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Joe Shlabotnik

(5,604 posts)
Thu Jun 19, 2014, 03:32 PM Jun 2014

WikiLeaks Reveals Global Trade Deal Kept More Secret Than the Trans-Pacific Partnership

Source: Truthout

The whistleblower and transparency website WikiLeaks published on Thursday the secret draft text of the Trade in Services Agreement (TISA), a controversial global trade agreement promoted by the United States and European Union that covers 50 countries and is opposed by global trade unions and anti-globalization activists.

Activists expect the TISA deal to promote privatization of public services in countries across the globe, and WikiLeaks said the secrecy surrounding the trade negotiations exceeds that of even the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) that has made headlines in the past year.

Demonstrations erupted in Geneva in April as diplomats met in secret for the sixth round of negotiations over TISA, which would cover international trade in a wide range of service industries ranging from finance and telecommunications to transportation and even local utilities such as water. Protesters demanded that the draft text be released, but it has remained secret until now.

Public Services International (PSI), a global trade union federating public service workers in 150 countries, has reported that TISA threatens to allow multinational corporations to permanently privatize vital public services such as healthcare and transportation in countries across the world.

Read more: http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/24486-wikileaks-tisa-global-trade-deal-kept-more-secret-than-the-trans-pacific-partnership

57 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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WikiLeaks Reveals Global Trade Deal Kept More Secret Than the Trans-Pacific Partnership (Original Post) Joe Shlabotnik Jun 2014 OP
Kicked and recommended. Uncle Joe Jun 2014 #1
So.... Plucketeer Jun 2014 #2
...or the bait and switch. Earth_First Jun 2014 #10
K&R elzenmahn Jun 2014 #3
At some point, alsame Jun 2014 #4
Once the Tea Party realize they've been manipulated by the Koch brothers, they'll be pretty pissed Jack Rabbit Jun 2014 #6
I don't think we have to make an alliance with the far right BrotherIvan Jun 2014 #33
We're a vocal minority pscot Jun 2014 #41
I think we are a far too complacent but larger contingent BrotherIvan Jun 2014 #47
Short answer: Yes. beerandjesus Jun 2014 #42
Thank you, Wikileaks Jack Rabbit Jun 2014 #5
Well, it's not a secret anymore. Thanks wikileaks! pa28 Jun 2014 #7
Now the whole world can have the same crappy medical care as the USA. lark Jun 2014 #8
No words. K&R Jefferson23 Jun 2014 #9
Is this what David Ignatius wrote about? antigop Jun 2014 #11
Hillary in the Middle again pscot Jun 2014 #17
NO! blkmusclmachine Jun 2014 #20
Hillary Clinton's Business Legacy at State Dept (leading part in drafting TPP) antigop Jun 2014 #26
they play both sides of the aisle awoke_in_2003 Jun 2014 #40
Absolutely not. LuvNewcastle Jun 2014 #51
I "Hope" this isn't the only kind of "change" we can expect now... villager Jun 2014 #12
Time to open our eyes and see the deception, D and R alike! blkmusclmachine Jun 2014 #22
My eyes are open - I feel very sad. 840high Jun 2014 #28
K & R !!! WillyT Jun 2014 #13
K&R - Thank You For Sharing cantbeserious Jun 2014 #14
Eliz Warren or Sherrod Brown 2016 stuffmatters Jun 2014 #15
"...with Hillary's fingerprints all over it." blkmusclmachine Jun 2014 #21
^^^^^^^^^^ !! n/t truedelphi Jun 2014 #44
We're going to be run by an international board of directors pscot Jun 2014 #16
That's their goal. LuvNewcastle Jun 2014 #52
Future tense? NT Trillo Jun 2014 #57
" even local utilities such as water." dixiegrrrrl Jun 2014 #18
Yep. Food and farmland an open secret, too. If they could privatize air, they would. merrily Jun 2014 #34
TPP is/was just the distraction from what the 1% REALLY wants: Total Global Domination blkmusclmachine Jun 2014 #19
Meanwhile, they have us fighting with each other, while they hold hands. merrily Jun 2014 #35
The little darlings just don't have enough.... JustinBulletin Jun 2014 #23
why is our government so bent on keeping its actions secret from us...? mike_c Jun 2014 #24
All of the governments involved have kept this secret from their people. Joe Shlabotnik Jun 2014 #25
They are keeping their actions secret because they are trying to hide their actions from us. merrily Jun 2014 #36
Not a lot ... Nihil Jun 2014 #37
US Constitution not even mentioned in any court proceedings truedelphi Jun 2014 #45
The Framers feared the common herd almost as much as any dictatorial monarch did. merrily Jun 2014 #50
Every time I ask myself that question, I think of the barn wall in "Animal Farm." LuvNewcastle Jun 2014 #53
"If you have nothing nice to say, merrily Jun 2014 #54
k& r! n/t wildbilln864 Jun 2014 #27
If it's secret it can't be good for the working class. Enthusiast Jun 2014 #29
K & R historylovr Jun 2014 #30
"and even local utilities such as water." Here it comes... arcane1 Jun 2014 #31
Oh brother. That is one scary thought. truedelphi Jun 2014 #46
k/r nationalize the fed Jun 2014 #32
Darn whistle-blowers! elias49 Jun 2014 #38
This. navarth Jun 2014 #43
K&R nt TBF Jun 2014 #39
oh geez people. toby jo Jun 2014 #48
Um what? MFrohike Jun 2014 #49
kick! wildbilln864 Jun 2014 #55
a quote: wildbilln864 Jun 2014 #56

Earth_First

(14,910 posts)
10. ...or the bait and switch.
Thu Jun 19, 2014, 04:35 PM
Jun 2014

Once the general public became privy to TPPA, a splinter working group came up with TISA in order to work under the secrecy they prefer.

After the TISA exposure...what's next?

elzenmahn

(904 posts)
3. K&R
Thu Jun 19, 2014, 03:42 PM
Jun 2014

...and any, ANY body who calls him/herself a "Democrat" does not deserve our support if he or she supports this bullshit-of-a-trade-deal, or anything else like it.

alsame

(7,784 posts)
4. At some point,
Thu Jun 19, 2014, 03:53 PM
Jun 2014

the 99% across the globe are going to have to put aside our differences and band together against the Masters of the Universe and their plans.

Jack Rabbit

(45,984 posts)
6. Once the Tea Party realize they've been manipulated by the Koch brothers, they'll be pretty pissed
Thu Jun 19, 2014, 04:01 PM
Jun 2014

Are you ready to make an alliance with them? It probably wouldn't be a permanent one, but we'll have to hammer out our differences after we save the planet from global warming "deniers" who just happen to have a stake in the extended future of fossil fuels.

BrotherIvan

(9,126 posts)
33. I don't think we have to make an alliance with the far right
Fri Jun 20, 2014, 02:42 AM
Jun 2014

They are a vocal minority. The "conservatives," and by that I mean traditionalists, maybe. That is a problem in many European countries, people who vote for conservatives because their parents did or they grew up in a certain area and they never questioned. But they don't have the large swaths of uneducated voters that we do as ignorance is not quite as celebrated. They also don't have the religion problem for the most part. I believe the way we have gotten this far is by listening to their caterwauling and then thinking they matter. They don't.

Liberal parties have gained majorities many times in Europe as well as here recently. The trouble is, the liberal politicians have sold out to finance and the corporations, and so they do not deliver on their promises. That leads to disillusionment and malaise. But that doesn't mean that most of the citizens do not agree on liberal ideas: they do. The first step is to realize the politicians and corps do not have our "best interests" at heart. In fact, they actively despise us. From that, all else follows.

pscot

(21,023 posts)
41. We're a vocal minority
Fri Jun 20, 2014, 10:13 AM
Jun 2014

The politicians are afraid of the Tea Party. No one is afraid of Liberal Democrats.

BrotherIvan

(9,126 posts)
47. I think we are a far too complacent but larger contingent
Fri Jun 20, 2014, 01:40 PM
Jun 2014

The tp does have the pukes running scared because they don't say "I'll vote for whomever is the nominee." That means you have no power and the party can do whatever it wants but will still get your vote. Liberals should have yanked the party to the left a long time ago, or at the very least learned the tactics of the tp, but they were enthralled by their politicians and, not being suspicious by nature, allowed themselves to be betrayed again and again.

But if the 99% are going to stand up and not walk sheepishly into the slaughterhouse (mesmerized by their cell phones) they are going to have to learn the lessons of Labor. They are going to have to unlearn the lies that have been fed to them. Liberals provide a solution to the corporate overreach of today. The far right that has been licking the boots of the "job creators" does not.

beerandjesus

(1,301 posts)
42. Short answer: Yes.
Fri Jun 20, 2014, 10:49 AM
Jun 2014

I am ready to make that alliance. The baggers are right to be pissed, and they're pissed about a lot of the right things, they've just been manipulated very effectively by the Republicans (as, I dare say, many pissed-off liberals have been manipulated by the Democrats).

I'm happy to make an alliance that leads to the end of plutocracy. We can argue about abortion later.

lark

(23,003 posts)
8. Now the whole world can have the same crappy medical care as the USA.
Thu Jun 19, 2014, 04:29 PM
Jun 2014

They would also have the same exorbitant expenses.

What progress!

antigop

(12,778 posts)
11. Is this what David Ignatius wrote about?
Thu Jun 19, 2014, 04:45 PM
Jun 2014
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/david-ignatius-a-free-trade-agreement-with-europe/2012/12/05/7880b6b2-3f02-11e2-bca3-aadc9b7e29c5_story.html

Europeans seem relieved that Barack Obama won reelection. (One German official wrote in an informal paper that his victory was “the best thing that could have happened to the U.S.”) But Europeans remain worried that the Obama administration’s famous “pivot” toward Asia will leave them abandoned at a time of severe internal economic and political trouble.

But a big idea is taking shape that could revitalize the U.S.-European partnership for the 21st century. It was the talk of Berlin and Hamburg when I was there a week ago, and there’s a similar buzz in Washington. The idea is free trade — specifically, a trans-Atlantic free-trade agreement — which I’ll optimistically call “TAFTA.”

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton tipped the U.S. hand on Nov. 29 when she said at the Brookings Institution, “We are discussing possible negotiations with the European Union for a comprehensive agreement that would increase trade and spur growth on both sides of the Atlantic.” She noted the “long-standing barriers to trade and market access” that would have to be removed to make any such deal possible, such as the European Union’s protectionist agricultural rules.

Clinton is said to envision an “economic NATO” — a comprehensive agreement covering trade in goods, services, investment and agriculture. Indeed, a joint working group of U.S. and E.U. officials is about to release a final report arguing for such a comprehensive deal.

Curious as to whether Clinton’s speech was just window dressing from a departing secretary, I asked the White House this week whether the TAFTA talk is real. The answer was yes: Obama is considering making a trans-Atlantic trade initiative an important part of his second-term agenda. Combined with the North American Free Trade Agreement in Latin America and the ­Trans-Pacific Partnership in Asia, this could create a global trading system that might be an enduring part of Obama’s legacy.

pscot

(21,023 posts)
17. Hillary in the Middle again
Thu Jun 19, 2014, 06:10 PM
Jun 2014

Do we really want this woman to be the next president of this country?

 

villager

(26,001 posts)
12. I "Hope" this isn't the only kind of "change" we can expect now...
Thu Jun 19, 2014, 04:59 PM
Jun 2014

...though that's sort of a rhetorical question, at this point

stuffmatters

(2,574 posts)
15. Eliz Warren or Sherrod Brown 2016
Thu Jun 19, 2014, 05:46 PM
Jun 2014

Another anti democratic power grab by global corps with Hillary's fingerprints all over it.

pscot

(21,023 posts)
16. We're going to be run by an international board of directors
Thu Jun 19, 2014, 06:08 PM
Jun 2014

if this shit keeps up. Fucking Milo Minderbinder is taking over.

LuvNewcastle

(16,820 posts)
52. That's their goal.
Sun Jun 22, 2014, 06:27 AM
Jun 2014

Democracy is so inefficient, you know. Things will be running so much more smoothly when the job creators make all the decisions. It's their world, after all; they're just letting us work in it.

dixiegrrrrl

(60,010 posts)
18. " even local utilities such as water."
Thu Jun 19, 2014, 06:19 PM
Jun 2014

Water wars has been an open secret for a few years now.

The idea of making scads of money from jacked up water prices has been making Nestle's and other players drool, for a long time.

merrily

(45,251 posts)
34. Yep. Food and farmland an open secret, too. If they could privatize air, they would.
Fri Jun 20, 2014, 03:11 AM
Jun 2014

I meant for breathing, not for flying. Air for flying has always been privately owned.

Yet, we are not supposed to tax the rich more than the poor.

JustinBulletin

(71 posts)
23. The little darlings just don't have enough....
Thu Jun 19, 2014, 06:40 PM
Jun 2014

They won't be happy until they control every drop of water on the planet because all of the oil, gas and minerals just is simply not enough for them. Next they'll find a way to privatize the air we breath.

Thanks for the heads up.

mike_c

(36,214 posts)
24. why is our government so bent on keeping its actions secret from us...?
Thu Jun 19, 2014, 06:40 PM
Jun 2014

What are they trying to hide from us?

Joe Shlabotnik

(5,604 posts)
25. All of the governments involved have kept this secret from their people.
Thu Jun 19, 2014, 06:49 PM
Jun 2014

Just goes to demonstrate the international solidarity of the ruling class.

merrily

(45,251 posts)
36. They are keeping their actions secret because they are trying to hide their actions from us.
Fri Jun 20, 2014, 03:16 AM
Jun 2014

Republicans are not ratting out Democrats on these things, or vice versa.

And Pelosi and Boehner just held hands to tell Obama he did not need to ask Congress for approval to send troops to Iraq (just like no one needed Congress for the Vietnam "Era" or the Korean "Police Action." What is left of the Constitution, I wonder?

 

Nihil

(13,508 posts)
37. Not a lot ...
Fri Jun 20, 2014, 07:57 AM
Jun 2014

> What is left of the Constitution, I wonder?

... just an old mouldering manuscript in a glass coffin, kept as a museum piece
to remind people how naiive the common herd really are.

merrily

(45,251 posts)
50. The Framers feared the common herd almost as much as any dictatorial monarch did.
Sun Jun 22, 2014, 05:43 AM
Jun 2014

That is obvious from the notes of the secret meetings of the Framers while they were deciding how the government should be structured. And they really allowed the common herd a vote only on House members. Everything else, including who the Senators were, was either by vote of Congress or by vote of state legislature. Hence, the Senate got more powers than did the "elected by the rabble" House.

http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/yates.asp

And who knows what was deliberately left out of even the notes of the secret meetings? They, of all people, would have been careful about what they put in writing. I've read minutes of meetings that I've attended and noted the "sanitization" of the minutes, as compared with the actual meeting.

For that matter, why were the Framers even holding secret meetings about the Constitution?

Forgive my rant. I am just weary of Framer worship.

We're so damned brainwashed!

LuvNewcastle

(16,820 posts)
53. Every time I ask myself that question, I think of the barn wall in "Animal Farm."
Sun Jun 22, 2014, 06:39 AM
Jun 2014

All sorts of things in the Constitution have been crossed out and words added in spots, just like they were on that barn wall. In the end, the people we elected to enforce the Constitution are sitting around a table in the Manor House and you can't tell the pigs from the men.

merrily

(45,251 posts)
54. "If you have nothing nice to say,
Sun Jun 22, 2014, 06:46 AM
Jun 2014

come sit next to me." Alice Roosevelt Longworth (daughter of Teddy).

Or words to that effect.

I am among the recently disillusioned. You sound as though you may have been disillusioned before I was.

 

toby jo

(1,269 posts)
48. oh geez people.
Fri Jun 20, 2014, 01:47 PM
Jun 2014

Can we stick 'the sky is falling' schtick back in its' can and just think about it?

I've listened to people wail over a 'global religion', but, aren't we one people? They've wailed over a global monetary system, but, it's a good idea.

The planet is reorganizing itself. Not a biggie. Calm down. We're one race, we're one big thinking organism and it's natural to become increasingly organized over time. Maybe there will be one world court system down the road, with allowances for local ordinances. Maybe we'll have a better food distribution system and education system. I'm into sharing what's there.

When you think about it, the lines of demarcation that are largely still tribal can easily be changed over into a different world view where the needs and talents of the world's people are more easily interchanged. Sort of a global nation with various states. I'm for it. We'll deal with the assholes as they rise up. The monied may become more empowered, yes, but so will we. It's a shift. And it could be a good one. One of the biggest assets may well be the end of war. You don't go to 'war' with your brother whose working habits and lifestyles are held in the common view as acceptable.

Good work, wikileaks. Keep em coming.

MFrohike

(1,980 posts)
49. Um what?
Fri Jun 20, 2014, 11:09 PM
Jun 2014

The article isn't about a global government, it's about neutering the ability of national governments to regulate finance. Also, even if it were about a global government, no empire has ever ended war. Wars simply get renamed "uprisings" or "rebellions."

 

wildbilln864

(13,382 posts)
56. a quote:
Sun Jun 22, 2014, 10:04 AM
Jun 2014

""The TransPacific Partnership is labelled as a "free trade" magic elixir that will cure all ills - Jobs! Prosperity! World Peace! - but in fact it's a toxic brew that weakens the American body politic and the Constitution. And when you look at how it came about you see that those are design features, not bugs.

The historical record is clear: what are misleadingly called "free trade agreements" were never really about trade. Their goal is to render independent nation states null and void, and hand power over to unaccountable, transnational corporatist authorities."

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