It's All About Me, Man: [ITSALLABOUTMEMAN] Re: BREAKING: Job-killing corporate giveaway stalled

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

[ITSALLABOUTMEMAN] Re: BREAKING: Job-killing corporate giveaway stalled

Aren't you the same assholes that were trying to sell us in 2008 and 2012 on the same wretched creep that is now trying to rape us with his TPP?

Oh, that's right, you are.

And aren't you the same guys that went out on a limb and called David Petraeus "BetrayUs" - you took a lot of flack for that one, but once Petraeus went to work for Obama, you never had one bad thing to say about him, did you? Oh, I got that right - and in the end this was one of the rare occassions you turned out to be right about something, but not once did you call attention to your early insight, or apologize for your later weakness. It's all just thrashing about in a pool of amnesia with you guys, isn't it? You helped create Obamanstein Monster, now you are warning us about the danger he put us all in. You should start with a humble apology, and acknowledge that you are making a course change. Even the Eagles ate a little crow when they did what they said they would never do! If that bunch of arrogant bastards can do it, why can't your bunch of arrogant bastards do it?

And for a supposed grassroots organization, you make it impossible to talk back to you, don't you? I know you won't read this. But I'm going to bcc it to my blog, where it's going to be read by two people eventually, and several thousand spambots who will tell me what a brilliant post this is, so all I can say is, you better watch out, eventually everybody else is going to get fed up with your astroturf rubbish and turn their backs on you. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Your pal,

Matt

On Tue, May 12, 2015 at 8:32 PM, Justin Krebs, MoveOn.org Civic Action <moveon-help@list.moveon.org> wrote:

Elizabeth Warren and other progressive champs have been leading the charge to kill this bill. Now, our work is starting to pay off.
Dear MoveOn member,
BREAKING: A bill to jam a job-killing corporate giveaway through Congress has just stalled in the Senate.¹

This means we have a big chance—for the next few weeks—to stop this unprecedented corporate power grab by joining with activists from around the globe.

Are you ready to join the fight? If so, please click here and make a donation to our emergency international campaign to stop the Trans-Pacific Partnership—a massive, unprecedented giveaway to multinational corporations and the 1%.

Or to learn more, please read on—and I'll tell you what we've been up to, what's next, and how you can help.

MoveOn members have been fighting the Trans-Pacific Partnership, also called "NAFTA on steroids," for several years now. Conventional wisdom was that it should have been a done deal by now—that the 600 corporations that helped write the massive TPP agreement behind closed doors would already have won.

But we're still here fighting because MoveOn members like you, progressive champs like Senator Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and Sherrod Brown, and our allies in the U.S. and around the world have shone a light on what the TPP is really about: giving corporations even more power to undermine domestic laws protecting consumers, workers, and the environment.

And now, today, there's amazing news: Thanks to that hard work, a bill to rush through the TPP—which was thought a fait accompli—will be "very difficult to pass" before Memorial Day, according to The Hill.² But multinational corporations won't go away—they're only going to redouble their efforts.

So we've got a shot at stopping the TPP, but it'll take a massive, international effort.

To do it, we'll keep up the fight against efforts to fast track the TPP in Congress. We're already flooding lawmakers' offices with calls, tweeting, showing up at town hall meetings, and rallying at their offices—and it's time to kick it up a notch.

We'll also work with an international network of MoveOn's sister organizations that are fighting the same corporate agenda in Australia, Canada, the U.K., Germany, and other countries impacted by the TPP and similar trade deals—because if just one member nation pulls out, the whole deal falls apart.

Can you chip in $3 to help our global campaign against the TPP?
Yes, I'll chip in to help stop the TPP.
The details of the TPP aren't shared with the public, but here's some of what we know about it, because of leaks:

The TPP is being negotiated in secret. Corporate representatives are in the room, but the public isn't allowed to know the details of the trade deal.³

There is a provision called "investor-state dispute settlement." ISDS allows multinational corporations to challenge our domestic laws—such as environmental or safety regulations—to potentially win millions of dollars in damages that would have to be paid by American taxpayers. And the judges in these disputes? A rotating panel of lawyers that represent the very corporations that would bring the cases.⁴

In most instances of such lawsuits so far, corporations have used ISDS to attack laws designed to help working families. They sued Egypt for raising the minimum wage, they sued Germany for eliminating nuclear power to keep its citizens safe, and right now Philip Morris is suing Uruguay for implementing tobacco regulations designed to cut smoking rates and protect children.^5,6

If Congress grants Fast Track authority, this agreement could be finalized without close congressional oversight. Fast Track would give lawmakers 90 days for an up or down, yes or no vote to ratify the entire treaty—and take away any power to change its provisions.⁷

Can you chip in $3 and join the fight?

Yes, I'll chip in.

Here's how we'll win:

We'll pour on pressure where we have the most leverage—with Democrats in the House who are wavering. If enough of them refuse to go along with Republicans, we can kill this thing in the House with votes from both parties.

We'll expose what the TPP is really about to a massive audience, because to know the TPP is to oppose the TPP. Already, the video we made with former labor secretary Robert Reich, in which he breaks down the deal, has been viewed more than 3 million times—but it will take more to combat the pro-TPP media campaign being waged by its corporate supporters.

The TPP relies on all 12 countries that are part of the deal to sign on—which means we're fighting on a global scale. We'll work with MoveOn's sister organizations in countries affected by the TPP and similar trade deals, so that we're learning from each other and improving our strategies. Check out this newspaper ad that MoveOn and organizations in four countries put out at the last TPP ministerial meeting in Hawai'i:

We're stronger when we work together, across the aisle and across borders. Can you chip in $3 and help us keep it up?

Yes, I'll chip in to help stop the TPP.

If any of the 12 countries that are part of the TPP negotiations fails to ratify it, the deal collapses. So while we ramp up our efforts to stop its dangerous path at home, we'll also work with MoveOn allies overseas to demonstrate that no matter the party, no matter the country, the world says no to the TPP.

Thanks for all you do.
–Justin K., Victoria, Maria, Brian, and the rest of the team

Sources:

1. "Trade vote set for defeat, dealing tough blow to Obama," The Hill, May 12, 2015
http://www.moveon.org/r/?r=304386&id=115640-30042692-67jdFWx&t=1

2. Ibid.

3. "Full speed ahead on secretive trade deal," Al Jazeera America, December 17, 2014
http://www.moveon.org/r/?r=304152&id=&id=115640-30042692-67jdFWx&t=2

4. "The Trans-Pacific Partnership clause everyone should oppose," The Washington Post, February 25, 2015
http://www.moveon.org/r/?r=304132&id=&id=&t=9&id=115640-30042692-67jdFWx&t=3

5. "What Is ISDS?" AFL-CIO, accessed April 22, 2015
http://www.aflcio.org/Issues/Trade/What-Is-ISDS

6. "Philip Morris Sues Uruguay Over Graphic Cigarette Packaging," NPR, September 15, 2014
http://www.moveon.org/r/?r=304133&id=&id=&t=10&id=115640-30042692-67jdFWx&t=4

7. "ANALYSIS: Hatch Bill Would Revive Controversial 2002 Fast Track Mechanism that Faces Broad Congressional, Public Opposition," Public Citizen, April 16, 2015
http://citizen.org/fast-track-2015

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