The Constitution of the United States vs. the Trans-Pacific Partnership

The TPP must be stopped!

— submitted by Jim Howe*
January 19, 2014

The Constitution of the United States was written to limit and define the powers of the government of the United States. It divides that government into three (3) branches, Executive, Legislative, and Judicial. The Bill of Rights was added to further limit the powers of government. The Constitution could not have been adopted without the Bill of Rights. The Constitution begins with “We the People”. It is written in plain English, takes up all of four (4) pages, and can be easily understood by “We the People”. It, and the Bill of Rights, were written as a defense against tyrannical government.

This article will reference several sections of the Constitution that are inconvenient to supporters of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). (The full text of the Constitution can be found here: http://constitutionus.com/)

Over time, powerful economic interests have leveraged their economic power to purchase law-makers, change laws, have corporations defined as people, and had money defined as speech. Now they want to give international corporations special status above the rights of people and beyond the control of governments.

Supporters of the Trans-Pacific Partnership recognized, over five (5) years ago, that it could not be ratified if its provisions were known to the American people. Under the Constitution, International Treaties must be negotiated with the “Advise and consent” of the Senate and ratified by a two thirds (2/3) majority of the Senate. (Article 2, section 2, paragraph 2)

Negotiations for the TPP have been conducted over the past five (5) years. Six hundred (600) corporate advisors have been present to give their “Advise and consent” throughout the negotiations. The text of the TPP has not been released. Congress has been denied the right to see the text. (Congressman Grayson was allowed to view some of the text, but not allowed to take notes or have members of his staff view the text.) What is known about the text is from leaks. Information about what is known about the TPP can be found here:http://www.exposethetpp.org/

Because the TPP is an International treaty, Countries ratifying the TPP must change their laws to conform to the provisions in the TPP. Article 6, paragraph 2 provides for treaties taking precedence over state constitutions and state laws, and that the Constitution, U. S. laws, and treaties “Shall be the supreme law of the land. “ Therefore, if a treaty is ratified, laws have to be changed to comply with the treaty.

Economic gains for the U.S. adopting the TPP are projected to be 00.13 percent. ) That’s right 13 one-hundredths of 1% (http://www.cepr.net/index.php/publications/reports/net-effect-of-the-tpp-on-us-wages) If that increase in economic activity were distributed equally, and it won’t be, a person earning wages of $600.00/week would gain 78 cents/week. That 78 cents/week would be offset by higher prescription costs, loss of internet freedoms, export of jobs, and degraded environmental standards.

Read the entire article here:

The Constitution of the United States vs. the Trans-Pacific Partnership