| |
News: Obama's Shady Dealings
Member Since: 8/31/2012
Posts: 13,110
|
Quote:
Obama Faces Backlash Over New Corporate Powers In Secret Trade Deal
WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration appears to have almost no international support for controversial new trade standards that would grant radical new political powers to corporations, increase the cost of prescription medications and restrict bank regulation, according to two internal memos obtained by The Huffington Post.
The memos, which come from a government involved in the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade negotiations, detail continued disputes in the talks over the deal. The documents reveal broad disagreement over a host of key positions, and general skepticism that an agreement can be reached by year-end. The Obama administration has urged countries to reach a deal by New Year's Day, though there is no technical deadline.
One memo, which was heavily redacted before being provided to HuffPost, was written ahead of a new round of talks in Singapore this week. Read the full text of what HuffPost received here. (Note: Ellipses indicate redacted text. Text in brackets has been added by a third party.) Another document, a chart outlining different country positions on the text, dates from early November, before the round of negotiations in Salt Lake City, Utah. View the chart here. HuffPost was unable to determine which of the 11 non-U.S. nations involved in the talks was responsible for the memo.
"These are not U.S. documents and we have no idea of their authorship or authenticity," a spokesman for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said. "Some elements in them are outdated, others totally inaccurate." The spokesman declined specify which parts were outdated or inaccurate.
The Obama administration has been leading negotiations on the international trade accord since 2010. The countries involved in the talks include Australia, Brunei, Chile, Canada, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.
One of the most controversial provisions in the talks includes new corporate empowerment language insisted upon by the U.S. government, which would allow foreign companies to challenge laws or regulations in a privately run international court. Under World Trade Organization treaties, this political power to contest government law is reserved for sovereign nations. The U.S. has endorsed some corporate political powers in prior trade agreements, including the North American Free Trade Agreement, but the scope of what laws can be challenged appears to be much broader in TPP negotiations.
"The United States, as in previous rounds, has shown no flexibility on its proposal, being one of the most significant barriers to closing the chapter, since under the concept of Investment Agreement nearly all significant contracts that can be made between a state and a foreign investor are included," the memo reads. "Only the U.S. and Japan support the proposal."
Under NAFTA, companies including Exxon Mobil, Dow Chemical and Eli Lilly have attempted to overrule Canadian regulations on offshore oil drilling, fracking, pesticides, drug patents and other issues. Companies could challenge an even broader array of rules under the TPP language.
New standards concerning access to key medicines appear to be equally problematic for many nations. The Obama administration is insisting on mandating new intellectual property rules in the treaty that would grant pharmaceutical companies long-term monopolies on new medications. As a result, companies can charge high prices without regard to competition from generic providers. The result, public health experts have warned, would be higher prices around the world, and lack of access to life-saving drugs in poor countries. ( ) Nearly every intellectual property issue in the November chart is opposed by a broad majority of the 12 nations. The December memo describes 119 "outstanding issues" that remain unresolved between the nations on intellectual property matters.
Also according to the December memo, the U.S. has reintroduced a proposal that would hamper government health services from negotiating lower drug prices with pharmaceutical companies. The proposal appears to have been universally rejected earlier in the talks, according to the memo.
Australia and New Zealand have medical boards -- similar to one established under Obamacare -- that allow the government to reject expensive new drugs for the public health system, or negotiate lower prices with drug companies that own patents on them. If a new drug does not offer sufficient benefits over existing generic drugs, the boards can reject spending taxpayer money on the new medicines. They can also refuse to pay high prices for new drugs. The Obama administration has been pushing to ban these activities by national boards, which would lock in big profits for U.S. drug companies. Obamacare, notably, sought to mimic the behavior of these boards to lower domestic health care costs.
The U.S. is also facing major resistance on bank regulation standards. The Obama administration is seeking to curtail the use of "capital controls" by foreign governments. These can include an extremely broad variety of financial tools, from restricting lending in overheated markets to denying mass international outflows of currency during a financial panic. The loss of these tools would dramatically limit the ability of governments to prevent and stem banking crises.
"The positions are still paralyzed," the December memo reads, referring to the Financial Services Chapter. "The United States shows zero flexibility."
Previously leaked TPP documents have sparked alarm among global health experts, Internet freedom activists, environmentalists and organized labor, but are adamantly supported by American corporations and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The Obama administration has deemed negotiations to be classified information -- banning members of Congress from discussing the American negotiating position with the press or the public. Congressional staffers have been restricted from viewing the documents.
|
source
Despicable, tbh His administration is beginning to look just as crooked as Bush/Cheney
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 8/19/2013
Posts: 7,221
|
The government is crooked, not Barack. Sometimes the president gets backed into a corner. So I won't make any assumptions
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 8/31/2012
Posts: 13,110
|
Quote:
Originally posted by Tigre
The government is crooked, not Barack. Sometimes the president gets backed into a corner. So I won't make any assumptions
|
So why do we feel free to make assumptions about every other president? I was right there demanding for George Bush to resign after the Iraq mess. Why is Obama different?
also, it doesn't get much higher than the President. If he can't be true to his word, who can we trust?
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 11/13/2009
Posts: 25,902
|
Quote:
Originally posted by TikiMiss
So why do we feel free to make assumptions about every other president? I was right there demanding for George Bush to resign after the Iraq mess. Why is Obama different?
also, it doesn't get much higher than the President. If he can't be true to his word, who can we trust? |
You trust no one. You can only trust yourself in this world.
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 8/17/2013
Posts: 3,681
|
As a Democrat and someone who truly supported him, I hate to say it but I am truly disappointed in him. Not just because of this, but his entire presidency has been nothing but scandals and controversies. From the NSA mess to the Syrian conflict, to the embarrassment that was the healthcare.gov website. I don't want to pass judgement though, who knows what's going on behind the scenes.
But I still don't know if I would be able to vote Republican
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 8/19/2013
Posts: 6,308
|
Obama is becoming an awful president 
|
|
|
|
Banned
Member Since: 2/23/2012
Posts: 2,397
|
bahaha cant wait till his terms are up. History books will write him as one of the worst presidents along with nixon and george 
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 8/31/2012
Posts: 13,110
|
Quote:
Originally posted by Britoncé Gagdonna
As a Democrat and someone who truly supported him, I hate to say it but I am truly disappointed in him. Not just because of this, but his entire presidency has been nothing but scandals and controversies. From the NSA mess to the Syrian conflict, to the embarrassment that was the healthcare.gov website. I don't want to pass judgement though, who knows what's going on behind the scenes.
But I still don't know if I would be able to vote Republican
|
seriously And the fact that he had the insurance companies WRITE the Affordable Care Act even though he had a super majority in the House and Senate at the time
ugh. sigh. Idek. I like Hillary, but she could be just as much a shill as Obama. And the Republicans almost all suck. But at least they seem to be transparent about how terrible they are.
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 9/9/2012
Posts: 59,872
|
As a republican, I still believe Mitt Romney was the best thing this country could've had in decades.
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 8/3/2012
Posts: 5,193
|
He never should've became president. EVER.
He couldn't even fix Chicago, how he gonna run a country?
He's looking like a shady, shady man. Thank God this is his LAST TERM.
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 8/19/2013
Posts: 6,308
|
companies can charge high prices without regard to competition from generic providers. The result, public health experts have warned, would be higher prices around the world, and lack of access to life-saving drugs in poor countries.
|
|
|
|
ATRL Contributor
Member Since: 12/7/2011
Posts: 27,655
|
All presidents are shady.
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 8/3/2012
Posts: 5,193
|
Quote:
Originally posted by iHypeMusic
As a republican, I still believe Mitt Romney was the best thing this country could've had in decades. |
I agree.
He had a definitive plan but just could not present it in a way that would translate into votes.
Too many ppl voted for Obama because he was offering them free stuff... *cough* Obamaphone *cough*
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 8/31/2012
Posts: 13,110
|
Quote:
Originally posted by iHypeMusic
As a republican, I still believe Mitt Romney was the best thing this country could've had in decades. |
Now sis....
Quote:
Originally posted by DivaDown
He never should've became president. EVER.
He couldn't even fix Chicago, how he gonna run a country?
He's looking like a shady, shady man. Thank God this is his LAST TERM.
|
I agree. Can't believe I supported him as much as I did. He doesn't seem to have any integrity or honesty.
Quote:
Originally posted by Harly
companies can charge high prices without regard to competition from generic providers. The result, public health experts have warned, would be higher prices around the world, and lack of access to life-saving drugs in poor countries.
|
mte
Quote:
Originally posted by Borntodiethisway
All presidents are shady.
|
Hmm, you musta never heard of Lincoln, Roosevelt, Johnson, heck even Clinton looks like an angel, considering almost all his scandals were just made up.
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 4/20/2012
Posts: 11,335
|
um can someone explain to me (unbiased preferably) what exactly all of this means in a summary? this article felt like it didn't make the situation simple enough (not that i'm stupid, it's just a lot of words in a subject i don't really understand just makes me really confused)
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 5/28/2010
Posts: 29,225
|
Quote:
Originally posted by iHypeMusic
As a republican, I still believe Mitt Romney was the best thing this country could've had in decades. |
Clinton says hi.
Quote:
Originally posted by DivaDown
I agree.
He had a definitive plan but just could not present it in a way that would translate into votes.
Too many ppl voted for Obama because he was offering them free stuff... *cough* Obamaphone *cough* |
And he just seemed like an awful person. And lets be real, that matters for a lot of voters.
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 5/28/2010
Posts: 29,225
|
Quote:
Originally posted by TikiMiss
Hmm, you musta never heard of Lincoln, Roosevelt, Johnson, heck even Clinton looks like an angel, considering almost all his scandals were just made up.
|
Yas. Stan for LBJ.
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 8/31/2012
Posts: 13,110
|
Quote:
Originally posted by J03Y
um can someone explain to me (unbiased preferably) what exactly all of this means in a summary? this article felt like it didn't make the situation simple enough (not that i'm stupid, it's just a lot of words in a subject i don't really understand just makes me really confused)
|
Basically, the U.S. is in the midst of a trans-pacific trade agreement negotiation with 11 other countries. The U.S. is pushing for policies that would give corporations more power to thwart or ignore local law and/or challenge international laws. Plus, they are also pushing for intellectual property laws that will give pharmaceutical companies monopolies that public health experts say could allow them to charge sky high prices on drugs that, if sold by a generic competitor, would otherwise be inexpensive/reasonable. + they are trying to get international countries to deregulate banks, etc. To top it all off, they were doing this all secretly and forbade legislators (congressmen) from telling their constituents or speaking publicly about it until the deal is finalized.
|
|
|
|
Banned
Member Since: 8/19/2013
Posts: 3,839
|
Quote:
Originally posted by iHypeMusic
As a republican, I still believe Mitt Romney was the best thing this country could've had in decades. |
But yea, as someone who supports him, I'm glad this deal is falling through.
I hate this capitalistic Republican like approach he has taken lately. (Hawkish style)
This TPP deal would shift far more power upward towards those who already run our gov, corporations, not Barack.
Democrats don't support this deal either.
In fact, we support GMO labeling, and gun regulations, which this administration is behind on.
Ugh
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 6/5/2009
Posts: 13,743
|
Quote:
Originally posted by iHypeMusic
As a republican, I still believe Mitt Romney was the best thing this country could've had in decades. |
Uhhhh no
Sorry, human rights are important to me.
I can admit, Obama is disappointing and I even though I have always sided Democratic, I am all for any Republican that can do a good job. I do not feel that Republican was Mitt Romney though.
|
|
|
|
|
|
