And you thought TPP was a problem . . .

[Karl Frederick]

The Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), which has received so much recent press due to the secrecy about its provisions and President Obama's (successful) campaign for Fast Track authority, is part of a larger agreement . . .

Days ahead of another round of secret international negotiations, WikiLeaks on Wednesday released what it described as "a modern journalistic holy grail: the secret Core Text for the largest 'trade deal' in history."

That deal is the Trade in Services Agreement, or TISA, currently being negotiated by 52 nations that together account for two-thirds of global GDP. Those nations are the United States, the 28 members of the European Union, and 23 other countries, including Turkey, Mexico, Canada, Australia, Pakistan, Taiwan, and Israel. According to WikiLeaks, TISA "is the largest component of the United States' strategic neoliberal 'trade' treaty triumvirate," which also includes the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the TransAtlantic Trade and Investment Pact (TTIP).

"Together, the three treaties form not only a new legal order shaped for transnational corporations, but a new economic 'grand enclosure,' which excludes China and all other BRICS countries," declared WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange in a press statement. What's more, it adds, "[a]ll three treaties have been subject to stringent criticism for the lack of transparency and public consultation in their negotiation processes."
The texts published Wednesday cover everything from financial services to telecommunications to migrant labor protections.

(Continued here: https://www.commondreams.org/news/20...orate-takeover)

[Alex]

The Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), which has received so much recent press due to the secrecy about its provisions and President Obama's (successful) campaign for Fast Track authority, is part of a larger agreement . . .

Do you understand these two treaties enough to somehow explain the premise and/or the ramifications to the average citizen in plain english? I need some help understanding exactly what the specific impacts will be.
Thank you.

[Karl Frederick]

Do you understand these two treaties enough to somehow explain the premise and/or the ramifications to the average citizen in plain english? I need some help understanding exactly what the specific impacts will be.
Thank you.

Hi Alex,
I'll post below Senator Barbara Boxer's senate floor speech of May 12th for some specifics. I've changed the text color to red in an area you might find especially relevant.

From https://www.boxer.senate.gov/press/release/boxer-statement-on-fast-track-trade-legislation/

Tuesday, May 12th 2015
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) spoke on the Senate floor today in opposition to Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) legislation – also known as “fast track” – which would allow the Administration to negotiate and pass trade deals like the 12-nation Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) without the chance for Congress to amend the agreements to protect American workers, the environment and public health.

“The last major deal Congress approved cost us hundreds of thousands of jobs, lowered the wages of American workers, and increased income inequality. And we are still dealing with the legacy of NAFTA,” Senator Boxer said. “They say timing is everything in life. Well, if that’s true, the timing of this free-trade agreement could not be worse for the middle-class families who we are supposed to be fighting for. We should immediately put this legislation aside and take up legislation that will help the middle class.”
Instead of moving forward with a new trade agreement, Senator Boxer urged her colleagues to pursue an agenda to help the middle class by raising the minimum wage, passing comprehensive immigration reform, investing in our infrastructure, making college more affordable, and ensuring equal pay for women and currency fairness for American businesses and workers.

Senator Boxer also warned that a provision included in the Trans Pacific Partnership would create a new legal framework – called Investor-State Dispute Settlement, or ISDS – that would allow corporations to sue for unlimited damages if they don’t like federal or state labor laws or environmental laws.

“Just think of what this could mean for our country,” Senator Boxer said. “Polluters could use it to try to undo the incredible work my home state of California has done on climate change by passing AB 32, which has put the state on track to cut carbon pollution by 80 percent by 2050. Polluters could seek to undermine the President’s Clean Power Plan, which would reduce air pollution from our biggest source power plants.”

To continue reading, go to: https://www.boxer.senate.gov/press/release/boxer-statement-on-fast-track-trade-legislation/

[Eller]

I found this site on the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) provision very helpful and fairly easy to understand. The ISDS provision has been around for awhile, but I understand it's greatly expanded under TPP, TTIP and TiSA. LINK: https://www.isdscorporateattacks.org/#!basics/c66t

Here's a LINK to a discussion on TiSA I found helpful: https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-atebg-5714b4#.VZVcN2CdH-E.facebook

Scary, scary stuff--but knowledge is power...

Do you understand these two treaties enough to somehow explain the premise and/or the ramifications to the average citizen in plain english? I need some help understanding exactly what the specific impacts will be.
Thank you.