They have always said that the repeat of mistakes made always leaves a lasting legacy of incompetence. Through-out the history of the United States there have been numerous occasions when governmental incompetence has rendered the majority of it's citizens reeling in disbelief that our representatives including Presidents could be so oblivious and blind to the fact that what they have done is so contrary to the well being of all Americans
The latest attempt in securing trading partners today's NAFTA is the Trans Pacific Partnership. Like NAFTA this newly conceived plan, the TPP, the emphasis has really not changed from the original concepts of the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement that was signed in 1994. Still, our government is fixated with the assumption that free trade will encourage more business investment here in the US and thus create more jobs. Today, when we talk of job creation for the past two months it is true many jobs were filled but the majority of the ones filled the corresponding wages didn't equate to middle class earnings. Very few have landed jobs earning wages that are of middle class levels. This is the trend that has been continuing for years now.
We would be wise to remember what NAFTA showed since 1994. Since then NAFTA only has shown that the free trade concepts has only encouraged business growth outside of the US costing over 35 million middle class wage jobs that have never returned. Still, our present Administration keeps focusing on the notion that free trade without question will bring economic growth back to the point the United States had prior to 1972. Another repeat of the failure to learn from the mistakes of the past is set once more to impose more hardship on an already depressed economy. Never before has a government been so corrupted by the influence of corporate dollars and corporate dominance.
Least we remind everyone that free trade hasn't worked, in fact all it has done is the exact opposite of what it was intended to do. We should have learned that lesson back in 1994. And, yet the influence that corporate profits bring to elected officials is without a doubt the biggest hindrance in learning from past mistakes only to repeat mistakes made.
What our government has failed to do is not focus on the other assumption in dealing with trade policies. And, that is equal trade. We know for a fact that free trade only encourages foreign investment leaving the American public out in the cold. With this latest attempt in securing more "Free Trade" agreements with this TPP it has all the earmarks of a giant mistake happening yet again. After all it is being negotiated with little or no fanfare by governments of a dozen countries. In relative seclusion colluding with major corporate interests has all the similarities of what took place at Jekyll Island when the Federal Reserve was being born. It has come to light that this trade agreement is considered classified by our government. Questions now come to the forefront as to why would a trade agreement if it is intended to bring economic growth to nations why isn't it up to public debate as to verify the validity of all it's proposals?
What we do know of the negotiations is that the TPP is the forerunner to the equally secret US-EU pact TTIP (Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership), for which President Obama initiated US-EU negotiations in January 2013. Together, the TPP and TTIP will cover more than 60 per cent of global GDP. Both pacts do exclude China. Ever since the beginning of the TPP negotiations, the process of drafting and negotiating the treaty’s chapters has been shrouded in an unprecedented level of secrecy. Access to drafts of the TPP chapters is shielded from the general public. Members of the US Congress are only able to view selected portions of treaty-related documents in highly restrictive conditions and under strict supervision. It has been previously revealed that only three individuals in each TPP nation have access to the full text of the agreement, while 600 ’trade advisers’ lobbyists guarding the interests of large US corporations such as Chevron, Halliburton, Monsanto and Walmart are granted privileged access to crucial sections of the treaty text.
If this doesn't sound like a similar scenario that all too often has occurred in the past that has imposed more harm than good on the American public be forewarned. What they are doing with all this high level secrecy in nothing more than another governmental cover up to which corporate profits will prevail, all at the expense of the American economy and their civil liberties.
There still remains the other questions concerning this trade deal. If this treaty is so important to the economy of the Far East and the West why was China excluded? And, why aren't the American public having access to what this treaty entails if it supposed to help grow the US economy? These two questions as with the others without answers forthcoming only indicates that the TPP treaty really is a wolf in sheep's clothing.
With so much clock and dagger secrecy surrounding this latest trade treaty it is no wonder that the American public remain very wary of it's true intent. And, rightly so! If the present Administration can fast track this deal with out complete transparency and without the knowledge of the content in this treaty being made public before it is enacted proves once again a major mistake has only repeated bringing with it more devastation to an already devastated economy. Not only would our economy suffer but developing nations would also loose out. The only winners are the corporate giants whose only interest is garnishing more profits all at the expense of the people and their livelihoods.