Fascism and Trade in America

Justin Smith details how Obama’s Secret negotiations involving TPA and TiSA will undermine American sovereignty and rend Congress impotent on Immigration Policy that disfavors American employment in our own homeland. Consider this quote before reading Justin’s exposé:

It should be noted that much of the text is a proposed draft for negotiation, and within the text, numerous parts of specific provisions are bracketed to denote which countries support or oppose particular sections or language within sections. But the thrust of the text in the annex is clear. For example, Article 4 is about the schedules (i.e., lists) of commitments that countries will have to put together regarding the “Entry and Temporary Stay of Natural Persons,” and a proposed version of Article 4, Section 2 would prohibit member states from “maintain[ing] or adopt[ing] Economic Needs Tests, including labor market tests, as a requirement for a visa or work permit” in the sectors where commitments are made. (In other words, U.S. laws or regulations limiting guest workers only to jobs where no U.S. workers were available would violate the terms of the treaty.) 

 … 

 TiSA has been written in secret by and for major corporations that will benefit greatly if it becomes law. If the House of Representatives grants the Obama administration the fast-track trade promotion authority it seeks, the authority will be valid for six years, which means TiSA (like TPP) would also get an up-or-down vote in Congress without any amendments—making it very likely to pass and become law without the necessary democratic deliberations on immigration that such major changes should have. The leaked TiSA text makes it clear that contrary to the claims by proponents of fast-track trade promotion authority, the reality is that those voting for fast track are ceding key powers to make immigration law and policy to an unelected group of corporations and foreign governments. (TiSA: A Secret Trade Agreement That Will Usurp America’s Authority to Make Immigration Policy; By Daniel Costa and Ron Hira; Working Economic Blog – Economic Policy Institute; June 11, 2015 at 6:18 pm)

JRH 6/22/15

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Fascism and Trade in America

Optimism and Sheer Blind Stupidity

By Justin O. Smith

Sent: 6/20/2015 5:58 PM

America is being sold out, and corporate interests are being placed above the interests of the American people, through the passage of Trade Promotion Authority and the subsequent scheduled anti-American trade "deals" already under final preparations towards a vote, like the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Trade in Services Agreement. She is being sold out by a Republican majority, who value cheap labor, the "almighty" dollar and their own self-interests above America; by some Democrats, who value open borders and the advancement of global governance agendas over U.S. sovereignty.

On May 21st the Senate approved TPA, and Congress agreed on July 12th by a 218-208 vote. Congress also severed the symbiotic nature that the Senate had created between the TPA and the Trade Adjustment Assistance bill, so the failure of either would not prevent the other one from advancing into law; the Senate will give a final vote on TPA sometime between now and July 31st.

When Congress suspends several of its most basic powers for the next six years and delegates them to the executive and Obama, who exhibits a caustic disdain for Our U.S. Constitution, just exactly how does this advance the best interests of the American people?

Under fast-track procedures, Obama writes implementing legislation unaltered and without any Congressional amendments or input, for any yet-unseen global trade agreement, no matter its content and how far reaching it might be. Once it is called to the floor, it is only allowed 20 hours of debate, and the vote threshold is lowered to a simple majority, rather than the 60 votes threshold of most major legislation or the 67 votes required to pass treaties; in essence, Congress has preapproved swift consideration of sweeping global treaties before reading the first word of text, contradicting misleading and erroneous assertions from the offices of Representative Diane Black, Marsha Blackburn, Scott DesJarlais and several others.

Andy McCarthy (political analyst) tells us there is not any danger in passing the TPA. He suggests that Congress and the Senate can simply vote down bad trade deals, however, lowering TPA's threshold for passage to a simple majority will potentially make it easier for a bad deal to pass. And every single "trade deal" currently under consideration is bad for America.

Either our representatives are blissfully optimistic, or they are suffering from sheer blind stupidity, regarding fascism and "trade deals." With 76% of our trade with the eleven other Trans-Pacific Partnership participants already covered by NAFTA, TPP is a blatant attempt by globalists to transfer a host of issues from the control of the U.S. Congress and state legislatures to international trade courts; and, the TPP is more centered on redistribution of U.S. wealth than on the mythical creature called "free trade."

Far from facilitating "free trade," TPP places U.S. companies at a clear disadvantage by exempting foreign countries from standards mandated by U.S. law (i.e. EPA), and it allows other harmful practices to continue. It does not address currency manipulation, which has the same impact on trade as tariffs, and even if it did, the world has witnessed past trade courts deliver incomprehensible rulings from the IMF concerning China's numerous violations. It does not address the foreign border adjustable taxes (VATS), which are also de facto tariffs, and it does not properly address the problem of government subsidies to state-owned enterprises. And unfathomably, it allows the Investor State Dispute Resolution to be handled by the foreign tribunals, without providing any rationale as to why the U.S. Court systems are not good enough.

If these broad sweeping trade agreements that the U.S. has entered over past decades, like NAFTA, the Australian Free Trade Agreement, CAFTA and the U.S.-Korea agreement (KORUS), are so good for the American people, why have we found it now necessary to create and implement the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program, which provides federal aid to U.S. workers who lose their jobs due to foreign trade?

While Speaker John Boehner, Paul Ryan (R-WI) - House Ways and Means Chairman, Senators Bob Corker (R-TN) and Lamar Alexander (R-TN) have been assuring everyone that the TPP section on immigration does not enable the free flow of labor across borders, they have failed to mention that this subject is the entire focus of the soon-to-follow Trade in Services Agreement (TISA) [WikiLeaks]. Under Article 4 concerning "Entry and Temporary Stay of National Persons", provisions for open immigration are seen, according to the Economic Policy Institute, that state signatories "shall not maintain or adopt Economic Needs Tests, including labor market tests, as a requirement for a visa or work permit; essentially stating that U.S. laws limiting guest workers, only to jobs where no U.S. workers are available, are a violation of the treaty [See Also: TiSA Means Open Borders – Real Clear Politics 6/17/15].

Article 5 of TISA would allow corporations to transfer an unlimited number of foreign employees to America, under the guise of "contractual suppliers" and "business visitors", in the same manner as the European Union does through its requirements for the free flow of labor. And just as this has caused double-digit unemployment in Western Europe, America can expect the TISA to increase U.S. unemployment numbers already in double-digits, if the truth were made plain by this administration and both political parties.

Since 1970, real hourly wages in the U.S. are lower today than they were more than four decades ago. The percentage of unemployed men ages 25-54 has grown from 6% in the 1960s to about 17% today, and since 2009, the number of women in the workforce has fallen by 3%.

Every American who loves this country should be demanding at the top of their voices that the Senate votes "NO" on TPP and TISA and any other trade deal that does not increase U.S. manufacturing jobs, opens foreign markets, reduces trade deficits and makes it easier for our businesses to succeed in America. Demand that Senators and negotiators put an end to deals that only benefit transnational mega corporations by allowing the movement of capital, businesses and people across borders without controls, damaging U.S. sovereignty. And demand that our leaders protect American interests, principles of responsible government, U.S. sovereignty and the American people.

Ultimately, this is about more than trade deals. The events of today will determine if America will retain Her sovereignty and power tomorrow. And, the American people must force their will over these events to ensure that Americans will rule themselves, rather than be ruled by bureaucrats, corporatists and transnationalist fascists.

By Justin O. Smith

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Edited by John R. Houk

All text embraced by brackets are by the Editor. The links are by the Editor and may be revised if Justin Smith notifies the Editor.

© Justin O. Smith