It's described as a trade deal with Pacific Rim nations, because people think "trade" is something good.
It isn't about trade at all. It's about giving giant corporations more power.
We've harped on how the TPP will destroy U.S. dairy farms, throw dairy workers out of their jobs and make milk more dangerous to drink. That's because the deal will empower New Zealand's dairy monopoly to dump milk, cheese and butter onto the U.S. market.
In other words, the TPP would put the interest of a foreign corporation above the interests of American citizens. If the U.S. government decided to impose tariffs on New Zealand milk because it isn't as healthy as American milk, that New Zealand corporation could expect to win damages from U.S. taxpayers in a trade tribunal.
Who wants milk from New Zealand, anyway?
Daniel Becker at the Angry Bear blog delivers a great rant about the TPP:
This document is the constitution of a new world order. It is an order that has been the dream of many for ages upon ages that until this time in humanity was not possible do to the limits of the technology of the time. This is the document of what I coined a few years ago as The United Corporations of Global. It is this aspect of the document that the people of the world should be most fearful of. It is not a trade agreement as I believe the common man (as in the court concept of the “common man”) would think of the phrase “trade agreement”. This is a constitution that is coming prepackaged with the rules and regulations already written. Only, there is no need for ratification to be a part of the creative process. This document comes pre-ratified in that all a nation has to do is say “I'm in”. It does not take a majority of the worlds nations or a super majority like the original 13 colonies for this document to have power. It has power because those writing it already agree to follow it. Passing it in the US? Can you say “fast track”? (You can read the whole thing here.)Think of it as a global Citizens United, only worse. The Supreme Court's Citizens United decision declaring that corporations are people and have the same rights as citizens. The TPP says corporations have more rights than governments.
