<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/22/opinion/obama-and-republicans-agree-on-the-trans-pacific-partnership-unfortunately.html?_r=2" class="">http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/22/opinion/obama-and-republicans-agree-on-the-trans-pacific-partnership-unfortunately.html?_r=2</a><div class=""><br class=""><div class=""><h3 class="kicker" style="font-size: 0.75rem; line-height: 1rem; font-weight: 300; font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; margin: 0px 0px 24px; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 0.075em;"><span class="kicker-label" style="font-size: 1.25rem; line-height: 1.5rem; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none;"><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/pages/opinion/index.html" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="">The Opinion Pages</a></span> <span class="pipe" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0px 10px 0px 8px; vertical-align: text-bottom;">|</span> CONTRIBUTING OP-ED WRITER </h3><h1 itemprop="headline" id="story-heading" class="story-heading" style="font-size: 2rem; line-height: 2.25rem; font-weight: 500; font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Obama and Republicans Agree on the Trans-Pacific Partnership … Unfortunately</h1><div id="story-meta-footer" class="story-meta-footer" style="border-top-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); padding-top: 2px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><p class="byline-dateline" style="margin: 4px 45px 0px 0px; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; float: left;"><time class="dateline" datetime="2015-04-22" style="font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 0.75rem; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">APRIL 22, 2015</time></p></div></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="362" data-total-count="362" itemprop="articleBody" id="story-continues-1" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">There’s an important issue out there you may never have heard of, which is just what its proponents would like. That’s the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), currently being pushed by the Obama administration and its corporate (and mostly Republican!) allies. It’s a blatant attack on labor, farmers, <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/f/food_safety/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier" title="More articles about food safety." class="meta-classifier" style="color: rgb(50, 104, 145);">food safety</a>, public health and even national sovereignty.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="505" data-total-count="867" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">And the details of the deal are largely secret. Other <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/26/business/trans-pacific-partnership-seen-as-door-for-foreign-suits-against-us.html?ref=business&_r=1" style="color: rgb(50, 104, 145);" class="">than what’s been leaked</a>, the public has no access to its contents, and even members of Congress don’t know much. (On the other hand, “cleared advisers,” mostly corporate lawyers, have full access.) That’s because the TPP is way too important to its sponsors to allow little details like congressional or public input to get in its way, even though constitutional authority over trade is granted to the legislative, not the executive, branch.</p><aside class="collection-theme-latest-headlines collection-tone-opinion nocontent marginalia collection collection-marginalia collection-type-column robots-nocontent collection-section-opinion" role="complementary" style="border-top-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-top-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); width: 300px; float: right; clear: right; margin: 0px 0px 45px 7px; padding-top: 14px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><div class="nocontent robots-nocontent"><header style="margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 11px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(226, 226, 226);" class=""><div class="thumb" style="margin-right: 15px; float: left;"><img alt="" style="max-width: 100%; display: block;" apple-inline="yes" id="29A43338-78F7-4CA1-920A-1715BAB53CFF" height="50" width="50" apple-width="yes" apple-height="yes" src="cid:1F34B351-5368-4C67-85EF-2C387FD887E2@hsd1.pa.comcast.net." class=""></div><div class="collection-meta"><div class="follow-button-placeholder" data-collection-id="column.mark-bittman"></div><h2 class="collection-marginalia-heading" style="font-size: 1.125rem; line-height: 1.125rem; margin: 0px 0px 1px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; letter-spacing: 0.02em;"><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/column/mark-bittman" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class="">Mark Bittman</a></h2><h3 class="collection-marginalia-subheading" style="font-size: 0.75rem; line-height: 0.9375rem; font-weight: 500; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px; color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">Nutrition, agriculture and health policy.</h3></div></header><ul style="margin: 0px 0px 11px; list-style: none; padding-left: 0px;" class=""><li style="font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; margin-bottom: 9px;" class=""><article class="story theme-summary"><a class="story-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/14/opinion/making-sense-of-water.html?rref=collection%2Fcolumn%2Fmark-bittman" in_tag="ul" kaspersky_status="skipped" style="display: block; color: rgb(50, 104, 145); text-decoration: none;"><h2 class="story-heading" style="font-size: 0.8125rem; line-height: 1.0625rem; font-weight: 400; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; margin: 0px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); cursor: pointer;"><span class="story-heading-text" style="color: rgb(50, 104, 145); padding-right: 0px; font-size: 0.9375rem; line-height: 1.125rem; float: left; max-width: 250px;">Making Sense of Water </span><time class="dateline" datetime="2015-04-14" style="font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 0.625rem; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(153, 153, 153); white-space: nowrap; display: inline-block; float: right; margin-top: 6px; text-transform: uppercase;">APR 14</time></h2></a></article></li><li style="font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; margin-bottom: 9px;" class=""><article class="story theme-summary"><a class="story-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/08/opinion/mcdonalds-turns-progressive.html?rref=collection%2Fcolumn%2Fmark-bittman" in_tag="ul" kaspersky_status="skipped" style="display: block; color: rgb(50, 104, 145); text-decoration: none;"><h2 class="story-heading" style="font-size: 0.8125rem; line-height: 1.0625rem; font-weight: 400; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; margin: 0px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); cursor: pointer;"><span class="story-heading-text" style="color: rgb(50, 104, 145); padding-right: 0px; font-size: 0.9375rem; line-height: 1.125rem; float: left; max-width: 250px;">McDonald’s Turns ‘Progressive’ </span><time class="dateline" datetime="2015-04-08" style="font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 0.625rem; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(153, 153, 153); white-space: nowrap; display: inline-block; float: right; margin-top: 6px; text-transform: uppercase;">APR 8</time></h2></a></article></li><li style="font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; margin-bottom: 9px;" class=""><article class="story theme-summary"><a class="story-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/25/opinion/stop-making-us-guinea-pigs.html?rref=collection%2Fcolumn%2Fmark-bittman" in_tag="ul" kaspersky_status="skipped" style="display: block; color: rgb(50, 104, 145); text-decoration: none;"><h2 class="story-heading" style="font-size: 0.8125rem; line-height: 1.0625rem; font-weight: 400; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; margin: 0px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); cursor: pointer;"><span class="story-heading-text" style="color: rgb(50, 104, 145); padding-right: 0px; font-size: 0.9375rem; line-height: 1.125rem; float: left; max-width: 250px;">Stop Making Us Guinea Pigs </span><time class="dateline" datetime="2015-03-25" style="font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 0.625rem; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(153, 153, 153); white-space: nowrap; display: inline-block; float: right; margin-top: 6px; text-transform: uppercase;">MAR 25</time></h2></a></article></li><li style="font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; margin-bottom: 9px;" class=""><article class="story theme-summary"><a class="story-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/22/opinion/sunday/why-not-utopia.html?rref=collection%2Fcolumn%2Fmark-bittman" in_tag="ul" kaspersky_status="skipped" style="display: block; color: rgb(50, 104, 145); text-decoration: none;"><h2 class="story-heading" style="font-size: 0.8125rem; line-height: 1.0625rem; font-weight: 400; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; margin: 0px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); cursor: pointer;"><span class="story-heading-text" style="color: rgb(50, 104, 145); padding-right: 0px; font-size: 0.9375rem; line-height: 1.125rem; float: left; max-width: 250px;">Why Not Utopia? </span><time class="dateline" datetime="2015-03-20" style="font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 0.625rem; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(153, 153, 153); white-space: nowrap; display: inline-block; float: right; margin-top: 6px; text-transform: uppercase;">MAR 20</time></h2></a></article></li><li style="font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; margin-bottom: 9px;" class=""><article class="story theme-summary"><a class="story-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/11/opinion/mark-bittman-feeding-kids-well.html?rref=collection%2Fcolumn%2Fmark-bittman" in_tag="ul" kaspersky_status="skipped" style="display: block; color: rgb(50, 104, 145); text-decoration: none;"><h2 class="story-heading" style="font-size: 0.8125rem; line-height: 1.0625rem; font-weight: 400; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; margin: 0px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); cursor: pointer;"><span class="story-heading-text" style="color: rgb(50, 104, 145); padding-right: 0px; font-size: 0.9375rem; line-height: 1.125rem; float: left; max-width: 250px;">Feeding Kids Well </span><time class="dateline" datetime="2015-03-11" style="font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 0.625rem; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(153, 153, 153); white-space: nowrap; display: inline-block; float: right; margin-top: 6px; text-transform: uppercase;">MAR 11</time></h2></a></article></li></ul><footer style="border-top-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); padding-top: 8px;" class=""><p class="user-action" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; font-size: 0.8125rem; line-height: 0.8125rem; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/column/mark-bittman" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(50, 104, 145);" class="">See More »</a></p></footer></div></aside><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="547" data-total-count="1414" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">This is a bipartisan effort if ever there was one; <a href="http://www.courant.com/opinion/op-ed/hc-op-will-trans-pacific-trade-democrats-republicans-0309-20150306-column.html" style="color: rgb(50, 104, 145);" class="">George Will has called the TPP “Obama’s best idea</a>.” Thus we see the administration, along with pro-business Democrats and Republicans, trying to bulletproof the deal. Last week, a bill was introduced that would give the president “fast-track authority” on the TPP. If that passes, Congress could vote only up or down on the deal, not amend it. That’s quite a bit of presidential power for a scheme that would have a striking impact on the global economy — and the food on our table.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="430" data-total-count="1844" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">The TPP is little more than enhanced corporation power branded as free trade. It gives corporations the right to challenge government regulations and seek compensation if they think they’ve been treated unfairly by any of the 12 Pacific Rim nations in the deal. (China is currently, but not necessarily permanently, excluded; part of the thinking behind the TPP is to lock up an agreement with these partners before China does.)</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="418" data-total-count="2262" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">Even if you look “only” at food and the environment, the TPP should be ripped apart and put back together with public and congressional input. The pact would threaten local food, diminish labeling laws, likely keep environmentally destructive industrial meat production high (despite the fact that as a nation we’re eating less meat) and probably maintain high yields of commodity crops while causing price cuts.</p><div class="accessibility-ad-header visually-hidden" style="position: absolute; width: 1px; height: 1px; margin: -1px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; clip: rect(0px, 0px, 0px, 0px); overflow: hidden; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif;" class="">Advertisement</p></div><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="798" data-total-count="3060" itemprop="articleBody" id="story-continues-2" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">It would certainly weaken food safety. For example, more than 90 percent of our seafood is imported, a figure that includes fish that were caught domestically and sent overseas for processing before coming back in, which makes the inspection process <a href="http://thefern.org/2014/07/imported-seafood-flooding-us-inspections-enough/" style="color: rgb(50, 104, 145);" class="">even more complicated</a>. All told, that’s more than five billion pounds of imports annually, and according to the Center for Food Safety, just <a href="http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/files/tpp-and-seafood-fact-sheet_00590.pdf" style="color: rgb(50, 104, 145);" class="">90 federal inspectors guarantee its safety</a>. (The Food and Drug Administration inspects less than 2 percent of imported seafood.) By reducing restrictions on Southeast Asian imports, the TPP would allow more fish containing chemicals that are illegal in domestic aquaculture to reach our shores; by making inspections less effective, it would virtually guarantee that those chemicals make it to our tables.</p><div class="accessibility-ad-header visually-hidden" style="position: absolute; width: 1px; height: 1px; margin: -1px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; clip: rect(0px, 0px, 0px, 0px); overflow: hidden; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif;" class="">Advertisement</p></div><div class="nocontent ad ad-placeholder robots-nocontent" style="float: right; clear: right; margin: 0px 0px 40px 7px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><a class="visually-hidden skip-to-text-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/22/opinion/obama-and-republicans-agree-on-the-trans-pacific-partnership-unfortunately.html?_r=2#story-continues-3" style="position: absolute; width: 1px; height: 1px; margin: -1px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; clip: rect(0px, 0px, 0px, 0px); overflow: hidden; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(50, 104, 145);">Continue reading the main story</a><iframe frameborder="0" class="frame-for-article ad-frame" allowfullscreen="true" webkitallowfullscreen="true" mozallowfullscreen="true" style="border-style: none; width: 300px; height: 250px;"></iframe></div><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="671" data-total-count="3731" itemprop="articleBody" id="story-continues-3" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">The agreement would even allow countries to challenge one another’s laws, so that “equivalency” may simply mean that the least powerful regulations become the norm. The United States would have no special standing: If our laws are seen as restraining trade or limiting profits, they <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/kill-the-dispute-settlement-language-in-the-trans-pacific-partnership/2015/02/25/ec7705a2-bd1e-11e4-b274-e5209a3bc9a9_story.html" style="color: rgb(50, 104, 145);" class="">could be challenged in special courts</a>, per the TPP’s “investor state” clause. <a href="http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=15991" style="color: rgb(50, 104, 145);" class="">Philip Morris is suing Uruguay</a> over that country’s antismoking laws under just such circumstances; there are <a href="http://www.foe.org/projects/economics-for-the-earth/trade/investment-cases" style="color: rgb(50, 104, 145);" class="">several examples</a> of American companies’ flouting local laws and citing trade agreements as an excuse; and Mexico has been sued repeatedly for theoretically diminishing investor profits.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="377" data-total-count="4108" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">When individual governments have little say, corporate “efficiency” amounts to the global economy’s being run as an ill-regulated business model (an equally egregious trans-Atlantic agreement is currently being negotiated). The projected benefits to the public – as usual, “job creation” leads the list — are mythical, and <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/wp/2015/01/30/the-obama-administrations-illusionary-job-gains-from-the-trans-pacific-partnership/" style="color: rgb(50, 104, 145);" class="">you don’t have to take my word for it</a>.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="530" data-total-count="4638" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">Historically, trade laws were geared to enrich the “mother” country — look at the 19th-century Opium Wars in China, which forced open illegal markets so Britain and its allies could benefit. Between World War II and the 1990s, free trade arguably benefited the economies of the countries involved. But the new laws, starting with 1994’s North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta), recognized that capital is now mobile — it doesn’t “live” anywhere — and owes no allegiance to any flag; only shareholders matter.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="380" data-total-count="5018" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">Nafta is the paradigm of what are most accurately called deregulation deals. It promised better jobs in both the United States and Mexico. Instead, as well-paid workers in the United States were losing jobs to worse-paid workers in Mexico, badly paid Mexican workers were losing jobs to worse-paid workers in China, which in turn put more pressure on workers in the United States.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="492" data-total-count="5510" itemprop="articleBody" id="story-continues-4" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">In fact, if you wanted to single out a culprit for income stagnation and the decline of the power of labor in the United States, Nafta would be a good candidate. It allowed large corporations to move where tax breaks were best and environmental regulations weakest, while forcing labor to compete against lower global wages. While likely not the only cause, since its passage <a href="http://www.cepr.net/documents/nafta-20-years-2014-02.pdf" style="color: rgb(50, 104, 145);" class="">collective and individual gains</a> have been nearly frozen in Mexico; in the United States, the story is much the same.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="613" data-total-count="6123" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">The situation may be most dire for Mexican farmers. Millions have been displaced, many emigrating north for menial jobs. Meanwhile, imports of American corn (a basic staple in the form of tortillas for 5,000 years), <a href="http://www.iatp.org/documents/who%E2%80%99s-at-the-table-demanding-answers-on-agriculture-in-the-trans-pacific-partnership#sthash.WNrypO9K.dpuf" style="color: rgb(50, 104, 145);" class="">increased fourfold</a>. Imports of wheat, rice, cotton and soybeans have increased similarly. In brief, Mexican farmers have gone to work for transnational companies, whether in Mexico, the United States or elsewhere. Nor did this do much good for farmers to the north, who have seen corn prices fluctuate wildly, leaving them to scramble to maximize yields, which in turn causes environmental damage.</p><div class="accessibility-ad-header visually-hidden" style="position: absolute; width: 1px; height: 1px; margin: -1px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; clip: rect(0px, 0px, 0px, 0px); overflow: hidden; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif;" class="">Advertisement</p></div><div class="nocontent ad ad-placeholder robots-nocontent" style="float: right; clear: right; margin: 0px 0px 40px 7px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><a class="visually-hidden skip-to-text-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/22/opinion/obama-and-republicans-agree-on-the-trans-pacific-partnership-unfortunately.html?_r=2#story-continues-5" style="position: absolute; width: 1px; height: 1px; margin: -1px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; clip: rect(0px, 0px, 0px, 0px); overflow: hidden; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(50, 104, 145);">Continue reading the main story</a></div><div id="MiddleRightN" class="nocontent middle-right-ad ad text-ad robots-nocontent" style="float: right; clear: right; margin: 0px 0px 40px 7px; position: relative; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><a class="visually-hidden skip-to-text-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/22/opinion/obama-and-republicans-agree-on-the-trans-pacific-partnership-unfortunately.html?_r=2#story-continues-5" style="position: absolute; width: 1px; height: 1px; margin: -1px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; clip: rect(0px, 0px, 0px, 0px); overflow: hidden; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(50, 104, 145);">Continue reading the main story</a></div><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="607" data-total-count="6730" itemprop="articleBody" id="story-continues-5" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich called the TPP “<a href="http://business-humanrights.org/en/robert-reich-on-trans-pacific-partnership-as-nafta-on-steroids" style="color: rgb(50, 104, 145);" class="">Nafta on steroids</a>” (“<a href="http://www.thenation.com/article/168627/nafta-steroids" style="color: rgb(50, 104, 145);" class="">corporate coup d’état</a>” is also good). As the economist <a href="http://billmoyers.com/segment/yves-smith-and-dean-baker-on-secrets-in-trade/" style="color: rgb(50, 104, 145);" class="">Dean Baker said to Bill Moyers</a>, “This really is a deal that’s being negotiated by corporations for corporations, and any benefit it provides to the bulk of the population of this country will be purely incidental.” At this point, nothing about Obama should surprise us, but it’s worth noting that in 2008, as a presidential candidate, he said, “I voted against Cafta, never supported Nafta, and will not support Nafta-style trade agreements in the future.”</p><aside class=" selected-comment-marginalia marginalia comments-marginalia" data-marginalia-type="sprinkled" data-skip-to-para-id="story-continues-6" style="border-top-width: 1px; border-top-style: dotted; border-top-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); width: 300px; float: right; clear: right; margin: 0px 0px 45px 7px; padding-top: 10px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><a class="visually-hidden" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/22/opinion/obama-and-republicans-agree-on-the-trans-pacific-partnership-unfortunately.html?_r=2#story-continues-6" style="position: absolute; width: 1px; height: 1px; margin: -1px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; clip: rect(0px, 0px, 0px, 0px); overflow: hidden; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(50, 104, 145);">Continue reading the main story</a><header class=""><h2 class="module-heading" style="font-size: 0.75rem; line-height: 0.9375rem; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 1em; color: rgb(50, 104, 145); text-transform: uppercase;"><span class="icon" style="display: inline-block; line-height: 0; vertical-align: middle; position: relative; -webkit-transition: background-color 0.3s; transition: background-color 0.3s; width: 20px; height: 13px; background-color: rgb(135, 156, 180); border-top-left-radius: 1px; border-top-right-radius: 1px; border-bottom-right-radius: 1px; border-bottom-left-radius: 1px; margin: -3px 8px 0px 0px;"></span>RECENT COMMENTS</h2></header><div class="comments-view" style="margin-bottom: 15px;"><article class="comment" data-permid="14767127" style="margin-top: 0px;"><header class=""><h2 class="commenter" style="font-size: 0.8125rem; line-height: 0.9375rem; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px; display: inline-block; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Siobhan</h2> <time class="comment-time" datetime="" style="font-size: 0.75rem; line-height: 0.9375rem; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; margin-left: 5px; color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">23 minutes ago</time></header><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 0.8125rem; line-height: 1rem; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);" class="">You clearly don't think much of President Obama. I don't think much of Republicans.Well, that's OK. In fact, better than OK. Because we are...</div></article><article class="comment" data-permid="14767092" style="margin-top: 15px;"><header class=""><h2 class="commenter" style="font-size: 0.8125rem; line-height: 0.9375rem; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px; display: inline-block; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Karen Garcia</h2> <time class="comment-time" datetime="" style="font-size: 0.75rem; line-height: 0.9375rem; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; margin-left: 5px; color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">27 minutes ago</time></header><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 0.8125rem; line-height: 1rem; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);" class="">Thank you for calling out the TPP in all its corrupt ignominy because, as Senator Bernie Sanders noted, the rest of the corporate media have...</div></article><article class="comment" data-permid="14767054" style="margin-top: 15px;"><header class=""><h2 class="commenter" style="font-size: 0.8125rem; line-height: 0.9375rem; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px; display: inline-block; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Matthew Carnicelli</h2> <time class="comment-time" datetime="" style="font-size: 0.75rem; line-height: 0.9375rem; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; margin-left: 5px; color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">31 minutes ago</time></header><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 0.8125rem; line-height: 1rem; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);" class="">Mark, thank for you this. This is the most comprehensive explanation of what is likely wrong with the TPP (likely, inasmuch as no one has...</div></article></div><footer style="border-top-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); padding-top: 2px;" class=""><ul class="comment-actions" style="margin: 0px; list-style: none; padding-left: 0px;"><li class="comment-count" style="font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.375rem; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0.75em; display: inline-block; margin-right: 12px; text-transform: uppercase; cursor: pointer; color: rgb(50, 104, 145);">SEE ALL COMMENTS</li> <li class="comment-reply" style="font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.375rem; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0px; display: inline-block; margin-right: 12px; text-transform: uppercase; cursor: pointer; color: rgb(50, 104, 145);">WRITE A COMMENT</li></ul></footer></aside><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="242" data-total-count="6972" itemprop="articleBody" id="story-continues-6" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">All of which is making for some very odd alliances and demonstrating that “far right” and “far left” labels are increasingly useless. That’s because this is a struggle between transnational corporations and just about everyone else.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="487" data-total-count="7459" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">Of course, some Republican opposition could be crafty positioning, so that when the TPP is found to cost jobs and endanger public health rather than create them and assure it, cynics could simply say, “I told you so.” But in this case Obama has asked for the bad publicity. And although Hillary Clinton’s husband was the architect of this kind of policy, and she worked hard for the TPP while secretary of state, she’s <a href="http://www.ibtimes.com/hillary-clinton-trade-deal-flip-flop-she-praised-trans-pacific-partnership-now-hedges-1887195" style="color: rgb(50, 104, 145);" class="">now backing away</a> from what may well be a losing proposition.</p><button class=" theme-speech-bubble comments-button button" data-skip-to-para-id="story-continues-7" style="margin: 0px; font-size: 0.6875rem; vertical-align: middle; line-height: 0.8125rem; cursor: pointer; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; -webkit-transition: background-color 0.3s; transition: background-color 0.3s; padding: 3px 15px 22px 0px; border: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-transform: uppercase; float: left; position: relative;"><a class="visually-hidden" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/22/opinion/obama-and-republicans-agree-on-the-trans-pacific-partnership-unfortunately.html?_r=2#story-continues-7" style="position: absolute; width: 1px; height: 1px; margin: -1px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; clip: rect(0px, 0px, 0px, 0px); overflow: hidden; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(50, 104, 145);">CONTINUE READING THE MAIN STORY</a><span class="icon" style="display: inline-block; line-height: 0; vertical-align: middle; position: relative; -webkit-transition: background-color 0.3s; transition: background-color 0.3s; width: 90px; height: 55px; background-color: rgb(135, 156, 180); border-top-left-radius: 4px; border-top-right-radius: 4px; border-bottom-right-radius: 4px; border-bottom-left-radius: 4px; padding: 0px;"></span><span class="button-text" style="display: inline-block; vertical-align: middle; margin-left: 0px; width: 86px; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; padding: 15px 2px 7px; letter-spacing: 0.05em;"><span class="count" style="font-size: 1.375rem; line-height: 1rem; font-weight: 700; display: block;">7</span><span class="units" style="font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 0.6875rem; display: block; margin-top: 6px;">COMMENTS</span></span></button><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="286" data-total-count="7745" itemprop="articleBody" id="story-continues-7" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">That’s the good news: The opposition to fast-tracking appears strong. As Patrick Woodall, a senior policy advocate for Food & Water Watch, said to me, “The forces pushing fast-track are huge, but there is unbelievable public opposition, and at this point the wind is at our back.”</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="306" data-total-count="8051" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">There <em class="">is </em>such a thing as a <a href="http://www.ase.tufts.edu/gdae/policy_research/pardee.html" style="color: rgb(50, 104, 145);" class="">good trade agreement</a>, though it’s barely conceivable that Obama and Congress could negotiate one. We could imagine, for example, something that did away with tax havens for corporate profits. (For a <a href="http://www.epi.org/publication/tpp-unlikely-to-be-good-deal-for-american-workers/?utm_source=Economic+Policy+Institute&utm_campaign=71045ee99f-EPI_News_04_17_154_17_2015&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_e7c5826c50-71045ee99f-55866341" style="color: rgb(50, 104, 145);" class="">detailed analysis</a> of this, see this paper from the Economic Policy Institute.)</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="329" data-total-count="8380" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">But even to have a shot, fast-track must be defeated, and a solid debate must be opened among well-informed representatives, with plenty of public input. More exploitation of labor, fewer public health regulations, more facile production of useless goods and bad food — that is not the direction the global economy needs to go.</p></div></div></body></html>