Fuck the TPP. And fuck Obama for pushing it so hard.

[Harvey]

I love that you guys haven't once mentioned TTIP or TISA. What's with that? Europeans being indentured not a problem?

TPP. TPP. TPP. TPP. TPp....

Don't worry, it's not just here. We're all on our own little segregated tracks. I keep bumping into people who haven't heard of any of them, or just one, or the other. But then why do I even care? It's not like millions marching against Iraq made any difference, right?

[Wombaticus Rex]

Aside from the fact we're all gibbering retards, I reckon it's a matter of

1) the current media saturation re: TPP and the stimulus/response activist backlash dominating the US/CA conversation and

2) the fact this thread is named for the TPP and about the TPP.

[slimmouse]

I love that you guys haven't once mentioned TTIP or TISA. What's with that? Europeans being indentured not a problem?

I posted a video with links on the first page to the TISA proposals. Freaky stuff indeed

[NeonLX]

Yer right, Harvey...marching don't do squat, though it is decent exercise.

Change ain't gonna come easy (if it comes at all)...

[Wombaticus Rex]

White House officials dismissed the Senate vote against fast-track as a “procedural snafu” but without this crucial agreement from lawmakers to give the administration negotiating freedom, it is seen as highly unlikely that international diplomats can complete either of the two giant trade deals currently in negotiation: the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).

Via: http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015 ... enate-vote

[Elvis]

White House officials dismissed the Senate vote against fast-track as a “procedural snafu” but without this crucial agreement from lawmakers to give the administration negotiating freedom, it is seen as highly unlikely that international diplomats can complete either of the two giant trade deals currently in negotiation: the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).

Via: http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015 ... enate-vote

If a bunch of narcissistic, reactionary conservatives is what it takes to stop TTP, okay. At least somebody did it. I doubt a Democratic senate would have rejected fast-track.

[Wombaticus Rex]

Seems like kind of the opposite scenario went down, FWIW, which is "nothing."

A vote to push through the bill failed as 45 senators voted against it, to 52 in favor. Obama needed 60 out of the 100 votes for it to pass.

Drama over the landmark trade negotiations has been escalating for weeks, propelling Obama into a public feud with Democrats – going so far as to accuse opposing members within his party of lying about the fast-track bill. The vote marked a rare moment in which Republicans lined up to support the president’s agenda, even as GOP leadership pointed to Obama’s failure to rally his own party in favor of the legislation.

Opponents have been emboldened by the growing influence of liberal senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders and were joined by all but one Senate Democrat in voting against moving forward with TPA.

Always good to re-calibrate heuristics. (Or, shit, abandon them altogether.)

[Elvis]

I sit corrected.

[Nordic]

In case anyone cares, this seems to be clear evidentiary proof that Obama is a Republican.

[Elvis]

In case anyone cares, this seems to be clear evidentiary proof that Obama is a Republican.

Even worse, he's a manager.

[Wombaticus Rex]

In case anyone cares, this seems to be clear evidentiary proof that Obama is a Republican.

Even worse, he's a manager.

Completely agreed, and it's a non-trivial distinction, too. I am archly skeptical of any author attempting to project an "ideology" upon Barack Obama; there is nothing there but an administrator with a winning smile.

[Luther Blissett]

I'm definitely having difficulty wrapping my mind around whether it's just the fast-tracking that's over or what the next steps will be. I've taken up the defeatist position that this is happening no matter what.

…The vote is not necessarily the final word.

According to Democratic leadership aides, Senators Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic leader, and Chuck Schumer of New York, the No. 3 Democrat, have proposed a compromise to Republican leaders: First, hold a separate vote on legislation aimed at discouraging so-called currency manipulation by American trading partners, which could be vetoed by the president. Then, wrap the fast-track authority he is seeking with a more encompassing bill, including assistance for displaced workers, extension of an African trade accord and other trade enforcement measures.

That offer could be the path forward, given that at least eight Democrats who normally embrace trade deals voted no on Tuesday.

The compromise proposed by Mr. Reid and Mr. Schumer could help the president because the currency provisions demanded by Democrats are strongly opposed by Japan and Malaysia, two of the 12 nations trying to complete the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and could be significant enough to stop the larger accord.…

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/13/busin ... .html?_r=0

[Elvis]

I've taken up the defeatist position that this is happening no matter what.

Cheer up a bit; as far as I can tell -- and am admittedly sketchy on details of the relationships -- TPP was launched after the last failures of WTO, which seemed to fall apart after Brazil (and some others?) refused to sign on. TPP and the other latest "trade agreements" seem to be end-runs around the failed end-run of WTO. Clever but apparently not bullet-proof.

I Hope™.

[Nordic]

It ain't over.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/13/politics/ ... index.html

Trade proposal deal reached, congressional leaders say


By Ted Barrett, Athena Jones and Eric Bradner, CNN
Updated 3:31 PM ET, Wed May 13, 2015
tpp tpa trans pacific partnership explainer origwx js_00002027

Here's why the TPP is such a big deal 03:24
Washington (CNN)President Barack Obama is poised to get the Senate's support for his free trade initiative after all.

A day after suffering an embarrassing setback when Obama's own party rebuked him on a major trade bill, Senate leaders said they have struck a deal to move forward on the measure.

Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and top Democrat Harry Reid announced the deal on the Senate floor on Wednesday afternoon.

The chamber has scheduled a crucial procedural vote for 2 p.m. Thursday on whether to move forward with trade promotion authority, which would allow Obama to submit the 12-country Trans-Pacific Partnership to Congress for a vote without amendments -- which trade negotiators say is critical to convincing other countries' leaders to sign off on the deal without fretting lawmakers will later try to change it.

First, though, the Senate will give Democrats votes on several other measures that they have demanded as a condition for taking up trade promotion authority.

One of those -- an extension of an African trade preferences program -- is uncontroversial. Another, which would give trade officials new enforcement mechanisms to crack down on countries that devalue their currency in order to give their products a price advantage in the United States, would have been a poison pill if it was lumped into trade promotion authority, threatening to muck up Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations. As a separate bill, though, negotiators see it as far less problematic.

Debate on the trade promotion authority bill is expected this week with a vote on final passage expected sometime next week, according to aides involved with the issue.

[KUAN]

n.z. being a toady state will sign up no questions.
We were very early adopters of new right economic policies

Rogernomics
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The term Rogernomics, a portmanteau of "Roger" and "economics", was coined by journalists at the New Zealand Listener by analogy with Reaganomics to describe the economic policies followed by Roger Douglas after his appointment in 1984 as Minister of Finance in the Fourth Labour Government of New Zealand. Rogernomics was characterised by market-led restructuring and deregulation and the control of inflation through tight monetary policy, accompanied by a floating exchange rate and reductions in the fiscal deficit.[1] Douglas came from a background of Labour Party politics. His adoption of policies more usually associated with the political right, and their implementation by the Fourth Labour Government, were the subject of lasting controversy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogernomics

The place started getting ugly overnight

This morning on tha radio: http://podcast.radionz.co.nz/sun/sun-20 ... es-048.mp3

Trans Pacific Partnership and Investor State Disputes

One of the most controversial aspects of the massive multi-country Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement, is the Investor State Dispute settlement clause - or ISDS. We hear from both sides of the 'loss of sovereignty' debate.
US lawyer and academic Gary Born and University of Auckland Law professor Jane Kelsey reflect on the controversial Investor State Settlement in trade agreements like the TPP