Just Say No to Corporate Rule

[polly7]

by Ron Forthofer / April 29th, 2016

In an October 2015 article, Stiglitz and Adam Hersh added:

Imagine what would have happened if these provisions had been in place when the lethal effects of asbestos were discovered. Rather than shutting down manufacturers and forcing them to compensate those who had been harmed, under ISDS, governments would have had to pay the manufacturers not to kill their citizens. Taxpayers would have been hit twice — first to pay for the health damage caused by asbestos, and then to compensate manufacturers for their lost profits when the government stepped in to regulate a dangerous product.

According to Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch, the TPP ISDS “tribunals are staffed by private lawyers who are not accountable to any electorate, system of legal precedent or meaningful conflict of interest rules. Their rulings cannot be appealed on the merits. Many ISDS lawyers rotate between roles – serving both as “judges” and suing governments for corporations, creating an inherent conflict of interest.”

Allowing trade lawyers to have the final say on cases that threaten our health and well being as well as the health of the ecosystem and its ability to support all life forms is insane! This disastrous settlement process tramples democracy and sovereignty and prioritizes profit over our health and well being as well as our ecosystem and its ability to support life. An old Cree prophecy seems relevant:

Only after the last river has been poisoned,
Only after the last fish has been caught,
Only then will you find money cannot be eaten.

If this corporate-designed settlement process doesn’t convince you to oppose the TPP, consider its rules for financial services. According to Public Citizen, these rules were written under the advisement of giant banks and work to undercut legislation meant to re-regulate Wall Street. Thus the TPP would expand the reach of failed policies that played a major role in creating the disastrous 2008 financial crisis. The TPP rules would also prevent nations from protecting their currencies in time of crisis. It’s as if the 2008 crisis didn’t happen.

Full article: http://dissidentvoice.org/2016/04/just-say-no-to-corporate-rule/

[840high]

1. kick

[jwirr]

2. And we are expected to vote for a candidate who called the

TPP the gold standard. They tell us she has evolved but I thought that evolution takes a long time to change things. The world cannot afford to ignore the needs of the workers and their families any longer.

[psychmommy]

3. frightening

[TIME TO PANIC]

4. K & R!

[kadaholo]

5. K&R

"Only after the last river has been poisoned,
Only after the last fish has been caught,
Only then will you find money cannot be eaten."

Amen.

[gregcrawford]

6. I've raging about the TPP for more than 2 years...

When the bullet hits the bone, we'll all see just how treacherous the Third Way DINOs really are. May the retribution they suffer be swift and severe.

[Judi Lynn]

9. Tremendous, and appropriate illustration. Thanks for posting it. n/t

[ReRe]

7. I say no to...

...tribunals staffed by private lawyers who are not accountable to any electorate, system of legal precedent or meaningful conflict of interest rules, whose rulings cannot be appealed on the merits, on and on and on and on. No.

I do say NO to a "Corporate America."

[Scuba]

8. Obama's ultimate betrayal.

[Judi Lynn]

10. Hard to believe a Democrat would have anything to do with this. Thanks for this article, Polly7. n/t