Trump Killed the TPP? Bullshit

by Scott Creighton

Folks are all a tither about Donald Trump signing an executive order yesterday saying the US is no longer ready to sign the Trans Pacific Partnership (or TPP) with 11 other nations in the Asia Pacific and Mexico. This is supposedly some sign that Trump is going to keep at least some of his campaign promises and stand with the workers of this country.

Bullshit.

He also signed an order saying he was going to erase “75% of regulations” on U.S. corporations in order to make it more profitable for them to stay here in the states. How do you those will affect the average U.S. worker?

But aside from that, the TPP was dead long ago. What Trump is doing is something akin to President Obama “killing bin Laden” and dumping his body at sea before anyone can take a picture of it.

“Have you heard? In an amazing feat of international people power prevailing over multinational corporate power, citizens united around the world have beaten the TPP…

It was stopped by thousands of diverse organizations representing working people united across borders — fighting against corporate power and for the environment, health, human rights and democracy. Although it was called a “trade” agreement, the TPP was not mainly about trade. Of TPP’s 30 chapters, only six dealt with traditional trade issues.” Public Citizen

“If you read the headlines, Donald Trump’s election has killed the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The headlines have it wrong.

Donald Trump didn’t kill the TPP. Assuming we see the fight through to the bitter end, it’s the cross-border, cross-sector, progressive “movement of movements” that will have defeated the TPP.” Nov. 11th, 2016

Donald Trump was able to campaign on a platform of killing these horrific trade deals and his audiences could only have been able to understand and agree with him because thousands of hard working people have been working to kill the TPP for years. YEARS.

The most important thing to the planners of the TPP during the negotiating process was secrecy. That’s because they knew their fascist plans would be undermined if the people of the 12 nations involved in the deal ever got wind of what it was before it was signed into law. And that is exactly what happened.

But it wasn’t because of Trump any more than the New England Patriots are going to yet another Super Bowl because of me.

It’s not even because of congress who deliberately washed their hands of the damn thing when they gave ObamaGod fast track authority last year so he and he alone could bring about the corporate Nirvana state.

Imagine for a second what would happen if Trump signed the TPP yesterday. Those crowds of millions of protesters from this past weekend would be BACK out there by noon today with one major difference: Trump’s supporters would be with them.

And why is that? Because the common folk know what the TPP really is and is that because of Donald Trump? Hell no.

That’s because so many people did YEARS worth of work exposing the TPP and eventually the word got out.

Trump didn’t do a thing yesterday when signing that executive order other than buy himself a little populist cover which he will use later.

So don’t thank The Donald for killing the TPP, thank an activist or one of the few real journalists who have been covering the fascist “trade” deal for years while Mr. Trump was worrying about his make-up on the set of his staged “reality” TV show.

Find and thank one of those everyday people pictured above. Because by killing TPP they did you a massive service. A much greater service than Trump did for you yesterday by saying he was going to kill 75% of regulations on Big Business here in the states. That’s for damn sure.