On Constitution Radio with Douglas V. Gibbs on May 23, 2015 on KMET 1490AM, the topic of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade agreement moseyed its way into the arena of discussion. During the conversation a rare instance in the many year history of the radio program, and on the Political Pistachio blogsite for that matter, emerged where JASmius (my longtime co-host, staff writer, and dear friend) and I disagreed. While I indicated I felt that the deal is potentially a dangerous one, and I am against Republican support of the Obama supported trade agreement, JASmius stated he supported the spread of capitalism, and that is what the TPP agreement accomplishes. I responded that I support free trade, but not when it puts the United States, and more specifically "American sovereignty," at a disadvantage. I added that the secretive nature of this agreement threw up red flags for me, as well.
In an examination of what little information is available regarding this "behind-closed-doors" consensus of international political elites, the potentiality of the TPP free trade treaty being a disadvantage for American interests is alarming. The agreement will facilitate the creation of global economic integration that will empower globalistic schemes, and place American interests at risk. At first blush, the agreement caters to those that wish to annihilate national sovereignty, hindering America's position on the global economic stage while redistributing the wealth of nations to other countries that may not be so far up on the world-stage ladder, while positioning global economics into a position to better be able internationalists to ultimately push aside domestic individuality while moving the planet closer to a one world model that can be more easily controlled by a worldwide centralized governing authority.
While on the surface, the Trans Pacific Partnership claims to be about free trade, it has little to do with trade, and is more about moving chess pieces around for those that have global aspirations. The United States, in this agreement, joins 12 countries that includes Canada and Mexico, two countries we already have three-quarters of our foreign trade with - and of which is already covered by NAFTA (which has also been proving to be disastrous due to the agreement having similar globalistic provisions that places the United States at a disadvantage). Growth exports are already covered by NAFTA, so while the TPP agreement is being heralded as a trade agreement, it actually has no significant relevance to our trade relations, or at least not in a manner that improves our position in relation from NAFTA.
The TPP agreement is not designed to grow trade because instead it is constructed in a manner designed to carry on, and double-down, on the destructive policies already in place because of the Obama administration. Don't be fooled, though. Obama is not the only one behind this kind of thinking. Those tyrannical policies are also championed by the Democrats, and a number of Republicans who think it may serve them well in the future. What TPP does, however, is take those policies out of the hands of the elitists in the American System, and then transfers all of these oligarchical aspirations to international whims and governance.
The statists in the federal government have been working to centralize power, and strip Congress of its constitutional authorities, since the nationalists around people like Alexander Hamilton and John Marshall began to take actions to circumvent the United States Constitution. Under Barack Obama, however, we have witnessed an increased irrelevance of the United States Congress and a massive drive to complete the process of reducing the Constitution to nothing more than some forgotten, antiquated document that the liberal left claims was designed for the purposes of oppression, anyway.
Mr. Obama has repeatedly said he will make sure his policies are enacted, "with or without Congress." He has threatened to make agreements with Iran, and agreements regarding global environmental concerns, without the constitutional requirement of ratification from the U.S. Senate. The representation of We the People is an obstacle to the statist left's aspirations, and therefore Congressional involvement with the growth of a centralized authority maintained by a ruling elite must be eliminated. . . and TPP accomplishes just that when it comes to trade with other nations. Under TPP, congressional oversight is largely removed, with a host of items through the agreement being transferred from the control of the U.S. Congress and the several State legislatures to international agencies and international trade courts. To make sure the agreement is slammed into place, Obama is also using another mechanism that will allow the executive to bypass Congress called "Fast-Track."
The realities regarding the Trans Pacific Partnership are shocking, placing more power over our trade into the hands of international overseers, and that is the reason for the secretive nature of the negotiations, and the release of little information about the agreement itself. Like the Affordable Care Act, few know what is in the agreement, and whatever questions do arise regarding America's role in the agreement will not be offered to be approved or resolved by American legislatures, but will be handed over to international trade courts to sort out, interpret, redefine, and control the language and overall application of the agreement. The international courts can decide any way they want, and there is nothing, under TPP, the American People, the United States Congress, or the individual States can do about it. This will, once the stage is set, allow players that stand against the United States to manipulate the provisions of the agreement, specifically giving China the opportunity to further erode America's standing in international trade, and in the global economic picture.
The TPP also nullifies any American regulatory control regarding access to our part of the global market, disallowing restrictions that federal or State laws may place on the types of goods moving through the market such as restrictions American law has in place regarding genetically modified foods. Under the TPP, the international courts would also have the ability to impose limitations on congressional say regarding the "free flow of labor" that is already crossing the border illegally at will. Any attempts to slow down the flow of illegal immigration by the United States can be stopped by international courts (international panel of arbitrators), in line with the provisions of TPP. TPP also enables the international courts to enforce against Congress the international requirement (as per TPP) to impose environmental policies, and sustainable development policies, even if Congress refuses to accept these internationally mandated intrusions upon American sovereignty. From a constitutional point of view, what this does is surrender to international interests congressional responsibility under Section 1, Article 8 of the Constitution that grants to Congress the power to regulate commerce with foreign nations. In short, the agreement places international demands, and decisions decided by international bodies, above American law and American interests.
The realities regarding the Trans Pacific Partnership are shocking, placing more power over our trade into the hands of international overseers, and that is the reason for the secretive nature of the negotiations, and the release of little information about the agreement itself. Like the Affordable Care Act, few know what is in the agreement, and whatever questions do arise regarding America's role in the agreement will not be offered to be approved or resolved by American legislatures, but will be handed over to international trade courts to sort out, interpret, redefine, and control the language and overall application of the agreement. The international courts can decide any way they want, and there is nothing, under TPP, the American People, the United States Congress, or the individual States can do about it. This will, once the stage is set, allow players that stand against the United States to manipulate the provisions of the agreement, specifically giving China the opportunity to further erode America's standing in international trade, and in the global economic picture.
The TPP also nullifies any American regulatory control regarding access to our part of the global market, disallowing restrictions that federal or State laws may place on the types of goods moving through the market such as restrictions American law has in place regarding genetically modified foods. Under the TPP, the international courts would also have the ability to impose limitations on congressional say regarding the "free flow of labor" that is already crossing the border illegally at will. Any attempts to slow down the flow of illegal immigration by the United States can be stopped by international courts (international panel of arbitrators), in line with the provisions of TPP. TPP also enables the international courts to enforce against Congress the international requirement (as per TPP) to impose environmental policies, and sustainable development policies, even if Congress refuses to accept these internationally mandated intrusions upon American sovereignty. From a constitutional point of view, what this does is surrender to international interests congressional responsibility under Section 1, Article 8 of the Constitution that grants to Congress the power to regulate commerce with foreign nations. In short, the agreement places international demands, and decisions decided by international bodies, above American law and American interests.
On the political front inside the United States, the Obama administration has been working feverishly to centralize authority, and make Congress nothing more than a consultative assembly that can complain, but do nothing, about his executive actions. The onslaught of tyranny against the people, against their representation in Congress, and against the sovereignty of the States, has been moving at full-throttle under this administration. Despite their efforts, however, the White House has failed to force America to fully embrace leftist policies regarding various economic authorities, immigration, environmental policies, and the social issues. So, having failed to accomplish what they want using unconstitutional federal strong-arming, Obama is left no choice but to retreat to the stronghold of the international community, using international agreements to force Congress, and the States, into compliance with his leftist agenda. The move is no surprise. Obama has repeatedly shown that he holds international opinion above American interests and American constitutional authorities.
Obama, and his minions, have global aspirations. The centralization of power into the executive branch is not the end-goal. International rule, where wealth is redistributed in a global manner, and the individual sovereignty of nations is only a faint memory, is the long-term objective of the global ruling elites. It is a worldwide manifestation of Jean Jacque Rousseau's "General Will" and drive for an "Ordered Society," where the will of the people is presumed not to be understood by the populace, but only by the ruling elite, and those that dare to oppose the laws put in place for the common good by the ruling elite must be restrained by the body politic. . . because "man must be forced to be free."
In Washington, D.C., the system is no longer based on the constitutional construct that birthed our system. The servants have become a ruling elite, a machine with bureaucrats and staffers that use threats and the selling of favors to accomplish the oligarchical desires of vicious masters. Economies are manipulated by the press of a button, and the future of American liberty is being extinguished by backroom deals.
The Founding Fathers feared concepts steeped in the centralization of government residing in the hands of a powerful few. They recognized these kinds of schemes would subject all voluntary associations to government regulation, controlling the people in the name of the common good as interpreted by a ruling elite. Such a system would lead to the end of individual liberty, the end of the free market, and the end of the prosperity and sovereignty of the United States. The political romanticism of a global utopia can only be pursued by eliminating individualism, be it the individualism and exceptionalism enjoyed by people, States, or the United States of America as a whole.
If the internationalists get what they want through TPP, the power of the international courts will become the dominant force in trade, special interests, political characters, and multinational corporations will find a way to manipulate the international courts to rule in their favor. When power is centralized, the individuals wielding that power can be easily bought and influenced. The apolitical, or impartial, men of the international courts will then become no different than the bought and paid for justices in our own federal court system, swayed by political favors, and a tyrannical ideology that will afford them even more power if they simply obey the demands of the most powerful statists over them.
Thomas Jefferson, based on his understanding of history, taught that the closer the government is to the people, the more likely it is to be the servant, rather than the master. When government is centralized, and placed farther away from the people (be it Washington D.C., or an international body) it is inevitable that despotism will be the consequence. As the old saying goes, "Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely."
On the surface, the TPP is being sold as a wonderful thing, an agreement that will better America's position in the global scheme of things, but we must remember, darkness always reveals itself as an angel of light. Knowing this, especially when there is a secretive component to a political endeavor such as the Trans Pacific Partnership, we must always ask for the details. We need to be asking "why?", and demand that the sovereignty of the States and the representation of the people (along with a variety of checks and balances against absolute power) remain in place, and be protected. TPP places a concentration of power into a small number of hands, and all too frequently in history, when that happens, the mentality of tyrants take control.
The most confusing part of all of this is that while this international agreement called the Trans Pacific Partnership is being engineered with international interests at the top of the autocratic pile, while placing American sovereignty at a disadvantage, the Republicans, a number of them usually in tune with conservative values and constitutional intentions, have suddenly been fooled so easily by it. Was not Barack Obama's position on this dangerous agreement enough to throw up some red flags? Has he bought them off? Are they suddenly eager to give in to centralized power? Are the Republicans, who have complained about the Obama administration's seizure of power on other issues, and the consolidation of power we are seeing into the executive branch, suddenly willing to hand over more power to him, and international courts, through TPP?
TPP allows the President of the United States to negotiate anything that falls under the TPP (which can be interpreted to mean anything) through the provision called "fast-track authority." Obama, under this agreement, can negotiate anything he wants. Never mind treaties that at least require Senatorial ratification. With TPP, "fast track" gives Congress no way to stop a power-hungry president, or tyrannical international agencies, from ripping up and tossing aside the philosophies and principles of the United States Constitution that have served as the rule of law in the United States, and has led this nation to prosperity under those principles. TPP creates an expansive global power that is managed by a powerful few, and dismisses American interests, American sovereignty, and American exceptionalism.
TPP allows the President of the United States to negotiate anything that falls under the TPP (which can be interpreted to mean anything) through the provision called "fast-track authority." Obama, under this agreement, can negotiate anything he wants. Never mind treaties that at least require Senatorial ratification. With TPP, "fast track" gives Congress no way to stop a power-hungry president, or tyrannical international agencies, from ripping up and tossing aside the philosophies and principles of the United States Constitution that have served as the rule of law in the United States, and has led this nation to prosperity under those principles. TPP creates an expansive global power that is managed by a powerful few, and dismisses American interests, American sovereignty, and American exceptionalism.
If the expansion of capitalism on the world stage requires the United States to become a small speck of controlled dust in an ever-expansive global authority, never mind. You can keep it.
-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary
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