Just what is the TPP? Do you know?

Do you know about the recent ongoings with the two escaped prisoners from The Clinton Correction Facility in New York, and the complicit prison employees? Have you heard about the recent shark attacks or quarterback Tom Brady's appeal in "Deflate Gate?"

I am well aware of the latter three issues as repeatedly reported by and through mass media.   Unfortunately, if I had to rely upon mass media, CBS, ABC, NBC, FOX, etc., I would not know much, if anything, about the biggest trade deal our country has seen in decades.  Why is this so?

The TPP stands for Trans Pacific Partnership.  It is a proposed regional regulatory and investment agreement with 12 participating countries: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam. According to the partner countries, the TPP is intended to “enhance trade and investment among the TPP partner countries, to promote innovation, economic growth and development and to support the creation and retention of jobs.”

Other than that, not much is known about the agreement, at least sufficient to offer an informed comment about its pros and cons.  This lack of information is concerning, and might be reason enough for mass media to engage the public in discussion. Generally free trade is a good thing, however, with the current job market, the TPP may not be in our country's best interest.

Just yesterday, following the House of Representatives lead, the Senate passed the TAA, otherwise known as the Trade Promotion Authority ("Fast-tracking bill") which allows the TPP to be passed through Congress without having its contents available for debate or amendments.  Again, not that this is a bad thing, but the lack of transparency and virtually no, or very little, discussion by and through national media outlets is discerning.

At this juncture, we rely on rumor to understand what might be in the agreement, but we can be assured that our nation's work force will be implicated.  Many fear that the TPP is going to displace American jobs.  Other concerns involve the ability of multi-national corporations being permitted to sue governments, so called "Investment - State Dispute" procedures.   Basically this proposal could amount to giving any foreign investor the right to sue our government in oversees tribunals with no right of appeal for implementing any policy or legislation that hurts their financial interests. Other concerns relate to Big Pharma and its ability to control drug prices.  A recent draft of the health care transparency section of TPP released by Wikileaks a few weeks ago reveals the deal would make Medicare vulnerable to legal challenges from pharmaceutical companies and jeopardize future attempts by the insurer to negotiate lower drug prices.

Stay tuned…