URGENT ACTION: Tell Congress to say "NO" to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and to Fast Track

• WHAT IS TPP?  WHAT IS FAST TRACK?

TPP:  Trans-Pacific Partnership.  This is a new "free trade" agreement being negotiated between the U.S. and 11 other Pacific Rim countries.  Like other Free Trade Agreements, this one is basically a permanent power grab by corporations and financial companies that will make it impossible for the citizens of countries joining the TPP to choose what laws and rules they want to live under. (Food and Water Watch)

 

FAST TRACK:  Fast Track, a process that would prevent our Congresspersons from making amendments to the TPP proposal, has been called an "Undemocratic Path to Unfair 'Trade'"
Past "trade" deals rammed through Congress under Fast Track have empowered foreign corporations to attack domestic health and environmental policies, enabled pharmaceutical firms to raise medicine prices, and equipped Banks with a tool to roll back financial regulation.  (www.citizen.org/fast-track)



Thom Hartmann interviews Ben Beachy, Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch, on the TPP and Fast Track.

• WHAT ARE THE EFFECTS OF TPP?

TPP is a free trade agreement, similar in style to NAFTA (The North American Free Trade Agreement) but of much larger scope.  NAFTA has been in effect for 20 years, and by looking at its results, we can predict what will happen if the TPP is enacted.
CLICK HERE to read "How NAFTA Drove Mexicans into Poverty and Sparked the Zapatista Revolt"
CLICK HERE to read "NAFTA, Twenty Years After:  A Disaster"

• ACTIONS:

1)  CLICK HERE to tell Congress "NO" to the TPP and "NO" to Obama's plan to "Fast Track" secret trade deals.  The TPP is not designed to help any country.  It's a legal way for multinational corporations to exploit the member countries and has the potential for devastating consequences.

2)  10 DAYS TO STOP FAST TRACK:  JAN. 22-31 are the 10 days of action to stop Fast Track for the TPP.  BROWSE THE WEBSITE www.stopfasttrack.com/ to learn which groups oppose TPP and why.

3)  Thanks to Elizabeth Riebschlaeger for asking the GLT to sign on to a letter to their Congressional Representative opposing Fast Track.  CLICK HERE to read the letter. 

Could the Corporate Stance process have been used for this issue?  No.  There was simply no time to involve the Congregation in the type of process needed for a Corporate Stance.  Because of the seriousness of the issue and the lack of time, Elizabeth requested "that the GLT sign this letter in support of social justice for workers and communities around the world" and also asked for support from the International Justice and Peace Committee which she received.   Sr. Yolanda evaluated the request, saying that because the issue fit with the position of the Church's social documents, she felt confident to advise Elizabeth to proceed with signing our congregation on as an endorser.

Again, many thanks, Elizabeth, for your initiative and follow-through on this issue.