This Trade Deal Will Make You Sick, Maybe Give You Mad Cow Disease…Or Kill You Fast

[marmar]

from the Working Life blog:


This Trade Deal Will Make You Sick, Maybe Give You Mad Cow Disease…Or Kill You Fast
Posted on 20 May 2014


The president just keeps spending our money, his time and a chunk of political capital on the putrid Trans Pacific Partnership, one of the newest corporate-backed trade deal–”newest” because every trade deal since NAFTA has been all about protecting corporate interests. Nothing seems to move this president to understand that this is a horrendous deal. And, while a lot of focus has been paid to the TPP, another very bad deal is in the works between the U.S. and Europe–and it will potentially make millions of people sick. Or kill them.

The president does not seem to understand, or care, that trade deals like TPP will drive inequality (though, after he held up Wal-Mart as an upstanding citizen, in utter rhetorical political stupidity given the party’s focus on raising the minimum wage, it’s less astounding). And despite his rhetoric about climate change, he doesn’t seem to understand, or care, that trade deals like the TPP will undo environmental protections.

So, maybe this will work. The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) is a deal being negotiated between the U.S. and the European Union. And it’s a big deal as the two account for roughly half of the entire global domestic product, and one-third of the total trade in goods and services.

And it’s the usual corporate love fest. Corporate lobbyists get to see the text of draft provisions. We don’t. Nor do our elected representatives. And as usual, if a deal is reached, the president will try to ram it through Congress using the undemocratic procedure of “fast track” (which doesn’t allow for any amendments or changes by the people YOU elect to represent YOU), though, happily, it doesn’t look like “fast track” power will be renewed by Congress. ..................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.workinglife.org/2014/05/20/this-trade-deal-will-make-you-sick-maybe-give-you-mad-cow-disease-or-kill-you-fast/#sthash.CbOSQSFf.dpuf

[villager]

1. Not exactly the kind "change" you'd "hoped" for?

n/t

[Phlem]

2. I see what you did there.

and I approve!

[villager]

3. I thank you for the kudos!

[pa28]

6. I never imagined "re-negotiating NAFTA" meant replacing it with something worse.

Hahahaha. I'll read between the lines next time.

[Sunlei]

4. I can't find anything at the EU website under their trade policies about madcow ? They do not even w

They do not even buy or want USA cattle over a couple years old to enter their countries alive or as food. Because of their justified fear of all the old dairy cattle we Americans eat, some of them could be madcow diseased.? The EU is in charge of their trade deals not the USA.

http://europa.eu/index_en.htm look under "TRADE"

[Aerows]

8. For Heaven's sake

a trade deal was struck that allowed live US chickens to be transported to China and be processed there.

China. 46 year old Chicken Feet China

Do you think ANYONE anymore under these "trade deals" thinks they are enhancing the standard of living of the nations and their people who participate in them?

[Sunlei]

10. not live. the spent hens are shoved into a frozen food shipping crate and a block of frozen old

hens is sent to china for their 'workers' to strip off whatever meat scraps they can get off old, wore out hens. and they get the B grade chickens the bruised, ripped up line rejects.
That's a trade deal between China and the USA CORPS who make our chicken nuggets for USA people to eat.

That kind of food handling is not allowed by the European Unions food policies or their animal abuse policies.

[Aerows]

12. I'm not sure

whether what you are saying is to convince me that any of this is better or more fucking horrifying than I even imagined.

Excuse me while I sit here stunned and confused if this is a rebuttal or a buttress to the argument that live chickens shouldn't be shipped to China, processed, and then sent back to the US as a food product.

[Sunlei]

15. I don't think anything should be flash frozen and shipped to china for processing as food for US

consumers. But that's up to Tyson-China and whoever else sells us chicken nuggets.

[Enthusiast]

24. Like I said,

Soylent green is not far away.

[Sunlei]

27. you're right.even today who knows what the 'mystery meat' is on all the china-made pet treats?

All I can imagine is some slave workers next to a heap of decaying carcass of 'whatever' stripping off meat, soaking it in chemicals to remove the rot stink & kill bacteria.

That meat would be sold for pet treats or highly processed meals.

We even have people stuffing net fulls of the Asian jumping carp (infesting American waterways) into flash frozen shipping containers and sending to china to be made into? fish sticks for school lunches??

[Enthusiast]

29. I didn't know about the Big Head Carp thing.

Just amazing. Asians see the Big Head species as quite palatable. God help us.

[Sunlei]

31. its not to bad but its full of bones and kind of stinks from whatever water its in.

It's probably in all our pet foods, fish nugget people foods They can washout that stink probably and grind up the bones somehow.

just saying, as when I went fishing they were jumping in the boat. Didn't catch any other fish, just Asian carp everywhere. And no native species spotted at all.

[Enthusiast]

32. They wouldn't be such a problem if not

for their effect on the native fish species. Imagine no bass, catfish, bluegill, crappie, walleye, pike and Muskie but millions of Big Head. Horrible.

[Sunlei]

33. catfish seem like they are still there. Any fish that has a egg nest in shallow water like crappie

those shallow water 'nests' seem to be gone from around here.

I know around here in Texas there is a huge fish stocking industry who add most of those juvenile fish types. I bet we have very few native species that wild breed left.

[babylonsister]

5. What has been fast tracked lately?

I must have missed it, thanks!

[woo me with science]

7. What's your point?

Are you seriously trying to suggest that the president is not working to make these deals happen?

You wouldn't seriously be trying to suggest that, would you?

[Aerows]

9. Deny until it is actually fast tracked

then claim you have no idea what you are talking about (well, really, it is difficult to get information because if the the American people knew what was actually in them, they would be opposed.)

Then claim a victory because the Republicans and Democrats came together under the leadership of our White House Administration.

[woo me with science]

11. No fair.

You've seen this movie before.

[Aerows]

13. I think we probably watched it together

Unfortunately.

[Ed Suspicious]

14. Spoiler alert next time?!

[MFM008]

16. nothing could go wrong

[WillyT]

17. K & R !!!

[blkmusclmachine]

18. Hillary would probably be <<WORSE>>, if that's even possible!

Nobody ever said you'd like the "Change."

[Enthusiast]

25. +1 a whole fucking bunch.

[Demo_Chris]

19. Nothing Obama does surprises me anymore. He could nominate Cheney to the USSC and I would shrug...

But then, we are talking about the guy who -- for the first time in US History, and in a first for ANY enlightened western nation -- declared that as President He had the legal power to order the secret executions of anyone he wished, American citizen or not, anywhere on earth, without any kind of trial or judicial process, all in secret. Whim Death, from a Democratic President. Even Cheney never asked for anything that insane.

And we shrugged.

And really, after that things like trade deals are pretty insignificant. Everything is. Because death without judicial process is as far as you can go. There is no next step, there is only naming the targets.

[Phlem]

20. Awesome!

"I'm a New Democrat" was my WTF moment, by then it was too late.

-p

[Spider Jerusalem]

21. Doubtful, honestly, this is hyperbole

agricultural exports on a large scale are not likely. US beef and chicken for instance are banned from EU import because of things like use of antibiotics and growth hormones.

Also the rest of the article is largely bullshit, the thing about European dairy standards? They're MORE STRINGENT than USDA Grade A standards.

The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service’s Centers for Epidemiology and Animal Health, in conjunction with USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) and the National Mastitis Council’s Milk Quality Monitoring Committee, monitor U.S. milk quality using bulk-tank somatic cell count (BTSCC) data provided by 4 of the Nation’s 10 Federal Milk Marketing Orders (FMOs)

(snip)

To ensure high-quality dairy products, BTSCCs are monitored in milk shipments using standards outlined in the U.S. Pasteurized Milk Ordinance (PMO).8 In the United States, the legal maximum BTSCC for Grade A milk shipments is 750,000 cells/mL.

Maximum BTSCC levels for other countries include
400,000 cells/mL in the European Union (EU).

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/nahms/dairy/downloads/dairy_monitoring/BTSCC_2011infosheet.pdf

Also the bit about regulations for labelling of genetically modified foods?

Since 1997 Community legislation has made labelling of GM food mandatory for:

products that consist of GMO or contain GMO;
products derived from GMO but no longer containing GMO if there is still DNA or protein resulting from the genetic modification present;

http://ec.europa.eu/food/food/biotechnology/gmfood/labelling_en.htm

And the bit about relaxing feed standards for livestock? Also nonsense: http://ec.europa.eu/food/food/biosafety/tse_bse/feed_ban_en.htm

He's also wrong about USDA guidelines on E. coli and listeria (the values of "acceptable" are quite small, but in a comparable range to EU food safety standards; see here).

[Sunlei]

30. you're right the EU food standards are much stricter than US.wish the usa would change to EU quality

Far as USA dairy goes, I read in Australia's dairy industry news the USA dairy industry is seen as a major competitor of dairy exports to the Asian markets (imports of dairy/meat grow massively to that consumer market) The Australian news mentioned USA dairy exports are way up to the same Asian market the Australians also export to.

Of course in the USA our dairy industry keeps warning us consumers about how the prices will rise for domestic dairy while they export 30-40% to the Asian markets, undercutting Australia. The prices for Americans milk will rise while the dairy industry's profits grow & grow. They will claim its the drought, the feed prices (as if they really feed dairy/meat cattle real grain and hay these days. They feed processed from render protein 'stuff' with growth/hormone additives.

[woo me with science]

22. kick

[Enthusiast]

23. I don't think it's a matter of the President's "understanding".

I think it's time to end this fucking masquerade.

[bvar22]

26. Just when you think it couldn't get worse.

Korean Free Trade Deal devastating for US Workers

What happened to the 70,000 jobs that the Korea Free Trade deal was supposed to create? They never materialized. Instead, U.S. workers lost 40,000 jobs in the first year of the agreement.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/larry-cohen/koreaus-free-trade-agreem_b_4965492.html

The Korean Free Trade Deal is the prototype for the TPP.


Meet the TPP: Crony capitalism on a global scale
https://represent.us/action/tpp/

Study: "Trade" Deal Would Mean a Pay Cut for 90% of U.S. Workers
http://citizen.typepad.com/eyesontrade/2013/09/the-verdict-is-in-the-trans-pacific-partnership-tpp-a-sweeping-free-trade-deal-under-negotiation-with-11-pacific-rim-coun.html



"Obama Admin’s TPP Trade Officials Received Hefty Bonuses From Big Banks"
http://billmoyers.com/2014/02/20/obama-admin%E2%80%99s-tpp-trade-officials-received-hefty-bonuses-from-big-banks/

Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) & Monsanto
<snip>
The chief agricultural negotiator for the US is the former Monsanto lobbyist, Islam Siddique. If ratified the TPP would impose punishing regulations that give multinational corporations unprecedented right to demand taxpayer compensation for policies that corporations deem a barrier to their profits.
<>

*Procurement rules specifically forbid discrimination based on the quality of production. This means that public programs that favor the use of sustainably produced local foods in school lunch programs could be prohibited.

*The labeling of foods containing GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms) will not be allowed. Japan currently has labeling laws for GMOs in food. Under the TPP Japan would no longer be able to label GMOs. This situation is the same for New Zealand and Australia. In the US we are just beginning to see some progress towards labeling GMOs. Under the TPP GMO labels for US food would not be allowed.

<much more>

http://www.nationofchange.org/trans-pacific-partnership-and-monsanto-1372074730

It would be nice to believe that President Obama is just misinformed or misguided,
but during the 2008 debates, he openly admitted that "Free Trade" has been a disaster for the American Working Class, so he KNOWS what he is doing.

This isn't even Kinder, Gentler Republicanism.
This is FULL SCALE Conservative Republicanism.
The Old Dog's undisputed crown of "Best Republican President EVER" is in jeopardy.

[xchrom]

28. du rec.