TPP (the Anti-Christ bill) 10-7-2015

7, October 2015                    TPP (the Anti-Christ bill)

Last Monday, the United States and 11 other Pacific Rim nations reached an agreement on the largest trade accord in history, - the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Negotiations have been conducted in almost total secrecy, bar a few details released from WikiLeaks. It will encompass a staggering 40 percent of the global economy and is generally regarded, if enacted, to be a huge victory for US corporations, especially pharmaceutical companies who will enjoy extended monopolies on their life saving drugs and an early death for those who can only afford the generic versions. In short, TPP will be price gouging at the cost of lives for companies who already enjoy obscene profits. It may very well be described as a reverse Robin Hood or the anti-Christ bill. Predictably, it was couched in the usual spin narrative, promising to “promote economic growth; support higher-paying jobs; enhance innovation, productivity and competitiveness; raise living standards; reduce poverty; and to promote transparency, good governance and strong labor and environmental protections”. TPP is a wish list for large corporations fixated on padding their already obscene profits. If the deal is finalized and enacted and implemented, we’re going to see an expansion of the disastrous NAFTA model - gutting environmental laws and workers’ rights and exporting US jobs overseas to workers willing or coerced to working for slave wages.