Protesters Interrupt U.S. Trade Rep at TPP Hearing

[orphanedhawk]

The top U.S. trade official has told lawmakers the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal could be wrapped up within months and urged Congress to give the White House fast-track authority to approve the deal.

Protesters with the group Flush the Trans-Pacific Partnership repeatedly interrupted U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman’s testimony before Congress.
The protesters — Dr. Margaret Flowers, Kevin Zeese and retired steelworker Richard Ochs — were all arrested after being removed from the hearing.

    Michael Froman: "At USTR, we’re advancing those goals by knocking down barriers to U.S. exports and leveling the playing field for American workers and businesses of all sizes. As we work to open markets around the world, we’re"—

    Dr. Margaret Flowers: "Mr. Froman, you are not telling the American people the truth. We know that the Trans-Pacific Partnership has been negotiated in secret for five years, when you’re trying to rush it through Congress with fast track because it’s secret and you know that things in there are going to hurt the American people. They’re going to offshore our jobs and lower our wages, in fact. Our job is to protect our communities."

    Sen. Orrin Hatch: "Let’s have order. All right, remove this person from the room, and if anybody else—if anybody else does this, we’re going to be—you’re going to be removed."

    Dr. Margaret Flowers: "They’re not going to allow us to protect our communities from corporations that want to poison us. They’re not going to allow us to protect our workers from poor working conditions. You are not going to get fast track. The American people are against it. They’re against the TPP. No secret trade deal!"

    Kevin Zeese: "We’re saying stop fast track, today."

    Richard Ochs: "No TPP! No"—

    Kevin Zeese: "We don’t want supersized NAFTA. We don’t want—we don’t want [inaudible]."

    Sen. Orrin Hatch: "Remove these people."

    Kevin Zeese: "We don’t want to undermine [inaudible]. We believe in democracy, not secrecy. We want transparency!"

    Richard Ochs: "No TPP! No TPP! No TPP!"

http://www.democracynow.org/2015/1/28/headlines#12813

Then there's this: ( who would think I'd ever agree to anything said by the Jhn Birch society ?)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e13wPEXuVCI

[brice1967]

Call Barack and have him veto or "executive action" this... Easy peasy.  He has the power of the pen right?  (Or is he for this???)

[orphanedhawk]

Actually we do indeed need disruption to stop the current paradigm.

The TTP will only take even more jobs away from Americans. Shame on the congress for trying to pass this. Their interests lie in helping big multinational corporations not in helping the people of the US.

[Vance2335]

They have the right to protest but not disrupt.

[desrt]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Pacific_Partnership

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_to_the_bottom

"The race to the bottom is a socio-economic phenomenon in which governments deregulate the business environment or taxes in order to attract or retain economic activity in their jurisdictions, resulting in lower wages, worse working conditions and fewer environmental protections. An outcome of globalization and free trade, the phenomenon may occur when competition increases between geographic areas over a particular sector of trade and production."

[desrt]

When did you join ISIS?

[Vance2335]

They should have been beatin with a wooden stick.