RW on RW: Senators McConnell, Hatch And the TPP: A Matter of Life And Death

[pampango]

Two American industries are threatening to deep-six the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Ironically, one of them saves lives and the other ends them.

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The former is the pharmaceutical industry. It was unwilling to accept compromise, even though compromise is the essence of trade negotiations. The latter is the tobacco industry, which wants to be treated like other industries, even though it’s the only one that sells a product that’s addictive and lethal.

If they prevail, it will be hard to argue with those who claim that free trade agreements benefit big corporations at the expense of everyone else. Valiantly manning the ramparts for these two poor, put-upon industries are Republican Senators Orrin Hatch of Utah and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

Hatch is upset that the U.S. TPP negotiators didn’t insist on giving big pharma 12 years of patent protection on biologic drugs. In the face of fierce opposition from other TPP countries, the negotiators settled on five to eight years. It was the best deal they could get, but it wasn’t good enough for Hatch.

McConnell is miffed that the TPP doesn’t give the tobacco industry carte blanche to challenge foreign governments’ public health policies aimed at reducing tobacco-related sickness and death.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnbrinkley/2015/12/01/mcconnell-hatch-and-tpp-a-matter-of-life-and-death/

We shall see if Hatch and McConnell actually "deep-six" the agreement or whether they are just posturing for their 'home' industries to keep the campaign contributions coming in.

[A Little Weird]

1. I don't care what their reasons are for killing it

I just hope they kill it.