TODAY, Germany, TTIP: Obama, Merkel On TRADE DEAL Despite Hanover Protests; TPP Fast Tracked
April 24. Pres. Obama, "Angela and I agree that the US and the EU need to keep moving forward with TTIP, the Trans Atlantic Trade Investment Partnership negotiations. What you're seeing around the world is PEOPLE ARE UNSETTLED BY GLOBALIZATION. People visibly see a plant moving, and jobs lost and 'the narrative' develops that this is weakening rather than strengthening the position of ordinary people and ordinary workers.
But if you look at the benefits to the US or to Germany of Free Trade around the world it is indisputable that it has made our economy stronger, it has made sure that our businesses are the most competitive in the world.
Keep in mind there were people who didn't think that with TPP, the Trans Pacific Partnership that we ever would be able to give me authority to actually move it forward and we got it done.
I don't anticipate that we will be able to have completed ratification of a deal by the end of the year, but I do anticipate that we can have the negotiations completed and people will be able to see exactly why this is good for our two countries."
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Published on Apr 24, 2016. U.S. President Barack Obama said the European Union and United States must move forward with a free trade accord still under negotiation which supporters say could boost each economy by some $100 billion. "It is indisputable" that free trade has strengthened the U.S. economy and also has brought enormous benefits to countries that engage in it, Obama said. The U.S. president spoke at a news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, one of his closest allies in dealing with a shaky global economy and security crises in the Middle East and Ukraine.
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*At least 35,000 protest in Hanover a day before Obama visits Germany to promote TTIP trade deal*, April 23, 2016--Reuters.
Protesters wearing masks depicting German Chancellor Angela Merkel and US President Barack Obama as they demonstrate against Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) agreement ahead of Obama's visit in Hannover, Germany, April 23, 2016.
Some 35,000 people marched through the streets of Hanover on Saturday (April 23) to protest against a sweeping European-US trade deal, police said. Organisers put the number of attendees at around 90,000.
The protest against the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) was organised a day before the visit by the US President Barack Obama.
He is set to promote the deal at Hanover's trade fair on Sunday (April 24) in a joint bid with German Chancellor Angela Merkel to revive the momentum behind the agreement, which top trade officials hope to push through this year.
Demonstrators took to the streets of the northern German city bearing placards and banners calling on politicians to "Stop TTIP and CETA" - an EU-Canada trade deal that looks set to come into force in 2017.
Public scepticism in Germany has clouded the TTIP negotiations from the start, but support for the deal has plunged to new lows in recent months.
A YouGov survey showed on Thursday (April 21) that only 17 percent of Germans believe the free trade deal is a good thing, down from 55 percent two years ago. Many Germans fear the deal will lower standards for products, consumer protection and the labour market.
German officials said ahead of Obama's visit they remained optimistic that a broad "political agreement" between Brussels and Washington could be clinched before Obama leaves office in January. The hope is that TTIP could then be finalised with Obama's successor.
http://www.businessinsider.com/at-least-35000-protest-in-hanover-a-day-before-obama-visits-germany-to-promote-ttip-trade-deal-2016-4
Agreements involving global corporations and many countries around the world are now being negotiated, decided and completed which will have vast consequences for millions of people in the coming decades.
Leaders US President Obama and German Chancellor Merkel today civilly discussed the global TTIP trade deal in Europe.
Globalization was greatly advanced since the 1990s by Pres. Bill Clinton with NAFTA and China Free Trade. The trade policies have sent millions of good US jobs overseas to Mexico and China. The H1-B Visa Program was also expanded then, bringing foreign workers many English speaking from India and Asia to work in the US.
->Meanwhile, back in the USA, Home of the Free and Land of the Brave- IS IT DEMOCRACY AT WORK?
-Bill lashing out, angered by black activists at a Hillary Rally in Phila., PA, April 6. Bill told the crowd they're responsible for drugs and crime and Hillary was right! Protestors with signs objected to the 1994 Welfare Reform Act which impoverished many women and children.
They also protested the severe 1996 Crime Bill & 'Super Predators', kids as young as 13 charged & jailed for crimes. The laws have damaged individuals, families, communities & led to 2.2 million people incarcerated in the US, the world's largest prison population.
-Hillary rages, blames and falsely accuses a young woman of being "a Sanders supporter that she's 'so sick of!"' for asking about environmental issues and campaign donations at a Rally, March 31.
'Stop TTIP': Global Day of Action Draws Tens of Thousands: 'Rising anti-American sentiment linked to revelations of U.S. spying and fears of digital domination by firms like Google', April 18, 2015.
*Demonstrators marched around the globe Saturday to protest the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), a 'free trade' agreement currently being negotiated between the European Union (EU) and the United States.
*Opponents fear that TTIP will erode food, labor and environmental standards particularly with regard to the EU's strict regulations on food additives, genetically modified crops and the use of pesticides. "There is a very big risk: TTIP will restrict our democratic rights. In the future, large corporations will have an even greater influence on the legislative process," said Thilo Bode of Foodwatch.
>The EU and US began TTIP talks nearly two years over creating the world’s biggest trade zone. The ninth round of negotiations will begin on Monday, April 20 in New York. Tens of thousands marched across Germany where more than 200 demonstrations took place.
In Barcelona, 50,000 marched through city streets.... ...Reuters reports:
Opposition to the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) is particularly high in Germany, in part due to rising anti-American sentiment linked to revelations of U.S. spying and fears of digital domination by firms like Google.
>A recent YouGov poll showed that 43 percent of Germans believe TTIP would be bad for the country, compared to 26 percent who see it as positive.
>More than 7,000 gathered in front of the Austrian parliament chanting slogans such as “Stop TTIP”, “humanity and the environment before profit”, and “TTIP is a threat to democracy, and people’s health.”
In all, some 600 anti-TTIP protests were planned across the world for Saturday.
A Call to Action on www.globaltradeday.org, which is co-ordinating promotion of the protests, reads: "We, civil society organizations, trade unions, farmers, youth, women, indigenous movements and grassroots activists from across the world, are calling for a Global Day of Action on 18 April 2015 to stop free trade and investment deals and promote an economy that works for people and the planet.
*For the last decades, secret trade and investment agreements have been pushed by corporations and governments, damaging our rights and the environment.
*For the last decades, we have been fighting for food sovereignty, for the commons, to defend our jobs, our lands, internet freedom and to reclaim democracy. Along the way, we have grown as a movement, we have made our voices heard and we had victories.
Together, we can stop the agreements that are being negotiated and reverse the negative impacts of past agreements. We can drive forward our alternatives based on human rights over corporate privileges.
We call on organizations, individuals and alliances to participate by organizing decentralized actions across the five continents. We welcome a diversity of tactics and solidarity actions from across the world that will help raise awareness, engage and mobilize people locally towards a new trade and economic model that works for people and the planet"....
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/04/18/stop-ttip-global-day-action-draws-tens-thousands
*We tend to focus on the TPP here in the US, but the TPA for fast tracking also includes the TTIP. And the People in Europe are Standing Up to fight for their sovereignty.
Here in the US, the AFL-CIO seems to be the leader in the fight for organizing against fast tracking the TPP~ AFL-CIO launches six-figure ad campaign to stop Fast Track
http://peoplesworld.org/afl-cio-launches-six-figure-ad-campaign-to-stop-fast-track/
AFL-CIO Mobilizes Tens of Thousands Against Fast Track Trade Deals
Over 86,000 Calls, 40,000 Petitioners and 400 Events Against Bad Trade Deals
http://www.enewspf.com/latest-news/latest-national/latest-national-news/60146-afl-cio-mobilizes-tens-of-thousands-against-fast-track-trade-deals.html
*But our MEDIA is largely ignoring it. Other than some mentions regarding the upcoming presidential election.
As Jim Hightower says~ -->The TPP isn’t some sort of futuristic flying machine. It’s just another global trade scam coming at us like a volcanic eruption straight out of hell *This thing is a “partnership” of, by, and for global corporations — similar to NAFTA, only much, much bigger and far more destructive both to the middle class and to our people’s sovereignty...For example, such odd-bedfellow boosters as Secretary of State John Kerry and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce both exclaim that the 12-nation scheme will “support 650,000 new jobs.” Wow… really? No. Glenn Kessler, who writes The Washington Post‘s “Fact-Checker” column, dug into that number in January. He found that it was incorrect, misleading, and silly. In fact, he wrote, “The correct number is zero.” http://ourfuture.org/20150416/odd-bedfellows-lying-together
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026531160 ~ OP Credit, RiverLover ~
