Free Talk Live

A critical document from President Barack Obama's free trade negotiations with eight Pacific nations was leaked online early Wednesday morning, revealing that the administration intends to bestow radical new political powers upon multinational corporations, contradicting prior promises. The leaked document has been posted on the website of Public Citizen, a long-time critic of the administration's trade objectives.

The recently leaked details of the Trans Pacific Partnership "free trade" agreement should send a shiver down everyones' spine. The document masquerading as a "free trade" agreement is nothing less that a plan for total CORPORATE GLOBAL GOVERNANCE. It was negotiated in secret for 2-1/2 years with no public or congressional oversight. When combined with other developments and recently passed legislation, the implications of this agreement are ominous.

What is ACTA?

ACTA is an international trade agreement currently being negotiated by the European Union, the United States, Japan, Canada, South Korea, Australia as well as a few other countries, whose aim is to enforce copyright and tackle counterfeited goods (hence its acronym: Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement).

"The U.S. International Trade Commission agreed in a unanimous vote today that Chinese solar manufacturers have benefited from illegal subsidies from its government and sold products at less than fair value, the final decision in more than a year-long trade tussle."

SOPA and PIPA have been shelved but the government’s plan to censor the public is an ongoing threat. Enter the "Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement" aka ACTA, an international trade agreement whose supposed sole purpose is to forge ahead with tackling counterfeited goods and -- suprise, surprise -- copyright infringement.

Just last month millions of Americans rallied to defeat SOPA and PIPA. However, something worse has crept in the back-door and may not be able to be repealed. In October 2011, President Obama signed an international agreement called the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement or ACTA.

Given the history of ACTA leaks, to no one's surprise, the latest version of the draft agreement was leaked last night on KEI's website. The new version - which reflects changes made during an intense week of negotiations last month in Washington - shows a draft agreement that is much closer to becoming reality. Square brackets have been removed from many sections, leaving the core issue of scope of the agreement as the biggest issue to be resolved when the next round of negotiations begins in a few weeks in Japan. [...]

Barack Obama campaigned that he would create 5 million “green collar” jobs. In January, President Obama announced $2.3 billion in tax credits for a clean energy economy will create 17,000 jobs. (Hmmmm... $135,300 per job) “Building a robust clean energy sector is how we will create the jobs of the future,” he said.
Make no mistake; this government-run plan will kill more jobs than it aims to create.

Black-market cigarettes are costing many states hundreds of millions of dollars a year in lost tax revenue. And the lucrative, illicit trade is attracting violent criminal gangs that can be lethally ruthless.