Quote:
Originally Posted by JJ_BPK
Has anyone read & figured out what the hell the TPT is or says???
Everyone is bitching about, yet nobody knows what it is???
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Here's a pretty good analysis of the known parts of TPP (wikileaks published a chunk of the agreement)
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/12/bu...deal.html?_r=0
Here are the parts that bother me:
We're signing on to an agreement that removes all tariffs or disincentives for services across borders. (TPP TISA)
Then we're going to establish government funded retraining for workers displaced by the opening of trade. (TAA)
Oh, and we're going to open the borders for the free movement of people across national borders as part of the agreement. (TPP, TISA, TAA)
So basically, we're going to remove the thought of illegal immigrants entirely (they're just looking for jobs, right?) Then we're going to make it easier for companies to outsource to other signatory countries (asian countries, india, and potentially china). Finally, those of us that are still working will be taxed to pay for the retraining and support of all the American people that got displaced by the outsourcing. As if having to compete with all the H1-B visas in STEM positions wasn't bad enough already that more than half of American STEM graduates are working in fields other than STEM. Oh, and wages have been flat for those fields (which I work in) since Bill Clinton was President
http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articl...cant-find-jobs
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/...ates/12492079/
The jury is still out on TPA (fast track). I think it's potentially a good thing since it removes the ability to attach riders to bills making their way through Congress, but I also see big problems when the Dems gain control again and the Republicans find out that they can't stop the simple majority vote, which was part of it. 60 votes are no longer needed for the passage of trade bills, now a simple majority works.
Probably the most dangerous part is that it is written as a "living document" meaning that it can be rewritten (unilaterally by the President) at any time without having to go back to Congress for ratification as long as the contents are trade related. There are so many opportunities for abuse inherent in that concept that I shudder to think of where we may be by the end of Obama's term. What if he decides to agree to limit guns as a part of the treaty? Anyone living in Washington DC can tell you that the process to obtain a firearm can be made so onerous as to be practically impossible without violating the Constitution. What if that process was "negotiated" as part of a trade deal and inserted into the "living document" of TPP? It wouldn't have to go back to Congress for ratification, it would become the law of the land.
Get ready, I think we are in for a VERY rocky next few years.
I truly hope I am reading it all wrong.