Our CitiGroup and Bank of America Are Paying Their Lobbyists to Selfishly Promote the TPP This will further enrich the banks, and send more of our jobs out of the country through outsourcing. When the Supreme Court issued its Citizens United ruling, wise voices sounded against it. We were warned this would establish a plutocracy in America, a government run by the rich for the rich, on the backs of the poor and middle class. We can see it happening all around us. The recent revelation that major financial institutions are rewarding the lobbyists at the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations is just one case that illustrates the point. The TPP is an attempt to make a NAFTA-style free trade deal that would encompass nearly half of the worlds economy. Free trade has emptied the pocketbooks of regular Americans - in one way or another - and filled the coffers of the 1%. The TPP would continue this process. One of the strongest points of criticism against the TPP is that it is going on behind closed doors. Even members of Congress have not been allowed to read the texts from the talks, or have been allowed to see them only under very strict conditions. After seeing the texts, they are not allowed to tell anyone what they have read, not even their own staff members! Now we see two major players in the financial industry are paying princely sums to lobbyists in the TPP negotiations. Why pay multi-million dollar bonuses to lobbyists? Quite simply because its worth it to them. This is not a surprise, of course, but we need to think hard on what this means. These banks are not paying out these sums because they have extra money lying around that they dont know what to do with, and the lobbyists arent going to receive it without any sense of obligation. There is a transaction going on here, wherein the banks agree to make a payment and the lobbyists agree to provide them with a service. The great danger to America, other than the further corruption of our system and the undermining of democracy, is that the banks are paying for a service that will cripple the middle class. We have seen enough jobs leave our shores; the last thing we need are more incentives for companies to offshore manufacturing. We have to let our leaders know how we feel. Money talks, but nothing can match the might of We the People if we ever get stirred to action. Call your representative today and tell them the TPP is an abomination that must be stopped. Send this article to five of your friends and have them do the same. Economy in Crisis is a non-partisan economic service.
Posted on: Thu, 27 Feb 2014 15:52:27 +0000
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