Let's talk labor and wages and the Bills the Maryland Assembly have in this session. Maryland is the most repressive and regressive of states in wage and workplace protects in the nation and yet-----labor union leaders support the Clinton neo-liberals killing labor and justice every election. I spoke earlier of the Baltimore pol sponsoring the Bill killing Prevailing Wage and small business contractors bidding for state and local jobs. Very few categories of jobs fall under Prevailing Wage and we have a Bill that will create loopholes to avoid paying any Prevailing Wage.
Below you see what is a very, very, very bad bill for labor although it seems as if it might be good because it says it seeks to protect Maryland from the effects of free trade and currency manipulation, and protect state sovereignty.
YET IT NEVER MENTIONS TRANS PACIFIC TRADE PACT AS ASSURING ALL OF THE ABOVE WILL BE AFFECTED ADVERSELY. This bill is written because of Trans Pacific and Trans Atlantic Trade Pacts but it doesn't seek to stop them---it pretends that Maryland can protect against any harmful effects...AND IT CANNOT.
What the US practices today is naked capitalism----win profits any way you want no rules bar. It is full of fraud, corruption, crony subsidy, choosing of winners and losers.
MARYLAND IS #1 IN THE NATION IN NAKED CAPITALISM---NO FREE TRADE GOING ON IN MARYLAND.
Features of free trade Free trade policies generally promote the following features:
So, Senator Manno wants to create a commission on Free Trade and protecting Maryland sovereignty even as Obama has spent several years pushing Trans Pacific Trade Pact that ends national sovereignty and sends all the power of writing policy and enforcing law to global corporate tribunals and is now pushing the passage as hard as he can. Maryland has said nothing about Trans Pacific Trade Pact and Maryland labor unions have been silent in educating against TPP. Unregulated markets is what led to today's free-for-all. It end enforcement of labor laws so it is really bad for labor unions. It moves jobs to where labor is cheapest and if labor is brought back to the US wages will fall dramatically with TPP and free trade. So, labor unions would not want to be seen in this kind of commission.
YET THERE THEY ARE----MARYLAND AFL-CIO, AFSCME, AND MARYLAND EDUCATION ASSOCIATION. They are keeping their union organizing rights while being used to bring US labor to third world status and they know that is what is happening.
This is why labor unions in Maryland have not said a word over several years against TPP.....they are tied to all of these global mechanisms while knowing it will kill their membership and quality of life for labor.
THIS BILL SEEKS TO INSTALL ALL THAT IS NECESSARY TO MOVE TRANS PACIFIC TRADE PACT FORWARD IN THE STATE OF MARYLAND WHILE IT PRETENDS TO PROTECT THE STATE'S SOVEREIGNTY.
SENATE BILL 893
By: Senator Manno
Introduced and read first time: March 3, 2015
Assigned to: Rules
A BILL ENTITLED AN ACT concerning Commission on FreeTrade, Currency Manipulation,and State Sovereignty–
Establishment FOR the purpose of establishing the Commission on FreeTrade, Currency Manipulation, and State Sovereignty; providing for the composition, chair, and staffing of the Commission; prohibiting a member of the Commission from receiving certain compensation, but authorizing the reimbursement of certain expenses; requiring the Commission to conduct a certain annual assessment, provide a certain mechanism for certain input,work with certain groups for a certain purpose, and develop certain recommendations under certain circumstances; authorizing the Commission to recommend certain legislation; requiring the Commission to submit recommendations developed under a certain provision of this Act to certain persons; requiring the Commission to submit a certain annual report to certain persons; defining a certain term; and generally relating to the Commission on FreeTrade, Currency Manipulation,and State Sovereignty
SENATE BILL 893. Sponsored by Manno
(A)(1)IN THIS SECTION,“INTERNATIONALTRADE AGREEMENT”MEANS A TRADE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AND A FOREIGN COUNTRY.(2)“INTERNATIONAL TRADE AGREEMENT”DOES NOT INCLUDE A TRADE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE STATE AND A FOREIGN COUNTRY TO WHICH THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IS NOT A PARTY.
(B)THERE IS A COMMISSION ON FREE TRADE,CURRENCY MANIPULATION, AND STATE SOVEREIGNTY.
(C)THE COMMISSION CONSISTS OF THE FOLLOWING MEMBERS:
(1)THE CHAIR OF THE SENATE FINANCE COMMITTEE,OR THE CHAIR’S DESIGNEE;
(2)THE CHAIR OF THE HOUSE ECONOMIC MATTERS COMMITTEE,OR THE CHAIR’S DESIGNEE;
(3)THE SECRETARY OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT,OR THE SECRETARY’S DESIGNEE;
(4)THE ATTORNEY GENERAL,OR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL’S DESIGNEE;AND
(5)THE FOLLOWING MEMBERS APPOINTED BY THE GOVERNOR:
(I)A REPRESENTATIVE OF A NONPROFIT ENVIRONMENTAL ORGANIZATION;
(II)A REPRESENTATIVE OF ORGANIZED LABOR APPOINTED FROM A LIST PROVIDED JOINTLY BY THE MARYLAND STATE AND DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA AFL–CIO,MARYLAND STATE EDUCATION ASSOCIATION,AND AFSCME MARYLAND;
(III)A REPRESENTATIVE OF AN EXPORT BUSINESS LOCATED IN THE STATE;
(IV)A REPRESENTATIVE OF A BUSINESS LOCATED IN THE STATE THAT IS ACTIVELY INVOLVED IN INTERNATIONAL TRADE;AND
(V)A REPRESENTATIVE OF A MANUFACTURER LOCATED IN THE STATE
__________________________________________
While national labor union leaders are joining commissions to install Trans Pacific Trade Pact, Obama and Congressional neo-liberals are sending out black leaders to sell the idea of global corporate rule to black pols and voters.
Remember, suspending Rule of Law and Equal Protection----no civil rights and liberties----are all part of TPP and while everyone loses with these policies----people of color and women lose the most. THIS IS TO WHOM OBAMA AND CONGRESSIONAL NEO-LIBERALS ARE GOING TO SATURATE WITH LOBBYING. Mind you----Obama has only used his bully-pulpit for promoting education privatization, Trans Pacific -tied Immigration Reform-----but now he is pulling out the stops to promote TPP.
This issue is not really a liberal one---or a labor and justice one. Republicans are just as angry at the push to end US sovereignty and our US Constitution so calling this a liberal action against TPP is wrong. Bush started TPP and Obama is trying to finish it because they are both the same politicians----Wall Street global corporate politicians.
Expose the TPP - USA
NEW PRO-TRADE BOARD CREATED BY OBAMA ALLIES
“The effort will sharpen differences between the Democratic Party's liberal and pro-business wings, especially in New England. And it could accelerate the effort to woo black lawmakers, a key target in the House.
"Heading a pro-trade advisory board being announced Tuesday are former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, former Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire and former US. Trade Representative and Dallas mayor Ron Kirk.”
REGARDING WYDEN
“Liberal groups have picketed the home — and threatened a 2016 Democratic primary challenge — of Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, which handles trade. Pro-trade groups have advertised in Oregon to defend Wyden, who says he hopes trade legislation will pass.”
FULL ARTICLE: http://bit.ly/1EF0X1Y
____________________________________________
The US is the greatest currency manipulator in the world-----the FED under Bush and especially Obama has created one economic crash after another all while manipulating major economic policy. China learned how to manipulate from the US Wall Street banks.
So, when Maryland Senator Manno has a Bill that creates a Commission to guard against currency manipulation----IT IS BOGUS.
I HAVE HEARD NOTHING FROM MANNO OVER SEVERAL YEARS OF THE WORST US CURRENCY MANIPULATION KILLING THE WEALTH OF AMERICANS.
So, when Maryland Assembly pretends it is protecting Maryland citizens or Maryland sovereignty with a Commission like this he is lying-----this Commission is being created to install TPP policy in Maryland.
Currency Manipulation: US Hypocrisy Apparent in Warning to Japan
Written By: James West
| April 12, 2013
The United States warned Japan today that it would henceforth be monitoring Japan’s economic policy to ensure it does not constitute an intentional devaluation of the yen to obtain economic advantage.
In its semi-annual report that identifies nation trade partners engaged in the same manipulative currency devaluation practices as itself, the United States Treasury made a point of hypocritically implying that both China and Japan were engaging in practices with respect to their currencies that the United States regards as its exclusive domain.
The United States has been engaged in a systematic and incremental devaluation of its currency since 2008 when it began asset purchase programs under the guise of economic stimulus.
This is not just a position of this publication, but is shared by other nations who are not excessively beholden to the US for financial support.
Since the 2008 crash, Brazil has accused the US of currency manipulation by using quantitative easing to devalue the dollar.
Even CNN publicly accused the US of currency manipulation back in 2011, when correspondent Paul La Monica, in a piece entitled “Currency Manipulation? US Must Look in the Mirror” wrote:
“NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — A newsflash to the legislators in Washington who suddenly want to act tough against China for currency manipulation: Have you looked in the mirror lately?
How can anyone with a straight face declare that China needs to be punished for keeping the yuan artificially low when the United States is also aggressively trying to devalue the dollar with its monetary and fiscal policies?
The righteous indignation and holier-than-thou attitude is comical at best. The Federal Reserve, through two rounds of quantitative easing and now Operation Twist, has helped push the dollar lower.
Simply put, buying up U.S. Treasuries as if they were Missoni apparel at Target leads to lower interest rates and a weaker currency.”
The Wall Street Journal also published a piece in October 2012 titled “Ben Bernanke: Currency Manipulator”.
So there is no denying the the U.S. is possibly the worst offender when it comes to manipulating its currency downward to obtain global advantage.
For now, the US says it will monitor both Japan and China, and stops short of outright labelling of the two countries as currency manipulators.
Rightfully so. The whole world knows it would be a case of the pot calling the kettle black. And the U.S., contrary to what they would have us believe, hates comptetition.
______________________________________
We were told over and over by free trade and global market cheerleader Bill Clinton that these South Korean Trade Pacts would bring JOBS JOBS JOBS but we already know we are losing hundreds of thousand of jobs with this latest Trade Pact under Obama. So, there is no way national labor union leaders can pretend that Trans Pacific Trade Pact will be different and especially as any global corporations coming to the US will bring developing world wages and work conditions with them.
All national labor and justice organizations should have been shouting these several years while Obama worked on TPP and now, we see them partnered with the Commissions and Wall Street institutions moving to install these policies. It is not worth throwing the baby out with the bathwater to save union rights while Americans are being taken to third world status with labor unions not having a chance of surviving global corporate rule.
As of last year, the U.S. had amassed a $97.2 billion trade deficit with Mexico, resulting in the loss of 682,900 jobs.
Of those jobs lost, 415,000, or 60 percent, were in manufacturing industries. Computer and electronic parts, and motor vehicles and parts were the two hardest hit industries. Over the years, 150,300 jobs in the computer industry have been lost to Mexico, along with another 108,000 in the auto industry.
All 50 states have had to share the burden, but none more so than Michigan, which lost one percent of its total jobs due to barrier-free trade with Mexico. As of 2010, the state has lost 43,600 jobs because of NAFTA’s failures.
“From a standpoint of the business community, NAFTA’s most important achievement was that it made Mexico a much safer and more attractive location to invest and outsource U.S. manufacturing production,” the report said.
The states with the most jobs lost in terms of sheer numbers are California (86,500), Texas (55,600), Michigan (43,600), Ohio (34,900), Illinois (34,700), New York (34,300), Florida (28,800) and Pennsylvania (26,300).
The report mainly focuses on the impact of Mexico’s involvement in NAFTA. The other party involved, Canada, has not been nearly as problematic for the U.S. because its economy is very similar. Canada also has a currency that is stronger than the dollar.
“U.S. trade with Canada in non-oil goods is no longer a significant source of job displacement for the United States,” the report found.
Mexico, on the other hand, can lure American companies south of the border with a promise of an abundance of cheap labor.
In the U.S., the average factory worker makes roughly $18 per hour while his Mexican counterpart earns just $3 per hour. This has encouraged a “race to the bottom” in which American companies are frequently relocating production facilities across the border. Iconic American companies such as Coca Cola, Ford, RCA, General Motors, General Electric and Nokia have all opened up assembly plants in Mexico.
Apparently, American policymakers have never heard the saying about being doomed to repeat history if you do not learn from it because they are on the verge of entering the U.S. into a bilateral trade pact with South Korea.
According to the report, it will be as bad, if not worse, than NAFTA. In the first seven years of the deal alone, the agreement is set to cost the U.S. 159,000 jobs.
“Mexico and South Korea are different countries, but there are striking similarities in the U.S. trading patterns with both,” the report says.
“Like NAFTA, the KORUS FTA is likely to result in growing U.S. trade deficits and job displacement, especially in the motor vehicles and parts and the computer and electronics parts industries.”
________________________________________
If TPP destroys our national sovereignty----how is Manno and this Commission going to protect Maryland's sovereignty? It will not. TPP allows global corporations to operate as they wish regardless of national, state, or local laws or zoning.
So, if Manno was looking to protect Maryland's sovereignty---he would have been out there several years ago shouting and organizing against TPP. Maryland has restructured government according to TPP for a decade or more.
'Obama is negotiating a trade pact that would constitute a judicial authority higher than even the U.S. Supreme Court that could overrule federal court rulings applying U.S. law to foreign companies. That is unconstitutional. The U.S. cannot be allowed to enter a treaty that would abrogate our Constitution.”'
Don't you think it strange that Republicans are shouting this is illegal and unconstitutional and yet none of the labor and justice organization leaders are calling it illegal and a COUP against the American people. Shouting TPP is bad and shouting it is illegal are two different things. We need to be sure everyone understands these Trade deals are illegal because they seek to restructure our government and end sovereignty and our rights as citizens.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership Would Destroy our National Sovereignty
December 28, 2013 Michele Nash-Hoff
In his State of the Union address, President Obama declared in his intent to complete negotiations for a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The Obama administration has pursued the TPP through the offices of U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk instead of under the auspices of the Department of State.
This was the first time negotiations to create a free trade zone with Pacific Rim countries were made public although 15 rounds have been concluded. Eleven nations are participating: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam. Although Japan and China are not presently participating in TPP negotiations, “docking provisions” being written into the TPP draft agreement would permit either Japan or China to join the TPP at a later date without suffering any disadvantage.
To implement the TPP free-trade agreement, Congress will be asked to surrender its responsibility under Section 1, Article 8 of the Constitution to regulate commerce with foreign nations, and grant President Obama extra-constitutional “Trade Promotion Authority” to negotiate the final TPP agreement. The administration seeks to gain “fast-track authority,” a provision under the Trade Promotion Authority that requires Congress to review an FTA under limited debate, in an accelerated time frame subject to a yes-or-no vote by a simple majority vote rather than a two-thirds vote, as required for the ratification of a formal treaty.
Under fast-track authority, there is no provision for Congress to modify the agreement by submitting amendments. Fast-track authority also treats the FTA as if it were trade legislation being negotiated by the executive branch. The purpose is to assure foreign partners that the FTA, once signed, will not be changed during the legislative process.
A report released Jan. 24 by the Congressional Research Service, “The Trans-Pacific Partnership Negotiations and Issues for Congress,” makes clear that the present negotiations are not being conducted under the auspices of formal trade promotion authority as the latest TPA expired July 1, 2007. However, the Obama administration is acting as if fact-track authority were in effect already.
The report states that the TPP is being negotiated as a regional free-trade agreement that U.S. negotiators describe as a “comprehensive and high-standard” FTA. The U.S. hopes the agreement “will liberalize trade in nearly all goods and services and include commitments beyond those currently established in the World Trade Organization (WTO.)”
Opposition to the TPP ranges from one end of the political spectrum to the other ─ from the liberal Public Citizen non-profit, consumer rights advocacy group founded by Ralph Nader in 1971 to the far-right, conservative news organization, World Net Daily founded in 1997 by Joseph Farah.
Lori Wallach of Public Citizen has written several articles warning about the dangers of the Trans-Pacific Partnership. According to her review of TPP, foreign firms would gain the follow privileges:
This opinion was confirmed by Jerome Corsi in an article last week on World Net Daily, in which he reported that a “leaked copy of the TPP draft makes clear in Chapter 15, ‘Dispute Settlement,’ that the Obama administration intends to surrender U.S. sovereignty to an international tribunal to adjudicate disputes arising under the TPP. Disputes concerning interpretation and application of the TPP agreement, according to Article 15.7, will be adjudicated by an “arbitral tribunal” composed of three TPP members.
He states, “Because the TPP agreement places arbitral tribunals created under TPP to be above U.S. law, the Obama administration’s negotiation of the Trans-Pacific pact without specific consultation with Congress appears aimed at creating a judicial authority higher than the U.S. Supreme Court. The judicial entity could overrule decisions U.S. Federal District and Circuit courts make to apply U.S. laws and regulations to foreign corporations doing business within the United States. The result appears to allow foreign companies doing business within the United States to operate in a legal and regulatory environment that would give the foreign companies decided economic advantages over U.S. companies that remain subject to U.S. laws and regulations.”
Another group opposing the TPP is Americans for Limited Government , a lobbying group and advocacy organization which describes itself as a non-partisan, nationwide network committed to advancing free-market reforms, private property rights and core American liberties. President Bill Wilson states,”This new trade agreement will place domestic U.S. firms that do not do business overseas at a competitive disadvantage. Foreign firms under this trade pact could conceivably appeal federal regulatory and court rulings against them to an international tribunal with the apparent authority to overrule our sovereignty. If foreign companies want to do business in America, they should have to follow the same rules as everyone else. Obama is negotiating a trade pact that would constitute a judicial authority higher than even the U.S. Supreme Court that could overrule federal court rulings applying U.S. law to foreign companies. That is unconstitutional. The U.S. cannot be allowed to enter a treaty that would abrogate our Constitution.”
Read the full article on tradereform.org
Below you see what is a very, very, very bad bill for labor although it seems as if it might be good because it says it seeks to protect Maryland from the effects of free trade and currency manipulation, and protect state sovereignty.
YET IT NEVER MENTIONS TRANS PACIFIC TRADE PACT AS ASSURING ALL OF THE ABOVE WILL BE AFFECTED ADVERSELY. This bill is written because of Trans Pacific and Trans Atlantic Trade Pacts but it doesn't seek to stop them---it pretends that Maryland can protect against any harmful effects...AND IT CANNOT.
What the US practices today is naked capitalism----win profits any way you want no rules bar. It is full of fraud, corruption, crony subsidy, choosing of winners and losers.
MARYLAND IS #1 IN THE NATION IN NAKED CAPITALISM---NO FREE TRADE GOING ON IN MARYLAND.
Features of free trade Free trade policies generally promote the following features:
- Trade of goods without taxes (including tariffs) or other trade barriers (e.g., quotas on imports or subsidies for producers)
- Trade in services without taxes or other trade barriers
- The absence of "trade-distorting" policies (such as taxes, subsidies, regulations, or laws) that give some firms, households, or factors of production an advantage over others
- Unregulated access to markets
- Unregulated access to market information
- Inability of firms to distort markets through government-imposed monopoly or oligopoly power
- Trade agreements which encourage free trade.
So, Senator Manno wants to create a commission on Free Trade and protecting Maryland sovereignty even as Obama has spent several years pushing Trans Pacific Trade Pact that ends national sovereignty and sends all the power of writing policy and enforcing law to global corporate tribunals and is now pushing the passage as hard as he can. Maryland has said nothing about Trans Pacific Trade Pact and Maryland labor unions have been silent in educating against TPP. Unregulated markets is what led to today's free-for-all. It end enforcement of labor laws so it is really bad for labor unions. It moves jobs to where labor is cheapest and if labor is brought back to the US wages will fall dramatically with TPP and free trade. So, labor unions would not want to be seen in this kind of commission.
YET THERE THEY ARE----MARYLAND AFL-CIO, AFSCME, AND MARYLAND EDUCATION ASSOCIATION. They are keeping their union organizing rights while being used to bring US labor to third world status and they know that is what is happening.
This is why labor unions in Maryland have not said a word over several years against TPP.....they are tied to all of these global mechanisms while knowing it will kill their membership and quality of life for labor.
THIS BILL SEEKS TO INSTALL ALL THAT IS NECESSARY TO MOVE TRANS PACIFIC TRADE PACT FORWARD IN THE STATE OF MARYLAND WHILE IT PRETENDS TO PROTECT THE STATE'S SOVEREIGNTY.
SENATE BILL 893
By: Senator Manno
Introduced and read first time: March 3, 2015
Assigned to: Rules
A BILL ENTITLED AN ACT concerning Commission on FreeTrade, Currency Manipulation,and State Sovereignty–
Establishment FOR the purpose of establishing the Commission on FreeTrade, Currency Manipulation, and State Sovereignty; providing for the composition, chair, and staffing of the Commission; prohibiting a member of the Commission from receiving certain compensation, but authorizing the reimbursement of certain expenses; requiring the Commission to conduct a certain annual assessment, provide a certain mechanism for certain input,work with certain groups for a certain purpose, and develop certain recommendations under certain circumstances; authorizing the Commission to recommend certain legislation; requiring the Commission to submit recommendations developed under a certain provision of this Act to certain persons; requiring the Commission to submit a certain annual report to certain persons; defining a certain term; and generally relating to the Commission on FreeTrade, Currency Manipulation,and State Sovereignty
SENATE BILL 893. Sponsored by Manno
(A)(1)IN THIS SECTION,“INTERNATIONALTRADE AGREEMENT”MEANS A TRADE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AND A FOREIGN COUNTRY.(2)“INTERNATIONAL TRADE AGREEMENT”DOES NOT INCLUDE A TRADE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE STATE AND A FOREIGN COUNTRY TO WHICH THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IS NOT A PARTY.
(B)THERE IS A COMMISSION ON FREE TRADE,CURRENCY MANIPULATION, AND STATE SOVEREIGNTY.
(C)THE COMMISSION CONSISTS OF THE FOLLOWING MEMBERS:
(1)THE CHAIR OF THE SENATE FINANCE COMMITTEE,OR THE CHAIR’S DESIGNEE;
(2)THE CHAIR OF THE HOUSE ECONOMIC MATTERS COMMITTEE,OR THE CHAIR’S DESIGNEE;
(3)THE SECRETARY OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT,OR THE SECRETARY’S DESIGNEE;
(4)THE ATTORNEY GENERAL,OR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL’S DESIGNEE;AND
(5)THE FOLLOWING MEMBERS APPOINTED BY THE GOVERNOR:
(I)A REPRESENTATIVE OF A NONPROFIT ENVIRONMENTAL ORGANIZATION;
(II)A REPRESENTATIVE OF ORGANIZED LABOR APPOINTED FROM A LIST PROVIDED JOINTLY BY THE MARYLAND STATE AND DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA AFL–CIO,MARYLAND STATE EDUCATION ASSOCIATION,AND AFSCME MARYLAND;
(III)A REPRESENTATIVE OF AN EXPORT BUSINESS LOCATED IN THE STATE;
(IV)A REPRESENTATIVE OF A BUSINESS LOCATED IN THE STATE THAT IS ACTIVELY INVOLVED IN INTERNATIONAL TRADE;AND
(V)A REPRESENTATIVE OF A MANUFACTURER LOCATED IN THE STATE
__________________________________________
While national labor union leaders are joining commissions to install Trans Pacific Trade Pact, Obama and Congressional neo-liberals are sending out black leaders to sell the idea of global corporate rule to black pols and voters.
Remember, suspending Rule of Law and Equal Protection----no civil rights and liberties----are all part of TPP and while everyone loses with these policies----people of color and women lose the most. THIS IS TO WHOM OBAMA AND CONGRESSIONAL NEO-LIBERALS ARE GOING TO SATURATE WITH LOBBYING. Mind you----Obama has only used his bully-pulpit for promoting education privatization, Trans Pacific -tied Immigration Reform-----but now he is pulling out the stops to promote TPP.
This issue is not really a liberal one---or a labor and justice one. Republicans are just as angry at the push to end US sovereignty and our US Constitution so calling this a liberal action against TPP is wrong. Bush started TPP and Obama is trying to finish it because they are both the same politicians----Wall Street global corporate politicians.
Expose the TPP - USA
NEW PRO-TRADE BOARD CREATED BY OBAMA ALLIES
“The effort will sharpen differences between the Democratic Party's liberal and pro-business wings, especially in New England. And it could accelerate the effort to woo black lawmakers, a key target in the House.
"Heading a pro-trade advisory board being announced Tuesday are former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, former Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire and former US. Trade Representative and Dallas mayor Ron Kirk.”
REGARDING WYDEN
“Liberal groups have picketed the home — and threatened a 2016 Democratic primary challenge — of Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, which handles trade. Pro-trade groups have advertised in Oregon to defend Wyden, who says he hopes trade legislation will pass.”
FULL ARTICLE: http://bit.ly/1EF0X1Y
____________________________________________
The US is the greatest currency manipulator in the world-----the FED under Bush and especially Obama has created one economic crash after another all while manipulating major economic policy. China learned how to manipulate from the US Wall Street banks.
So, when Maryland Senator Manno has a Bill that creates a Commission to guard against currency manipulation----IT IS BOGUS.
I HAVE HEARD NOTHING FROM MANNO OVER SEVERAL YEARS OF THE WORST US CURRENCY MANIPULATION KILLING THE WEALTH OF AMERICANS.
So, when Maryland Assembly pretends it is protecting Maryland citizens or Maryland sovereignty with a Commission like this he is lying-----this Commission is being created to install TPP policy in Maryland.
Currency Manipulation: US Hypocrisy Apparent in Warning to Japan
Written By: James West
| April 12, 2013
The United States warned Japan today that it would henceforth be monitoring Japan’s economic policy to ensure it does not constitute an intentional devaluation of the yen to obtain economic advantage.
In its semi-annual report that identifies nation trade partners engaged in the same manipulative currency devaluation practices as itself, the United States Treasury made a point of hypocritically implying that both China and Japan were engaging in practices with respect to their currencies that the United States regards as its exclusive domain.
The United States has been engaged in a systematic and incremental devaluation of its currency since 2008 when it began asset purchase programs under the guise of economic stimulus.
This is not just a position of this publication, but is shared by other nations who are not excessively beholden to the US for financial support.
Since the 2008 crash, Brazil has accused the US of currency manipulation by using quantitative easing to devalue the dollar.
Even CNN publicly accused the US of currency manipulation back in 2011, when correspondent Paul La Monica, in a piece entitled “Currency Manipulation? US Must Look in the Mirror” wrote:
“NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — A newsflash to the legislators in Washington who suddenly want to act tough against China for currency manipulation: Have you looked in the mirror lately?
How can anyone with a straight face declare that China needs to be punished for keeping the yuan artificially low when the United States is also aggressively trying to devalue the dollar with its monetary and fiscal policies?
The righteous indignation and holier-than-thou attitude is comical at best. The Federal Reserve, through two rounds of quantitative easing and now Operation Twist, has helped push the dollar lower.
Simply put, buying up U.S. Treasuries as if they were Missoni apparel at Target leads to lower interest rates and a weaker currency.”
The Wall Street Journal also published a piece in October 2012 titled “Ben Bernanke: Currency Manipulator”.
So there is no denying the the U.S. is possibly the worst offender when it comes to manipulating its currency downward to obtain global advantage.
For now, the US says it will monitor both Japan and China, and stops short of outright labelling of the two countries as currency manipulators.
Rightfully so. The whole world knows it would be a case of the pot calling the kettle black. And the U.S., contrary to what they would have us believe, hates comptetition.
______________________________________
We were told over and over by free trade and global market cheerleader Bill Clinton that these South Korean Trade Pacts would bring JOBS JOBS JOBS but we already know we are losing hundreds of thousand of jobs with this latest Trade Pact under Obama. So, there is no way national labor union leaders can pretend that Trans Pacific Trade Pact will be different and especially as any global corporations coming to the US will bring developing world wages and work conditions with them.
All national labor and justice organizations should have been shouting these several years while Obama worked on TPP and now, we see them partnered with the Commissions and Wall Street institutions moving to install these policies. It is not worth throwing the baby out with the bathwater to save union rights while Americans are being taken to third world status with labor unions not having a chance of surviving global corporate rule.
- NAFTA Jobs Losses Continue to Mount
- May 03, 2011 Dustin Ensinger
No state has been spared the wrath of the North American Free Trade Agreement, with all 50 losing jobs due to the bilateral trade pact, according to a new report by the Economic Policy Institute.
As of last year, the U.S. had amassed a $97.2 billion trade deficit with Mexico, resulting in the loss of 682,900 jobs.
Of those jobs lost, 415,000, or 60 percent, were in manufacturing industries. Computer and electronic parts, and motor vehicles and parts were the two hardest hit industries. Over the years, 150,300 jobs in the computer industry have been lost to Mexico, along with another 108,000 in the auto industry.
All 50 states have had to share the burden, but none more so than Michigan, which lost one percent of its total jobs due to barrier-free trade with Mexico. As of 2010, the state has lost 43,600 jobs because of NAFTA’s failures.
“From a standpoint of the business community, NAFTA’s most important achievement was that it made Mexico a much safer and more attractive location to invest and outsource U.S. manufacturing production,” the report said.
The states with the most jobs lost in terms of sheer numbers are California (86,500), Texas (55,600), Michigan (43,600), Ohio (34,900), Illinois (34,700), New York (34,300), Florida (28,800) and Pennsylvania (26,300).
The report mainly focuses on the impact of Mexico’s involvement in NAFTA. The other party involved, Canada, has not been nearly as problematic for the U.S. because its economy is very similar. Canada also has a currency that is stronger than the dollar.
“U.S. trade with Canada in non-oil goods is no longer a significant source of job displacement for the United States,” the report found.
Mexico, on the other hand, can lure American companies south of the border with a promise of an abundance of cheap labor.
In the U.S., the average factory worker makes roughly $18 per hour while his Mexican counterpart earns just $3 per hour. This has encouraged a “race to the bottom” in which American companies are frequently relocating production facilities across the border. Iconic American companies such as Coca Cola, Ford, RCA, General Motors, General Electric and Nokia have all opened up assembly plants in Mexico.
Apparently, American policymakers have never heard the saying about being doomed to repeat history if you do not learn from it because they are on the verge of entering the U.S. into a bilateral trade pact with South Korea.
According to the report, it will be as bad, if not worse, than NAFTA. In the first seven years of the deal alone, the agreement is set to cost the U.S. 159,000 jobs.
“Mexico and South Korea are different countries, but there are striking similarities in the U.S. trading patterns with both,” the report says.
“Like NAFTA, the KORUS FTA is likely to result in growing U.S. trade deficits and job displacement, especially in the motor vehicles and parts and the computer and electronics parts industries.”
________________________________________
If TPP destroys our national sovereignty----how is Manno and this Commission going to protect Maryland's sovereignty? It will not. TPP allows global corporations to operate as they wish regardless of national, state, or local laws or zoning.
So, if Manno was looking to protect Maryland's sovereignty---he would have been out there several years ago shouting and organizing against TPP. Maryland has restructured government according to TPP for a decade or more.
'Obama is negotiating a trade pact that would constitute a judicial authority higher than even the U.S. Supreme Court that could overrule federal court rulings applying U.S. law to foreign companies. That is unconstitutional. The U.S. cannot be allowed to enter a treaty that would abrogate our Constitution.”'
Don't you think it strange that Republicans are shouting this is illegal and unconstitutional and yet none of the labor and justice organization leaders are calling it illegal and a COUP against the American people. Shouting TPP is bad and shouting it is illegal are two different things. We need to be sure everyone understands these Trade deals are illegal because they seek to restructure our government and end sovereignty and our rights as citizens.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership Would Destroy our National Sovereignty
December 28, 2013 Michele Nash-Hoff
In his State of the Union address, President Obama declared in his intent to complete negotiations for a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The Obama administration has pursued the TPP through the offices of U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk instead of under the auspices of the Department of State.
This was the first time negotiations to create a free trade zone with Pacific Rim countries were made public although 15 rounds have been concluded. Eleven nations are participating: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam. Although Japan and China are not presently participating in TPP negotiations, “docking provisions” being written into the TPP draft agreement would permit either Japan or China to join the TPP at a later date without suffering any disadvantage.
To implement the TPP free-trade agreement, Congress will be asked to surrender its responsibility under Section 1, Article 8 of the Constitution to regulate commerce with foreign nations, and grant President Obama extra-constitutional “Trade Promotion Authority” to negotiate the final TPP agreement. The administration seeks to gain “fast-track authority,” a provision under the Trade Promotion Authority that requires Congress to review an FTA under limited debate, in an accelerated time frame subject to a yes-or-no vote by a simple majority vote rather than a two-thirds vote, as required for the ratification of a formal treaty.
Under fast-track authority, there is no provision for Congress to modify the agreement by submitting amendments. Fast-track authority also treats the FTA as if it were trade legislation being negotiated by the executive branch. The purpose is to assure foreign partners that the FTA, once signed, will not be changed during the legislative process.
A report released Jan. 24 by the Congressional Research Service, “The Trans-Pacific Partnership Negotiations and Issues for Congress,” makes clear that the present negotiations are not being conducted under the auspices of formal trade promotion authority as the latest TPA expired July 1, 2007. However, the Obama administration is acting as if fact-track authority were in effect already.
The report states that the TPP is being negotiated as a regional free-trade agreement that U.S. negotiators describe as a “comprehensive and high-standard” FTA. The U.S. hopes the agreement “will liberalize trade in nearly all goods and services and include commitments beyond those currently established in the World Trade Organization (WTO.)”
Opposition to the TPP ranges from one end of the political spectrum to the other ─ from the liberal Public Citizen non-profit, consumer rights advocacy group founded by Ralph Nader in 1971 to the far-right, conservative news organization, World Net Daily founded in 1997 by Joseph Farah.
Lori Wallach of Public Citizen has written several articles warning about the dangers of the Trans-Pacific Partnership. According to her review of TPP, foreign firms would gain the follow privileges:
- Risks and costs of offshoring to low wage countries eliminated
- Special guaranteed “minimum standard of treatment” for relocating firms
- Compensation for loss of “expected future profits” from health, labor environmental, laws (indirect or “regulatory” takings compensation)
- Right to move capital without limits
- New rights cover vast definition of investment: intellectual property, permits, derivatives
- Ban performance requirements, domestic content rules. Absolute ban, not only when applied to investors from signatory countries
This opinion was confirmed by Jerome Corsi in an article last week on World Net Daily, in which he reported that a “leaked copy of the TPP draft makes clear in Chapter 15, ‘Dispute Settlement,’ that the Obama administration intends to surrender U.S. sovereignty to an international tribunal to adjudicate disputes arising under the TPP. Disputes concerning interpretation and application of the TPP agreement, according to Article 15.7, will be adjudicated by an “arbitral tribunal” composed of three TPP members.
He states, “Because the TPP agreement places arbitral tribunals created under TPP to be above U.S. law, the Obama administration’s negotiation of the Trans-Pacific pact without specific consultation with Congress appears aimed at creating a judicial authority higher than the U.S. Supreme Court. The judicial entity could overrule decisions U.S. Federal District and Circuit courts make to apply U.S. laws and regulations to foreign corporations doing business within the United States. The result appears to allow foreign companies doing business within the United States to operate in a legal and regulatory environment that would give the foreign companies decided economic advantages over U.S. companies that remain subject to U.S. laws and regulations.”
Another group opposing the TPP is Americans for Limited Government , a lobbying group and advocacy organization which describes itself as a non-partisan, nationwide network committed to advancing free-market reforms, private property rights and core American liberties. President Bill Wilson states,”This new trade agreement will place domestic U.S. firms that do not do business overseas at a competitive disadvantage. Foreign firms under this trade pact could conceivably appeal federal regulatory and court rulings against them to an international tribunal with the apparent authority to overrule our sovereignty. If foreign companies want to do business in America, they should have to follow the same rules as everyone else. Obama is negotiating a trade pact that would constitute a judicial authority higher than even the U.S. Supreme Court that could overrule federal court rulings applying U.S. law to foreign companies. That is unconstitutional. The U.S. cannot be allowed to enter a treaty that would abrogate our Constitution.”
Read the full article on tradereform.org
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