Simon Johanson on the TPP

[Thailandnotes]

What Is the Trans-Pacific Partnership Really All About?

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/3...lly-all-about#

"All the GDP gains to the US from TPP (via trade) come from adding Japan to the agreement."

[jk]

Re: Simon Johanson on the TPP

bottom line it looks like the tpp is a trojan horse for higher pharmaceutical prices and u.s gov't compensation to foreign companies which claim losses from complying with u.s. domestic regulations. the "upside" for the administration is that symbolically asserts u.s. importance in the region as opposed to [excluded] china. i keep wondering why this thing is going forward, why the obama admin is so committed to it? is it mainly just a payoff to big pharma?

[Thailandnotes]

Re: Simon Johanson on the TPP

"Why Does Obama Want This Trade Deal So Badly?"
By William Finnegan
(Finnegan does not answer his question)

http://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-...rship-so-badly

[jk]

Re: Simon Johanson on the TPP

"Why Does Obama Want This Trade Deal So Badly?"
By William Finnegan
(Finnegan does not answer his question)

http://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-...rship-so-badly

he doesn't know the answer. there must be people who do know, but they're not talking.

[lektrode]

Re: Simon Johanson on the TPP

he doesn't know the answer. there must be people who do know, but they're not talking.

wondren if/when we'll have matt taibbi weigh-in on this one...

adding: one things fer shur - this one is worth a 1000:



and fer ONCE queen nancy sez something i can go along with (leading me to wonder what she's really triangulating for)

In a remarkable blow to a president they have backed so resolutely, House Democrats voted to end assistance to workers displaced by global trade, a program their party created and has supported for four decades. That move effectively scuttled legislation granting the president trade promotion authority — the power to negotiate trade deals that cannot be amended or filibustered by Congress.


“We want a better deal for America’s workers,” said Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the House minority leader, who has guided the president’s agenda for two terms and was personally lobbied by Mr. Obama until the last minute.

and "people would rather have a job than assistance"

And with a whopping 302 votes against, House democrats just stunned the democrat president by ending the "fast-track" of the TPP and forcing it back to the drawing room table. As the NYT puts it:

House Democrats rebuffed a dramatic personal appeal from President Obama on Friday, torpedoing his ambitious push to expand his trade negotiating power — and, quite likely, his chance to secure a legacy-defining trade accord spanning the Pacific Ocean.

Of course this can all go back for another markup and another amendment but for now. TPP needs the passage of the TAA to send the bill back to Obama for his signature, which means we are back to square one.




As The NY Times reports,