There have been at least 100+ diaries published in this community in just the first nine months of 2013 on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and virtually all of them have described the potential horrors loaded into this proposed trade agreement. Kossacks Joanneleon and Joe Shikspack, in their “What’s Happenin’?” and “Evening Blues” series, respectively, have been covering the topic quite extensively. Many other posts in this community have been outstanding, such as new FP’er VL Baker’s piece, in early September: “The global corporate power grab you hear nothing about because it's being decided in secret;” and Kossack War on Error’s (who's been writing about this all year) post in early August: "Alan Grayson 'US Sovereignty Being Handed to Corporate Interests;'" as well as Jen Hayden’s diary on June 13th: “Sen. Elizabeth Warren calls for the release of trade documents.”

I’ve also published a few posts and crossposts on this topic throughout the year, including: “Angry Bear: ‘Trans-Pacific Partnership: A New Constitution’” (3/12/13); “Smith: ‘Secret 'Free Trade' Negotiations Will Gut Reg's, Enrich Multinationals, Big Financial Firms’” (5/1/13); and, “‘Protesters Take Over US Trade Rep Building, Expose Secret Negotiations,’ by Kevin Zeese” (9/25/13).

Tonight, we're reminded via Reuters that significant efforts by citizens and activists over the past few months have had a negligible impact upon the outcome of this situation, to date.

The news agency is reporting, over the past few hours, that the U.S. government appears almost as hell-bent as the corporatocracy that owns it on doing whatever's necessary to get the Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade Agreement "done" by year-end, despite the fact that--as noted farther down below--many refer to it as "N.A.F.T.A. on Steroids" and a "Corporate Coup D'etat" that will undermine the sovereign laws of all nations that are a party to it.



U.S. Trade Official Says to Seek TPP Deal by Year-End

By REUTERS

October 7, 2013 at 11:47 PM ET NUSA DUA, Indonesia — World trade ministers may discuss a U.S.-led trade pact on the sidelines of a December World Trade Organization meeting with a goal of reaching a deal by year-end, U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said on Tuesday. Issues in the U.S.-proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) that trade ministers remained focused on include intellectual property, state-owned enterprises, labor and the environment, Froman told reporters on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit on the Indonesian island of Bali. The TPP, by seeking unprecedented access to domestic markets, is proving highly sensitive in developing countries such as Malaysia and Vietnam, whose political systems could be shaken by intrusions in areas such as government procurement and state-owned enterprises...

U.S. firms urge Washington not to rush through landmark trade deal

By Randy Fabi

NUSA DUA, Indonesia | Sun Oct 6, 2013 8:12pm EDT (Reuters) - U.S. multinationals have warned Washington not to compromise and weaken a landmark 12-nation Asia-Pacific free trade agreement in order to complete the deal by the end of this year. After three years of talks, President Barack Obama's administration is making a final push to finalize the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), that would establish a free-trade bloc that would stretch from Vietnam to Chile...

Also via Reuters, we're reminded of just how unflinching the corporatocracy is about this over-arching matter. Our false gods of capitalism want it done "as is." (Whatever "is" might be. Since we're not privy to the document draft; but, reports are telling us that it's unbearably draconian; and its passage will virtually impose a new brand of neofeudalism on 40% of the population of the planet, including all of us "exceptional" Americans.)Meanwhile, everyone's preoccupied by the government shutdown and the debt kabuki playing out in DC. On Wall Street, throughout the MSM, here in the political blogosphere and in the minds of citizens everywhere, it's all about the Republican-induced government shutdown, along with that party's ongoing ransom demands relating to the U.S. debt ceiling.

If you can imagine a totalitarian world where a tribunal of corporate-appointed lawyers could overrule the sovereign laws of nations, virtually at will (and on virtually any issue, whatsoever), you'd understand why so many people, from Senator Elizabeth Warren to Congressman Alan Grayson, along with many others (even here at DKos), have been warning the U.S. public for many months why we should be aware of the secret negotiations underway concerning this highly-classified trade agreement.

First and foremost, as you'll read more about it down below, this matter is about a lot more than a "trade agreement." It has been reported by the few that have actually reviewed recent drafts of this document that, out of 29 sections in it, only five pertain to actual trade issues. Most of the balance of this international "trade agreement" covers what many have referred to as an "International Corporate Coup D'Etat."

If the Trans-Pacific Partnership is passed in any semblance of the form that it's reported to be in now, we can: forget about stopping Keystone XL and reversing climate change; forget about putting a saddle on Wall Street; forget about controlling the spiraling costs of pharmaceuticals; forget about enabling social activism; forget about an open source world and universal Internet access; forget about the effort to put a lid on domestic and international surveillance; forget about a world free of genetically modified crops; and forget about significantly curtailing record-breaking income inequality.

Apparently (despite lip service from Washington about supporting the middle class, addressing income inequality, effectively dealing with climate change, and generally giving a rat's ass whether or not folks on Main Streets throughout the U.S. and around globe live or die), under the cover of record-breaking Washington kabuki, the leaders of our inverted totalitarian corporatocracy want this done NOW! And, recently appointed U.S. Trade Representative, corporatist tool and Robert Rubin hack protegé Michael Froman is on the job.