petesystem

We need to stop fast track, for one. That is the mechanism by which Congress cedes its constitutional authority over trade policy to the executive branch. Fast track makes it easier for industry groups to ram bad policies through, via the Office of the US Trade Representative, with little Congressional oversight. Last week nearly half of Congress revolted against fast track authority, and we can build on that success. Members of Congress need to hear the message: no to fast track.

Secondly, we should push for transparency (the parties should release the text) and continue to reach new citizen networks with information about the dangers the TPP contains.

Our plan to stop the TPP is simple: tell people what's in it.

Most of the negative proposals in the IP chapter come from the United States. The decisionmaking process in Washington is driven largely by lobbyists and corporate and industry group influence. Hollywood and the RIAA have quite a bit of pull, of course, although this year we began to see some influence from the IT companies as well, which over time may change what the US Government includes in these agreements. Unfortunately, that won't happen before countries are locked in to the Big Content-driven TPP standards -- if the TPP passes.

If this sounds trite -- it has worked before. See e.g. ACTA and the Multilateral Agreement on Investment, not to mention the WTO battle in Seattle. The US Trade Representative's office comes right out and says that the reason they will not release the text is because that would make it difficult to conclude the agreement.