To: President Donald Trump
President Obama: Release the full text of the secretive Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)
The Obama Administration has made it illegal for the general public—including press, experts, and advocates—to review the text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership while giving hundreds of corporate representatives input on the draft. It's time to end the secrecy. President Obama, open the TPP for public review now, in its entirety, before any vote in Congress.
Why is this important?
We agree with President Obama on many issues—but when it comes to trade, he's just plain wrong.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership is a secretive agreement negotiated with corporate oversight while being blocked from public review. The TPP will impact 40% of the world's population and allow corporations to sue nations that enact progressive regulations. Yet President Obama wants Congress to give him "fast-track" authority that would strip lawmakers of the ability to change any provision in the agreement—forcing a high-pressure, up-or-down vote to approve.
Unfortunately, the president has launched a bigger offensive to gain support for this job-killing agreement than he's done for any other issue throughout his presidency. He didn't push this hard for the public option, to get money out of politics, for immigration reform, or anything else. And he's even gone so far as to accuse Democrats opposed to him, especially Elizabeth Warren, of being "dishonest" and spreading "misinformation."
President Obama has heralded the cause of economic populism himself recently, but the TPP is an affront to working Americans, to our climate, and to progressive values in general. The agreement would negate almost any progressive policies the president could achieve in his final years—and allow multinational corporations to object to regulations from future adminstrations.
You could say that President Obama needs us right now—because too much is at risk for us to let him make this grave mistake.
The general public deserves to review an agreement of this magnitude before any vote on fast-track legislation in Congress—for the sake of our economic well-being and, for those of us who care, for the sake of President Obama's positive legacy.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership is a secretive agreement negotiated with corporate oversight while being blocked from public review. The TPP will impact 40% of the world's population and allow corporations to sue nations that enact progressive regulations. Yet President Obama wants Congress to give him "fast-track" authority that would strip lawmakers of the ability to change any provision in the agreement—forcing a high-pressure, up-or-down vote to approve.
Unfortunately, the president has launched a bigger offensive to gain support for this job-killing agreement than he's done for any other issue throughout his presidency. He didn't push this hard for the public option, to get money out of politics, for immigration reform, or anything else. And he's even gone so far as to accuse Democrats opposed to him, especially Elizabeth Warren, of being "dishonest" and spreading "misinformation."
President Obama has heralded the cause of economic populism himself recently, but the TPP is an affront to working Americans, to our climate, and to progressive values in general. The agreement would negate almost any progressive policies the president could achieve in his final years—and allow multinational corporations to object to regulations from future adminstrations.
You could say that President Obama needs us right now—because too much is at risk for us to let him make this grave mistake.
The general public deserves to review an agreement of this magnitude before any vote on fast-track legislation in Congress—for the sake of our economic well-being and, for those of us who care, for the sake of President Obama's positive legacy.