Global NAFTA on steriods

[Tunnelcat]

The details of something that was started by Bush in 2008 and which now looks like it's being continued, or at least not being stopped by, the Obama Administration, was recently leaked. All negotiations for this Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, are SECRET too. Ron Wyden, our local Democratic Senator, has been fighting to get these secret negotiations open and public. Australia has even refused to submit to this foreign tribunal system, which overrules local consumer protection laws and regulations. This thing even has a son of SOPA equivalent.

http://www.citizen.org/Page.aspx?pid=3129

http://www.citizen.org/documents/releas ... -06-13.pdf

What I'd like to know is how does this involve Obama, since this will definitely undermine all his promised (yeah, sure) campaign policies and will surely complicate his re-election chances now that this has been leaked. So why is he even involved in keeping the TPP viable in the first place, and if he's not, why isn't he actively publicizing this disastrous trade deal or at least even trying to stop it? And if you think our other choice for pres is going to change things if elected, well, that has about a snowball's chance in hell.

[flip]

Oh noes, you mean their keeping secrets?

[Tunnelcat]

That doesn't surprise me. Power breeds corruption. But this particular one ain't no vanity leak and it's NOT one that's going to grease his skids if it gets national press, unlike all of Obama's previous leaks. This one might just sink him in November.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mhastings/could ... hite-house

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-215_162-574 ... nefit-him/

The milk has curdled.

[flip]

Goodbye Obama, Hello Bush,Obama,Romney.

[Tunnelcat]

You know, this BS is really starting to depress me. I hate politicians. I say we create a Constitutional Amendment that all politicians in our government who prostrate or sell themselves to global corporations or foreign interests be guilty of treason and subject to the death penalty.

[flip]

At this point, I think it's irreversible. Things were done in the early 80's that ensured it and back then, even if I were to have posted exactly what you just did. No one would believe it. You would hear all kinds of assinine, redneck remarks about how it could never happen here. It's done now. The question to answer will be if your gonna be adaptive or mal-adaptive

[CUDA]

Oh noes, you mean their keeping secrets?

This administration doesn't keep secrets, it waits until it has a political need to release them, then does so

[Top Gun]

At this point, I think it's irreversible. Things were done in the early 80's that ensured it and back then, even if I were to have posted exactly what you just did.

The thing is, it's even a lot older than that. If you went all the way back to Grant's presidency, you'd see all sorts of corruption and shenanigans going on. As long as you have people set in positions of power, you're going to see this sort of thing pop up to some degree. The challenge becomes trying to mitigate it as much as possible.

[flip]

DBB ate my first post....

The thing is, it's even a lot older than that. If you went all the way back to Grant's presidency, you'd see all sorts of corruption and shenanigans going on. As long as you have people set in positions of power, you're going to see this sort of thing pop up to some degree. The challenge becomes trying to mitigate it as much as possible.

See, that's what people now don't seem to understand. 20-30 years ago it would not have been possible to say the things being said now without a huge uproar from the constituency. The idea goes as far back as the tower of Babel. The difference is now this country has been stripped of it's identity and national pride. For 10-15 years all you heard about were events like Tim Mcvey, Ruby Ridge, David Koresh, and the need to abandon private militia's. That battle waged for years until the Supreme Court finally put it to rest not to long ago. Now, it's not like that, there is no national identity or pride. In 30 years, the whole personality of this country has changed. I would bet you my last dollar that is not the case for China.

[Sergeant Thorne]

In 30 years the whole personalty of this country has been changed. By Obama!

(just threw that last part in there to get a rise out of tunnelcat)

[flip]

Lol, that would be the only reason . They are all agreed we are altogether worthless.

EDIT:I noticed most blogs from the Pacific are written in English , but I also notice that most Chinese are very proud to be Chinese and are very vocal about their position as Chinese when speaking to their neighbors, in English .

[Sergeant Thorne]

@ tunnelcat

Frankly there are many instances where it could probably be said that politicians in high office in this country are indeed guilty of treason. But as far as I know there is no individual or entity with the skill to piece together the necessary proof/evidence, and the motivation to prosecute.

[Tunnelcat]

In 30 years the whole personalty of this country has been changed. By Obama!

(just threw that last part in there to get a rise out of tunnelcat)

I could rise to the occasion, but what's the point. I can't defend Obama anymore, so why bother. He's now part of the problem. What sours me is that there is no viable, or even palatable choice come next November. It's a no-win scenario.

I'm still waiting to see if this thing gets on all the pontificating lefty personalities collective radars, or will they just ignore it and keep on promoting him for re-election. I almost of the mind to call up Thom Hartmann during the week and give him the above link and ask him what he thinks about it. I'm kind of curious to hear his reaction. He's so uber leftie that the thought of Obama supporting something so anti-middle class and pro-corporate like the TPP that it should churn his guts. As for conservatives, I certainly don't see any of them on Fox News ever bringing this up. It'd be against their ideals.

[Sergeant Thorne]

Obama was always part of the problem. He spun a good story (shallow, albeit, but attractive), and you believed it. You're still in denial.

[woodchip]

Wasn't Obama going to have the most transparent administration evah?

[flip]

He has

[Tunnelcat]

Obama was always part of the problem. He spun a good story (shallow, albeit, but attractive), and you believed it. You're still in denial.

Naw, I never believed things would change, ALL politicians have the same propensity for crookedness or evil pandering. I'm not that stupid. But hey, I was really hoping that the tone would at least shift a little back towards the left after the Bushie tax-cut-and-spend-right-wing steamroller. Sadly, not at all. Just more of the same Washington elitist bulls**t. What's bad is that there's not an alternative choice in November for all us liberal minded people who don't want to see another Plutocrat elected as president.

We had Michelle Obama come here and speak at the OSU commencement yesterday. Went pretty well until she pronounced the word "Corvallis". She pronounced the "a" like in "hall", not like in "valley". Oopsie.

[flip]

I recant. What they did was make us live like kings and queens and turned the rest of the world into a dump. Still..........................

[flip]

As recently as 1950, China's population was a mere 563 million. The population grew dramatically through the following decades to one billion in the early 1980s.

I know, let's not go there

[Tunnelcat]

I recant. What they did was make us live like kings and queens and turned the rest of the world into a dump. Still..........................

Yeah, so guess what Americans? All that extravagant living of the last 67 years (since WWII) has now caught up with us. There are too many people in other countries that now want what we've enjoyed all those years, and there's not enough to go around anymore. We now have to sink to a lower standard of living just to share what's left in a middle of what's becoming a cesspool of a planet. So any politician that says they'll give us more decent paying jobs and a higher standard of living than the next guy, is a lying scumbag.

It's funny that Romney didn't have the cajones to stop his little campaign bus in a couple of small towns where jobs were devastated thanks to off-shoring by Bain Capital. What, he's afraid they're gonna lynch him or something?

http://www.thenation.com/blog/168477/ro ... count-tour