Extreme secrecy eroding support for Obama's trade pact

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anthony022071

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politico.com/story/2015/05/secrecy-eroding-support-for-trade-pact-critics-say-117581.html

<< If you want to hear the details of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal the Obama administration is hoping to pass, you’ve got to be a member of Congress, and you’ve got to go to classified briefings and leave your staff and cellphone at the door.

If you’re a member who wants to read the text, you’ve got to go to a room in the basement of the Capitol Visitor Center and be handed it one section at a time, watched over as you read, and forced to hand over any notes you make before leaving.

And no matter what, you can’t discuss the details of what you’ve read. >>
 
In the UK there is currently a similar issue with a deal between the European Union and the United States, and again the British govt is dealing with it in a similar way (ie Parliament never mind the public is being pretty much kept in the dark about it).

Thing is, you can always make justifications for this kind of secrecy, and they’re usually very reasonable (the one in the article about different trade partners undercutting or changing their own bottom lines, skewing the whole process, if everything were public, is one reasonable argument). But however reasonable they may be, it’s very much a thin end of the wedge (at best), and an outrageous presumption of “don’t worry, we know best” (at worst). Now it might be that the deal is indisputably the best thing for American workers (that it will end up benefiting large corporations is probably a given), but no one can possibly judge if the details are secret. If it’s entirely public between the text being finalised and congress getting to vote, that might be sufficient. I don’t think this is a problem with the Democrats per se; it’s a problem with an arrogant executive mindset that transcends whoever happens to occupy the WH at any given time. When you are the only person who probably does have access to anything you want to ask about, you tend to drift towards a “I will obviously make the best decisions” attitude.

The WH might not be being deliberately devious about this, but is just trapped in its own hubris. Of course, I’d not rule out the former…
 
The TPP is bad news…we need to pray it doesn’t pass or get signed.
 
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