast-track executive authority to the President. If adopted, it will be sent immediately to the Senate for final consideration," Sessions says in a statement to be released tonight.
"It is essential that there be no misunderstanding: fast-track preapproves the formation of not only the unprecedentedly large Trans-Pacific Partnership, but an unlimited number of such agreements over the next six years. Those pacts include three of the most ambitious ever contemplated. After TPP comes the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the United States and the European Union, followed by the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA), seeking as one its goals labor mobility among more than 50 nations. Together, these three international compacts encompass three-fourths of the worlds GDP. Including the nations whose membership is being courted for after enactment, the countries involved would encompass nearly 90 percent of global GDP. Yet, through fast-track, Congress will have authorized the President to ink these deals before a page of them has been made public. Then, the Executive sends Congress 'implementing' legislation to change U.S. lawlegislation which cannot be amended, cannot be filibustered, and will not be subjected to the Constitutional requirement for a two-thirds treaty vote.
(Excerpt) Read more at
weeklystandard.com ...
2
posted on
06/17/2015 10:22:14 PM PDT
by
familyop
(We Baby Boomers are croaking in an avalanche of corruption smelled around the planet.)
To: SoConPubbie
Save the stupid arguments for this fast track trade authority and just post the entire legislation on-line for every American to read for thirty days and let the American people decide if they want it or NOT!
This is why the RINO’s are not getting anywhere with their stupid arguments, since the entire legislation is being kept secret from the American people and we are supposed to just [trust] what every comes out of their mouths as the trust!
Really? Go fudge yourselves, I personally don't trust anything that a RINO says period!
3
posted on
06/17/2015 10:31:14 PM PDT
by
paratrooper82
( 82nd ABN DIV. 1/508th BN "Fury from the Sky" Civil war is coming)
To: SoConPubbie
Did anyone ever tell you RINO’s this is a “Representative” Government guaranteed to every American under the US Constitution and NOT a “democracy!”
Mob rule democracies are found in socialist countries all over the world, not in the United States of America!
4
posted on
06/17/2015 10:33:45 PM PDT
by
paratrooper82
( 82nd ABN DIV. 1/508th BN "Fury from the Sky" Civil war is coming)
To: SoConPubbie
Nonsense, it rhymes with tyranny.
5
posted on
06/17/2015 10:35:15 PM PDT
by
Fungi
To: paratrooper82
This is why the RINOs are not getting anywhere with their stupid arguments, since the entire legislation is being kept secret from the American people and we are supposed to just [trust] what every comes out of their mouths as the trust!
Totally false. Probably the most-repeated myth right now isnt even related to TPA but instead to the TPP, which is still being negotiated. According to the anti-TPA script, the TPP is so secret that nobody knows whats in it, andmuch like Obamacare legislationnobody, not even Congress, will know whats in it until the agreement is passed into law. Once again, however, nothing could be further from the truth:
- First, Obamas USTR and Congress have been consulting on the TPP since December 14, 2009, when then-USTR Kirk notified Congress that President Obama intended to enter into TPP negotiations. USTR then held initial consultations with Congress in 2010 and, according to a January 2015 fact-sheet, has since held almost 1,700 congressional briefings on TPP alone. USTR also previewed various TPP proposals with key congressional committees before taking them to our trading partners. (Odd that the TPP talks have been going on for six years, but the vast majority of these secrecy complaints have only emerged in the last few months, huh?)
- Second, USTR has provided access to the full negotiating texts for any Member of Congress, including for Members to view at their convenience in the Capitol, accompanied by staff members with appropriate security clearance. This access began in 2012, and several House members and senatorsboth supportive of TPA (like Mike Lee) and opposed (like Sens. Jeff Sessions and Elizabeth Warren, as well as Rep. Rosa DeLauro)have reviewed the draft negotiating texts. Moreover, the level of security surrounding these TPP texts isnt part of some scary Obama administration plot; its set by Congress (which, as youll recall, is controlled by Republicans these days). A U.S. government official confirmed to me that the Senate and House security offices determine the procedures for viewing classified material in the Capitol reading room where the TPP text is kept for Members—not the administration
some people claim that its more difficult to view military or intelligence information, but its all subject to the same rules that are set and enforced by Capitol security.”
- Third, USTR has engaged the public on the TPP via published reports and stakeholder meetings with groups like labor unions, consumer groups, and, of course, corporations and trade associations. Some of these stakeholders have even reviewed the negotiating texts and US proposals. Admittedly, the official texts arent available to the general public, but this is common practice for all FTAs (as a quick Google search reveals) and for good reason: just like other high-value negotiations among private parties or governments, revealing draft proposals before a deal is struck emboldens the opposition, undermines the parties negotiating positions, and exposes negotiators to public scrutiny over provisions that might not even be in a final deal. Publishing draft FTA texts would make completing a deal difficult, if not impossible, and its thus no coincidence the most vocal advocates for full transparency in free trade negotiations are actually those most opposed to free trade.Its also important to understand just how unoriginal this secrecy canard is:
Yes, protectionists have been using the same secrecy lines for over 20 years. In fact, if you replaced NAFTA with TPP in those old Ross Perot commercials, theyd be almost indistinguishable from the ones on our TVs today.
- Finally, unlike the oft-analogized Obamacare legislation, the actual text of any final TPP deal will be required by law to be publicly available (online) for monthsyes, monthsbefore Congress votes on it. As you can see from the table below (source), under TPA the president must make the entire text of any trade agreement, including TPP, available to the public for 60 days before he can even sign it.Once its signed, Congress will have weeks, maybe months, to scour the deal, hold mock markups in various committees, and suggest changes to the agreement before the president sends Congress legislation implementing the FTA for a final vote. Also, within 105 days of the FTAs signing, the U.S. International Trade Commission must issue a report on the deals economic impactagain prior those bills being submitted to Congress. And once the bills finally are submitted, Congress will then have up to 90 legislative days (which is like five months in normal human days) to review the bills and hold final votes.
Bottom line: when or if TPA is passed, the general public will have monthsand if the presidential elections interfere, maybe yearsto review the TPP before Congress acts on it. Think thats crazy? Well, its precisely what happened to U.S. FTAs with Colombia, Panama and South Korea, which were signed by President Bush but sat around (online) for years before they were submitted to, and passed by, Congress in 2011.
6
posted on
06/17/2015 10:35:47 PM PDT
by
SoConPubbie
(Mitt and Obama: They're the same poison, just a different potency)
To: SoConPubbie; familyop; xzins; fortheDeclaration
So Con, are you telling everyone here on Free Republic that YOU SUPPORT TPP, even though you have no idea what is in it?
You keep posting these thread touting the TPP and yet it is top secret and probably strips most of us of many of our rights as American Citizens. Yet you just keep posting these Pro TPP threads as if you think that it is the greatest piece of legislation since the Declaration of Independence.
What provisions of the TPP are you so in favor of? How will the TPP improve your life or mine?
If you can't answer that, then you have no business hawking a piece of legislation that pretty much guarantees its implementation.
7
posted on
06/17/2015 10:41:09 PM PDT
by
P-Marlowe
(Saying that ISIL is not Islamic is like saying Obama is not an Idiot.)
To: SoConPubbie
The proponents and defenders of this stinker can’t overcome the timing.
The fact of Barack Obama sitting in the drivers seat for 15 more months is the end of the hunt on this discussion. Our government is corrupt. Period.
8
posted on
06/17/2015 10:44:18 PM PDT
by
RitaOK
( VIVA CRISTO REY / Public education is the farm team for more Marxists coming)
Comment #9 Removed by Moderator
To: SoConPubbie
It is true that fast track eliminates certain procedural obstacles like the filibuster rule in the Senate and the requirements of committee approval. But there is nothing sacrosanct about a set of procedural rules to democracy.Democracy? We are not a democracy! We are a Republic, and those "procedural obstacles" are the very teeth of the separation of powers which underpin our Republic.
The comparison to parliamentary government is particularly relevant, because the TPP is an international agreement.
Yes, and based upon Senator Sessions' three readings of the secret TPP draft, this sweeping "international agreement" is more like a treaty -- which should require a two-thirds vote of the Senate. TPA's "fast track" provisions would only require a simple majority vote to pass TPP and any other trade treaties over the next six years.
Why is Congress in such a panicked rush to cede its Constitutional authority? Experience shows that whenever one side is in an unexplained rush to get something passed, it is hiding something which would scuttle the deal.
To: SoConPubbie
"Myth 5: TPP is being negotiated via a dangerous and unprecedented level of secrecy!"
The first four links under that gigantic-sized font are links to Obama's office.
11
posted on
06/17/2015 10:50:17 PM PDT
by
familyop
(We Baby Boomers are croaking in an avalanche of corruption smelled around the planet.)
To: familyop; SoConPubbie; Always A Marine
The first four links under that gigantic-sized font are links to Obama's office. These people are grasping at any straw they can find.
It's funny but the more these people keep posting these pro-TPA threads in order to justify Ted Cruz's stupid vote, the more people realize how stupid that vote was.
So Con thinks he/she is getting people over to his/her side, but the fact is the more light he/she puts on it, the more Freepers become opposed to it.
Ted Cruz needs to backtrack instead of doubling down. He's lost a lot of support. He lost me and I don't think I'm the only one here on Free Republic. If Ted Cruz loses Free Republic, then he has lost the base entirely.
I think SoConPubbie needs to take a break from trying to help Ted Cruz. The more of these thread he/she posts, the worse it get for his/her candidate.
12
posted on
06/17/2015 10:59:53 PM PDT
by
P-Marlowe
(Saying that ISIL is not Islamic is like saying Obama is not an Idiot.)
To: SoConPubbie
If this passes we must go THIRD PARTY. We are left no choice.
13
posted on
06/17/2015 11:11:41 PM PDT
by
TomasUSMC
(FIGHT LIKE WW2, WIN LIKE WW2. FIGHT LIKE NAM, FINISH LIKE NAM.)
To: SoConPubbie
So sad.
What you’re not telling people is why these so-called ‘trade agreements’ are being done: these are not agreements but rather treaties that will subvert the sovereign rights of U.S.citizens. Those sovereign rights are stopping the NWO cartel from seizing our guns.
We will not be truly free until every bankster is strangled by the intestines of the last member of Congress.
14
posted on
06/17/2015 11:13:24 PM PDT
by
SatinDoll
(A NATURAL BORN CITIZEN IS BORN IN THE US OF US CITIZEN PARENTS.)
To: familyop
seeking as one its goals labor mobility among more than 50 nations.
/////
WHAT IS LABOR MOBILITY?
15
posted on
06/17/2015 11:14:49 PM PDT
by
TomasUSMC
(FIGHT LIKE WW2, WIN LIKE WW2. FIGHT LIKE NAM, FINISH LIKE NAM.)
To: TomasUSMC
That's probably in regards to the plan to speed up the international slave trade.
White House confirms immigration is in ObamatradeOBAMATRADE
A White House news conference on April 28 with President Obama and Japanese Prime Minster Shinzo Abe confirms the TransPacific Partnership will impact our immigration laws. PM Abe described the TPP as a new economic sphere in which people goods and money will flow freely.
[More info and a link to the video behind the link.]
16
posted on
06/17/2015 11:19:43 PM PDT
by
familyop
(We Baby Boomers are croaking in an avalanche of corruption smelled around the planet.)
To: Always A Marine
Sessions lays it out. It’s a treaty anytime, anywhere without the people or Congress.
17
posted on
06/17/2015 11:22:09 PM PDT
by
eyedigress
((Old storm chaser from the west))
To: Always A Marine
If these republocrats pass TPP .....it may end up being more well known as..... TRUMPS PROAMERICA PARTY.
Because we won’t stand for it. We gave the GOP the House ....then the Senate......they gave us promises ....then they lied....and gave us.... Son of NAFTA.
18
posted on
06/17/2015 11:42:31 PM PDT
by
TomasUSMC
(FIGHT LIKE WW2, WIN LIKE WW2. FIGHT LIKE NAM, FINISH LIKE NAM.)
To: SoConPubbie
If it’s so innocuous, why are they hiding it from us?
19
posted on
06/17/2015 11:44:51 PM PDT
by
Tzimisce
To: P-Marlowe
Is Con a Lobbyist?
Why the shilling posts condesending that there’s nothing to worry about, don’t impede, just support and pass TPA & TPP?
What’s so hard to understand that citizens of a Free Republic rightly expect a trade agreement / treaty ‘ s details have Full disclosure and deliberation before passage?
Does Con sign financial documents without reading or understanding the fine print?
20
posted on
06/17/2015 11:50:27 PM PDT
by
MarchonDC09122009
(When is our next march on DC? When have we had enough?)
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