In Parts I and II of Mankind: Death by Corporation, we looked briefly at what amounts to ruthless, psychopathic behavior of our largest corporations spanning most major industries. But aided and abetted by "sincere" government officials, corporations are working behind the scenes, rapidly assembling the corporate "Death Star" to be unleashed upon citizens throughout the world, allowing them virtually unchecked control of our food supply, our land, air, water, wallets and our future.
An in-house editorial in the New York Times on July 5,
began, "For all its rabid partisanship, Congress has shown time and
again that it is willing to come together to deregulate corporate America."
This new corporate giveaway is a bill in the Senate sponsored by
Democrats and Republicans that would, for all intents and purposes, end
the "independence" of independent regulatory agencies, including the
Securities and Exchange Commission, the Consumer Financial Protection
Bureau, the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the National Labor
Relations Board. These independent agencies were established to be
accountable to Congress - not the White House - with the goal of
insulating them from political arm-twisting.
On paper, the Senate bill's "benign" goal is to ensure
that new rules appropriately balance costs and benefits.But this is
simply a euphemism for more deregulation, which itself is a euphemism
for unleashing the corporate hounds on a hapless public. The bill would
hollow out protection for investors, patients, consumers and workers.
For example, it would essentially eliminate the possibility of the
meager financial reforms in Dodd-Frank from ever seeing the light of
day.
This bill is just a warm-up act. While the public and the
media sleep, the real corporate "Death Star," the TransPacific
Partnership (TPP), is being forged in secret. The term "partnership"
hardly sounds ominous. But for the last two years TPP negotiations that
could have unprecedented consequences to citizens throughout the world
have been going on among a dozen Pacific Rim nations.
No information has
been made available to the press or the public - and only extremely
limited access has been allowed to a few members of Congress. But last
year a document was leaked to the watchdog group, Public Citizen,
revealing the current US position and the reason for the secrecy.
The
contents are surreal and shocking, and prima facie evidence for how
corporations have become the master puppeteers of government.
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