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#TPP Is ‘Worse Than We Thought’: Text Finally Public

November 6, 2015 by Pamela Powers Hannley

Yesterday the text of the multi-national “free trade” agreement– the long-awaited Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) — was released to the public. This start the 90-day review period before President Barack Obama can seek approval from Congress. (Note that the review period overlaps the holiday season and the presidential primaries– plenty of distraction for the American voters.)

Ant-TPP activists and humanitarians wasted no time pushing out their stories and opinions; analyses are being posted on blogs, videos, and social media, particularly Twitter (#FlushTheTPP, #TPPWorseThanWeThought). Labeling the TPP a “corporate power grab nightmare,” Common Dreams posted a comprehensive write-up detailing low points such as climate denial, food safety, and net neutrality. Democracy Now’s Amy Goodman interviewed Public Citizen/Global Trade Watch’s Lori Wallach and Doctors Without Borders Michael Forman. Focusing on big pharma’s power grab, Doctors Without Borders came out quickly and strongly calling the TPP “the worst trade agreement for access to medicines in developing countries”. The TPP extends drug patents and increases big pharma’s ability to set high prices. High prices will limit availability and limit access to care, particularly in poor countries. This will result in increased premature death among those who live in poverty. [So, why are we doing this? Oh, yeah, it’s “business friendly.” Too bad about the whole premature death thing.]

#StopFastTrack Nationwide #TPP Call-in Day on June 3 (video)

May 27, 2015 by Pamela Powers Hannley

Activists around the globe are fighting the secret ~~corporate takeover~~ “free” trade deal know as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The fast track authority for the TPP is being heard in Congress now. Republicans and President Barack “Wall Street” Obama want the TPP fast track authority to pass. (Fast track authority allows presidents to negotiate trade deals without all of those messy Congressional debates and any of that unpredictable public input. This is how we got NAFTA and multiple other “free” trade deals that have hurt American workers.)

Progressives and most Democrats in Congress are against the TPP and fast track authority– mostly because it is a SECRET deal negotiated by 600 corporations and what we do know about it is bad for middle class Americans. (Only selected sections of the TPP have been released by WikiLeaks. Obama has been keeping the rest a secret. Why?!)

Recently the Arizona Daily Star reported that Congressional phone calls on the TPP are running 25 to 1 against it. To keep up the pressure, a national day of Congressional phone calls has been planned for June 3. Below are the details from the Citizens Trade Campaign. #StopFastTrack #FlushTheTPP

Warren Blasts Corporate Politicians, Calls for Break-Up of CitiGroup (video)

December 13, 2014December 13, 2014 by Pamela Powers Hannley

In a fiery but measured speech on the Senate floor, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren blasted the close ties between CitiGroup, Congress, and the Clinton, Bush, and Obama administrations as Wall Street “cronyism”. Channeling trust-busting, progressive President Teddy Roosevelt, Warren called for “opening up Dodd-Frank to make it tougher” and for an end to “too big to fail” banks.

“Let me say to anyone who is listening at Citi, I agree with you that Dodd-Frank isn’t perfect,” Warren said, looking directly into the camera. “It should have broken you into pieces.” [Full video after jump.]

Warren and other progressives are riled up because Congress inserted a Wall Street deregulation clause into the federal government budget bill which the House passed last week. This provision– written by CitiGroup lobbyists– weakens the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, allows Wall Street banks to return to the risky derivatives trading that sparked the worldwide financial collapse of 2008-09, and paves the way for future Wall Street bank bailouts. The fix is in for more gambling with our money.

‘The Nation’ Scolds Network TV for Denying Air Time to President Obama

November 20, 2014 by Pamela Powers Hannley

NBC, ABC, CBS, and FOX have decided to air their usual prime time pablum tonight, instead of airing President Barack Obama’s short speech about his executive order on immigration.

It is despicable that same corporate media who pocketed billions of dollars during the election season and fanned the flames of racial hatred by airing false negative advertising now turns their Medusa head away at a time when something positive and newsworthy comes along. What show is so important that it can’t be delayed 10 minutes? NBC will be airing The Biggest Loser, a reality show about losing weight. (Here’s a hint. Since this is the 16th season of The Biggest Loser, there will be more fat people losing weight in the future.)

This corporate arrogance shows that network executives have disdain not only for the President– but also for American citizens and our democracy. (The speech will air at 6 p.m. Arizona time on PBS, Univision, Telemundo, cable channels, and live streaming from the White House, here.)

In When Networks Snub a Presidential Address, Democracy Is ‘The Biggest Loser’, John Nichols of The Nation gives corporate TV a drubbing over their decision to snub the President and the American people.

From The Nation…

… How has the American circumstance so decayed in a nation that once so well understood the wisdom of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s observation that “democracy alone, of all forms of government, enlists the full force of men’s [and women’s] enlightened will”?

There’s plenty of blame to go around. But let’s start with broadcast media that are so indefensibly irresponsible that television networks cannot take time away from their relentless profiteering to present a short address by the president of the United States—an address announcing an executive order on an issue that is universally recognized as consequential and controversial.

Walk Down Memory Lane to July 2013 When Boehner & #GOP Failed to ‘Govern’

November 19, 2014November 19, 2014 by Pamela Powers Hannley

Tonight, I had planned to write a highly poignant new blog post about why movement on immigration reform now (and not when the Republicans finally… maybe… get around to it) is a good idea.

When I went back to some old articles to grab links, I found this blog post and decided a history lesson was in order– since Republicans want Obama to delay an immigration executive order to “give them time to govern”. This post was originally published on July 10, 2013, on Tucson-Progressive.com, shortly after the US Senate passed their “comprehensive immigration reform” bill with bipartisan support, including both Arizona Senators, Lindsay Graham, Marco Rubio, and other Republican Senators. Where are they now when the House wants to stall further? [Related articles at the end. Go big, Mr. President. It’s the right thing to do.]

Boehner & the White Man’s Party Prepare to Kill Immigration Reform

Knuckle-dragging Republicans in the US House of Representatives have said that they will NOT– that is NOT with capital letters– pass an immigration “reform” billthat includes a path to citizenship for 12 million immigrants living in the US.

After all, the Republican Party’s corporate masters are making big bucks exploiting and imprisoning undocumented workers; I guess their motto is: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” For big business, immigration ain’t broke (except that they would like easier access to cheap, skilled labor from India).

The US Senate’s much-celebrated bill did have a path to citizen (plus lots of other stuff the Democrats agreed to in order to get a handful of Republicans to vote for it.)

In the spirit of full disclosure, I didn’t like the US Senate’s version of Immigration Reform for multiple reasons: