Obama Goes to Bat for Big Tobacco in TPP

[Lionel Mandrake]

Source: ASH

WASHINGTON, DC 19 August – The Obama Administration has backed down from a proposal revealed 15 months ago to protect health from Big Tobacco under the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the pending free trade agreement with 11 other countries. New language concerning tobacco, the exact text of which has not been released, is expected to be proposed later this week at the next TPP negotiating round in Brunei. Legal analysts for the public health community, who were briefed Friday morning in a closed session by administration officials, agreed that the new proposal will do little to protect governments’ right to regulate tobacco.

“The draft TPPA benefits tobacco companies with zero tariffs, expanded investor rights, and greater limits on regulation of tobacco advertising and other services,” said Robert Stumberg, director of the Harrison Institute for Public Law at Georgetown University Law Center. “The revised U.S. position inserts the word ‘tobacco’ without touching the benefits for tobacco companies.”

The tobacco industry has a long history of using trade agreements to attack public health measures aimed at reducing tobacco use. Last year, the United States lost its final appeal in a suit brought under World Trade Organization rules by Indonesia over a U.S. ban on flavored cigarettes, including candy flavors clearly aimed at children. The case was a wake-up call for the U.S. public health community about the dangers to tobacco regulations posed by a web of trade obligations.

The draft TPP will make it even easier for governments to be sued for their tobacco regulations. Unlike the WTO, corporations will have the right under the TPP to directly sue governments, without the need of a state sponsor. Similar suits have already been leveled against a number of countries, including Australia, Uruguay, Norway and Turkey.

- See more at: http://ash.org/obama-goes-to-bat-for-big-tobacco-in-tpp/#sthash.SnUoduZ6.dpuf

Read more: http://ash.org/obama-goes-to-bat-for-big-tobacco-in-tpp/

---

Trade agreements like this one always benefit big business and hurt ordinary people. This particular trade agreement will kill hundreds of millions of people.

[KoKo]

1. Recommend...

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. I am so disgusted at this. Shame, shame on Obama for this misguided idea.

Goddamn it.

[Divernan]

9. How can anyone be merely "misguided" about tobacco and cancer?

Here's a definition for "misguided"
mis·guid·ed (ms-gdd)
adj.
Based or acting on error; misled: well-intentioned but misguided efforts; misguided do-gooders.

There is no way in this universe that Obama is well-intentioned or acting on "error" because every sentient being knows that smoking causes cancer. I mean, even the most dedicated supporter cannot spin this egregious, shocking action on his part to come up with a single advantage to smoking.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

11. OK; I should have picked a stronger word!

[Divernan]

12. You know, this is so outrageous, I can't think of a word that IS strong enough!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

14. I'm with you........this is just horrifyingly criminal!

[Divernan]

56. Tobacco is the single greatest cause of preventable death globally.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_effects_of_tobacco

Tobacco is the single greatest cause of preventable death globally. Tobacco use leads most commonly to diseases affecting the heart, liver and lungs, with smoking being a major risk factor for heart attacks, strokes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (including emphysema and chronic bronchitis), and cancer (particularly lung cancer, cancers of the larynx and mouth, and pancreatic cancer). It also causes peripheral vascular disease and hypertension. The effects depend on the number of years that a person smokes and on how much the person smokes. Starting smoking earlier in life and smoking cigarettes higher in tar increases the risk of these diseases. Also, environmental tobacco smoke, or secondhand smoke, has been shown to cause adverse health effects in people of all ages. Cigarettes sold in underdeveloped countries tend to have higher tar content, and are less likely to be filtered, potentially increasing vulnerability to tobacco-related disease in these regions.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that tobacco caused 5.4 million deaths in 2004 and 100 million deaths over the course of the 20th century. Similarly, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention describes tobacco use as "the single most important preventable risk to human health in developed countries and an important cause of premature death worldwide." Several countries have taken measures to control the consumption of tobacco with usage and sales restrictions as well as warning messages printed on packaging.

Smoke contains several carcinogenic pyrolytic products that bind to DNA and cause many genetic mutations. There are 45 known or suspected chemical carcinogens in cigarette smoke.[9] Tobacco also contains nicotine, which is a highly addictive psychoactive drug. When tobacco is smoked, nicotine causes physical and psychological dependency. Tobacco use is a significant factor in miscarriages among pregnant smokers, and it contributes to a number of other threats to the health of the fetus such as premature births and low birth weight and increases by 1.4 to 3 times the chance for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). The result of scientific studies done in neonatal rats seems to indicate that exposure to cigarette smoke in the womb may reduce the fetal brain's ability to recognize hypoxic conditions, thus increasing the chance of accidental asphyxiation. Incidence of impotence is approximately 85 percent higher in male smokers compared to non-smokers, and is a key factor causing erectile dysfunction (ED)

[HooptieWagon]

3. He never met a corporation he wasn't willing to get in bed with.

Monsanto, BP, XL Pipeline, AT&T, etc.

[The CCC]

4. Obama Goes to Bat for Big Tobacco in TPP

Why am I not surprised?

[progressoid]

5. God Bless the United Corporations of America.

[Why Syzygy]

55. corp.gov

.

[Divernan]

6. ZERO TARIFFS, EXPANDED INVESTOR RIGHTS, GREATER LIMITS ON ADVERTISING & OTHER REGULATIONS!

OBAMA WHEELS AND DEALS TO GIVE CORPORATIONS THE RIGHT TO DIRECTLY SUE GOVERNMENTS, WITHOUT A STATE SPONSOR.

BIG TOBACCO ALREADY USING TRADE AGREEMENTS TO SUE AUSTRALIA, URUGUAY, NORWAY AND TURKEY

.

This hypocrisy is beyond belief - raiding and prosecuting medical marijuana growers, but opening up the markets via his grand trade agreements to letting Big Tobacco and Big Lung Cancer prey upon Americans, and especially our kids, who are so vulnerable to seductive advertising.

[warrant46]

59. And when Granny gets Cancer she can get Demerol from Walgreens

No joint for pain for her, she might get addicted to Demerol </sarcasm>

[antigop]

7. and who played a leading part in drafting the TPP? Hillary Clinton.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1016&pid=67554

[Lionel Mandrake]

13. She was just carrying on the family tradition.

President Bill Clinton supported NAFTA. He "signed it into law on December 8, 1993", although to his credit he "introduced clauses to protect American workers ...".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_Free_Trade_Agreement

[Phlem]

33. but but but

She has no bones in her closet! She Will be the next president!



-p

[TM99]

8. Obama is a corporatist.

He knows who really got him elected, and he rewards them very, very well.

Yay us!

[raouldukelives]

32. Shareholders are in charge. Only they have the power to assist or not assist the corptocracy. nt

[TM99]

37. While true, what does it have to do with the price of tea in China?

Obama is still a corporatist.

[raouldukelives]

41. Well, just pointing out people do get what they pay for. nt

[Divernan]

39. Have you never heard of lobbyists?

They're the ones who "assist" the "corptocracy", as you call it, with their massive bribes, oops, I mean campaign donations, not to mention promises to politicians of post-political-office positions on corporate boards (worth at least $100,000 a year, each, including stock options).

[raouldukelives]

40. Why yes, I have. Do you know who gives the lobbyists all that money?

Anyone who gives money to Wall St. They fund lobbyists, they fund the Cato Institute, they fund climate deniers, ALEC and the TPP. Not to mention profiting from war, the crushing of fledgling democracies, denial of medical services, nuclear prolifiration and a 1000 other issues that give lefties goosebumps.
It is a willing symbiotic relationship.
Only they have the power to give or not give corporations unchecked power to the detriment of us all. Of course, first you have to find one that actually cares about any of those issues.

[Divernan]

43. Why yes, I do - having worked for the Democratic caucus of my state legislature for many years

and seen up close and personal the well-coiffed but nevertheless slimy lobbyists for corporate interests. They come in with a check in one hand and pre-written legislation (often from ALEC) in the other. The lobbyists get their money directly from their employers - banks, corporations or associations of corporate/business interests - like the Chamber of Commerce or state builders' associations, etc. And it is disingenuous to claim that shareholders control corporate policy, particularly when so many shares are held by mutual funds, pension plans, IRA portfolios or the like. That's about as far-fetched as saying that Wal-mart customers control its corporate policy.

The corporation's legal duty is to make a profit for the shareholders and profits are basically the extent of the shareholders' interest. They invest for growth and/or dividends. A few enlightened shareholders may protest corporate policies, but to no discernible effect. When my son was at Yale, he and several thousand fellow undergrads did vociferously protest for years to get Yale to divest its holdings in South African enterprises. Their efforts drew international attention and praise, but Yale did NOT divest. I guess you could really stretch and say since my son was a member of the Yale student body, and Yale was a stockholder, my son was a stockholder as well.

Really - trying to shift the blame for corporate malfeasance onto any poor naif who has a few thousand put away trying to save for retirement? That is really, really sad.

[raouldukelives]

62. Yes, the lobbyists get the money from the corporations. Do you think they spend their own money?

They spend investors money. But you know all this. That is what keeps the game afloat. That is what keeps action from occurring against climate change and attacks the efforts of those trying to sustain a habitable environment for the planets wildlife.
I think that issues transcends the needs of people who collaborate with corporations.
The corporations are extended the benefit of fiduciary responsibility by the shareholders themselves.
I am in no way trying to shift the blame for corporate wrongdoing onto the shareholders, just that they are complicit in the actions of the corporations they support with their own money. It is a free choice for them. Nobody is demanding they support Goldman or Lockheed.
Would someone who invested in slavery be as guilty as the slave owner? No. Would they be considered a prudent investor? Only by some.
I am sorry to hear your sons actions failed but commend him for taking a stand.
When Yale does not divest, one must divest from Yale.

[Lionel Mandrake]

42. This is somewhat off-topic, but ...

the power of shareholders is largely a myth. You would think that shareholders, as owners of the corporation, have ultimate power. In the real world, only large shareholders have power. Small shareholders are disenfranchised. They have no effective way to communicate with each other, to organize, or to protect their interest. This is evident from the huge salaries paid to top executives. Those salaries take money out of the pockets of the shareholders.

It is not uncommon for the CEO of a large corporation to also be the Chairman of the Board. This is a conflict of interest, inasmuch as the Board of Directors is supposed to represent the the shareholders, whose interest is often directly opposed to that of the greedy executives.

[Divernan]

45. And let us not forget all the huge, high paying "non-profit" businesses with zip stockholders.

Take for example, UPMC, a NON PROFIT health care consortium which started out as a couple of specialist hospitals associated with the University of Pittsburgh Medical School, and has now grown until it is international in scope - from Saudi Arabia to Italy to UK to Ireland - or as they put it, providing health care around the globe, and last year paid 26 of its employees more than a million dollars each. It's chief executive raked in $6.07 million.

In 2012, UPMC's lobbying expenditures totalled $1,490,000. And guess what! Not a shareholder to be found! And that's just in the US - heaven only knows how much "baksheesh" they paid in Saudi Arabia.

http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/clientsum.php?id=D000022298&year=2012

And may I say, their policies suck. They don't have to pay property taxes on vast amounts of valuable real estate, but they do claim to provide charitable care to some in the community. Of course, UPMC determines the value of what care they provide, and those $32 each Tylenol tablets and $150 heating pads really add up quickly. They purchased old, smaller hospitals in poor communities and promptly closed them, forcing people to travel farther to more expensive facilities. You get the picture?

[raouldukelives]

63. Indeed. And yet they still freely choose to support them.

The only power the shareholder has is the power to be or not to be. In the end, that is all that really matters.

[Fire Walk With Me]

10. Big tobacco and the Koch brothers co-created the "tea party".

Study Confirms Tea Party Was Created by Big Tobacco and Billionaire Koch Brothers
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brendan-demelle/study-confirms-tea-party-_b_2663125.html

So Obama is for the TPP and big tobacco...not very much of a distance from the Koch brothers themselves.

[stuffmatters]

64. And the Koch's Propaganda Machines use same game plan to deny climate change as promoted tobacco

This TPP Treaty is both antidemocracy and antipeople. There is absolutely no justification for any of its contents except to the most insatiable global corporatists. This is what Obama wants as his legacy? It's obscene. And yeah, Hilary's fingerprints are all over it too.

And Obama won't let any of our elected representatives see the treaty in toto; the only input he wants is from the uber corps.

[Divernan]

16. Harvard School of Public Health: "World looking at a billion deaths from tobacco this century."

Tobacco killed about 100 million people during the 20th century, and globally tobacco use is rising rapidly. According to the World Health Organization, unless drastic action is taken it will claim 1 billion lives this century.

“The world is looking at a billion deaths from tobacco in this century. Rather than provide health leadership, the United States is helping the tobacco industry to repeat the cycle of disease it placed in our nation,” said Gregory Connolly of the Harvard School of Public Health.

“Our government’s trade policy is promoting the tobacco epidemic, this time in the poorest nations of the globe.” Dr. Connolly successfully challenged the US practice of compelling Asian nations to import US cigarettes or face unilateral trade sanctions. His work with Congress and scientific articles contributed to a Clinton Administration executive order removing tobacco from trade negotiations, which this latest action has reversed.
- See more at: http://ash.org/obama-goes-to-bat-for-big-tobacco-in-tpp/#sthash.SnUoduZ6.qpUpjLCw.dpuf

[Triana]

17. And the neutering and subversion of the US gov't to big corporations continues

Ushered along by Obama himself.

[Divernan]

18. Call your congress person: NO to fast tracking, straight up-or-down vote; NO TO BIG TOBACCO!

Do yourselves, your children, your grandchildren, your friends, your neighbors, your community and the whole world the favor of a lifetime and call your congress person to scream and shout NO! to Big Tobacco. Make the inclusion of this sellout to Big Tobacco in the TPP, the poison pill which stops Obama's efforts to fast track this agreement, dead in its tracks!

And keep calling them, every damn day, until you get a commitment they will vote against fast tracking. Call their DC office and every one of their district offices, every day.

Negotiations for the TPP will resume on August 22nd in Brunei, and are set to conclude in October. In September, the Obama Administration will be asking Congress for so-called “fast track” authority, which would mean that Congress could only vote up or down on the final text, without the ability to suggest amendments

.

- See more at: http://ash.org/obama-goes-to-bat-for-big-tobacco-in-tpp/#sthash.SnUoduZ6.WBomP2Vo.dpuf

Not enough that the USA's main export are traditional weapons of death and destruction; now we addd Big Tobacco to our lethal exports.
I'm headed out on the net, particularly to The Guardian and Spiegel International to spread the word.

[KG]

19. i eagerly await the palace guard's spin on how this is actually a good thing...

[Divernan]

20. It will be very profitable for Big Pharma/Health Care - all those cancer patients

Chemotherapy, radiation, surgery, hospitals - my god how the money will roll in! And think about the Funeral Home Industry - they'll have boom times too!

[pa28]

21. Another huge victory for Reaganism if the TPP passes.

This agreement can peel back years of hard won legislation and regulations and "our" guy is behind it. How about that?

[immoderate]

51. I call all the presidents since Carter "Reaganites."

They all leaned toward internationalism, corporatism, and were against the worker.

Either Hillary or Christie will follow along.

--imm

[silvershadow]

22. TPP isn't as much about trade as it is democracy itself, democratic values, and our own sovereignty-

specifically, the deal undermines all of the above. Therefore, I am opposed.

[Divernan]

23. Forward this link to your local paper/political cartoonist.

I just shot a message and link off to the Post-Gazette and Rob Rogers, our award-winning political cartoonist. They wouldn't typically cover the TPP until after a vote was taken so I gave them a heads-up about the September vote in Congress where Obama will press for fast track authority, which means that when the TPP agreement is finally hammered out, Congress will have no opportunity to reject any one part of it.

I think that the Big Tobacco angle will be of great interest to local readers everywhere.

[MisterP]

24. what, Latin America so saturated they have to move on to China?

[hughee99]

53. If "saturation" was their concern, why would they move to a country

that produces 5 times as much tobacco as the US.

[colsohlibgal]

25. Why Is The Liberal Press Mostly Ignoring This?

I'm spooked by that. Maybe it's getting no traction because it's not a shiny object or too complicated but it's sad and scary it's being largely ignored.

[Divernan]

26. Reporting staffs slashed, don't typically cover international trade stories

Send your local paper the link to this report from the OP and point out that this will affect the people and kids in their community. You know those laws forbidding billboard ads for cigarettes,and especially any advertising of cigarettes near schools. Well under the proposed Obama changes, Big Tobacco could sue state and local governments over advertising regulations. We haven't seen the fine print yet, but I also expect Big Tobacco would like to start handing out free samples as a form of advertising.

[Divernan]

27. No O supporters posting yet. Has Obama jumped the shark with this one?

[markpkessinger]

29. Not to worry . . .

I'm sure the BOG is formulating its talking points even as we speak . . .

[JackRiddler]

38. Actually, the BOG only does that...

For stuff that has attention.

This is being fully suppressed from the media.

Regular non-politicals know something about Snowden/NSA, therefore talking points relentlessly repeated.

Also, this is absolutely not defensible. There's no way to get around it, it's the proactive policy of the USG to cede sovereignty over environmental and labor issues to (foreign) corporations. This is why it gets negotiated in secret and even senators must leak information. This is why "fast track" voting.

[Nihil]

66. They turned up but even they were lost for a coherent response this time.

"The best democracy money can buy" has only the tried & tested tactic
of "smother any news & distract with shiny objects" as there is no honest
response that could justify this behaviour.

[Divernan]

67. Thanks for that info. Thanks to "ignore" I haven't seen any responses.

[fredamae]

28. Yet, smokers

get to pay MUCH higher premiums under the ACA because, why?

And he SUPPORTS Big Tobacco in this arena??? W.T.F.?

[uhnope]

30. headline is so biased it's funny nt

[George II]

34. I'm late to the party, but glad I'm not the only one who thought that...thanks!

[Lionel Mandrake]

44. I was wondering when someone would notice that.

I would argue that the press release does contain serious news. But it also editorializes in a big way, as you might expect, considering the source (of which I am a member).

[JDPriestly]

31. That is the last straw.

More cancer. More cancer. More cancer. More cancer.

That's what looser restrictions on ads and sales of tobacco mean.

Dying of cancer is ugly and painful.

More cancer. More cancer. More cancer. More cancer.

But what does our current administration's trade representatives on the TPP talks care about cancer victims all over the word?

As long as tobacco is addictive and makes lots of profits, who cares how many it kills? Who cares how many lives are cut short as long as the hedge fund managers make their money?

President Obama, do you want your daughters to smoke?

Because if restrictions on tobacco ads and marketing are loosened, the chances that they will rise greatly.

[markpkessinger]

46. And at the same time . . .

. . . be sure to go after medical marijuana dispensaries -- you know, those places that provide stuff that might provide a little relief to the cancer patients you mention!

I agree -- this is just utterly indefensible on ANY level.

[Divernan]

48. Maybe Obama should have spent his summer vacation volunteering in a cancer ward.

You are absolutely right, JDPriestly - I've watched dear relatives and one friend endure debilitating chemo treatments only to die slow and agonizing deaths of cancer, and once had to take a death bed deposition of a man dying of cancer. Has Obama led such a sheltered life that he's never seen this?

As Joseph Welch said to Senator Joseph McCarthy, "You've done enough. Have you no decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?"

Obama's done more than enough for his corporate sponsors. He should have the basic human decency to protect the US and the world (via this international trade agreement) from Big Tobacco.

[uhnope]

49. it's not a straw, it's a bat. heh.

[randr]

35. Many firms representing Big Tobacco

are also representing the fracting/anti-global warming market.
It will be interesting to see where Obama cabinet/advisor members find employment following his term.

[Ash_F]

36. No counter-points yet?

I guess this one caught them off-guard.

[markpkessinger]

47. Sometimes it takes a while . . .

. . . to find the right rationalization.

[DisgustipatedinCA]

50. They're busy getting David Miranda fitted for an al Qaeda uniform. They'll be around eventually.

[ForgoTheConsequence]

52. There are none.

Instead they'll just find an article talking about how another country did something wrong.

[Ash_F]

57. Wait until smoking becomes cool again.

Then they will find their courage.

[Ash_F]

68. Bump, still waiting on the pro argument.

Come on, you can do it.

[MotherPetrie]

54. Vile, disgusting, and unconscionable. More and more like it's still 2008.

[Harmony Blue]

58. What in the world is this?

[Doctor_J]

60. First six words sum up his entire reign

The Obama Administration has backed down

When is the last time we had any good news from/about the admin??

[Lionel Mandrake]

61. The last good news from the Obama Administration was

arguably May 2, 2011, when they finally took out Osama bin Laden. That would have been a good time to declare victory in the Afghanistan/Pakistan theater of war.

[Divernan]

65. $35 Billion annual Tobacco Profits; Nearly 6 million annual deaths.

http://www.worldlungfoundation.org/ht/display/ReleaseDetails/i/20439/pid/6858


*In 2010, tobacco industry’s profit was equivalent to US$6,000 for each death caused by tobacco.
* Since the 1st Tobacco Atlas in 2002, almost 50 million people have died from tobacco.
* 43 trillion cigarettes have been smoked in the last decade.

(Singapore) - The Tobacco Atlas, Fourth Edition, and its companion website TobaccoAtlas.org, were unveiled today by the American Cancer Society and World Lung Foundation at the 15th World Conference on Tobacco OR Health. The Atlas graphically details the scale of the tobacco epidemic, progress that has been made in tobacco control, and the latest products and tactics being deployed by the highly profitable tobacco industry – such as the use of new media, trade litigation, and aggressive development of smokeless products.

Tobacco Industry Profits Greater Than Ever
According to The Tobacco Atlas, estimates of revenues from the global tobacco industry likely approach a half trillion U.S. dollars annually. In 2010, the combined profits of the six leading tobacco companies was U.S. $35.1 billion, equal to the combined profits of Coca-Cola, Microsoft, and McDonald’s in the same year. If Big Tobacco were a country, it would have a gross domestic product (GDP) of countries like Poland, Saudi Arabia, Sweden and Venezuela.

The Most Preventable Cause of Death
In 2011, according to The Tobacco Atlas, tobacco use killed almost 6 million people, with nearly 80% of these deaths occurring in low- and middle-income countries. When considering 2010 deaths with tobacco industry revenue, the tobacco industry realizes almost $6,000 in profit for each death caused by tobacco.

If trends continue, one billion people will die from tobacco use and exposure during the 21st century – one person every six seconds. Globally, tobacco-related deaths have nearly tripled in the past decade, and tobacco is responsible for more than 15% of all male deaths and 7% of female deaths. Tobacco is also a risk factor for the four leading noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) – cancer, heart disease, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases – which account for more than 63% of global deaths according to the World Health Organization.

[forestpath]

69. Obama has no shame. He'll do ANYTHING to protect the 1%.

[Lionel Mandrake]

70. Not exactly.

The 1% was and is opposed to Obamacare. Obama continues to support it (although he tolerates delays).

On the whole, IMHO, Obama is getting more and more conservative.

[4bucksagallon]

71. "This particular trade agreement will kill hundreds of millions of people."

Sure it will...... maybe even billions..........Just don't forget it is a legal product in your rant. LOL!

[Lionel Mandrake]

73. Yes, tobacco is a legal product.

That's not the issue. The issue is to what extent children and non-smokers should be protected from second-hand smoke and from advertisements of tobacco products. The fact that a product is legal doesn't mean that it should be immune from restrictions intended to protect public health.

Food and most drugs, for example, are legal, but they are subject to restrictions by the government, and rightly so. In the USA, for example, the FDA controls these legal products to protect public health. Some drugs are available by prescription only. Food must be labeled in certain ways, so that consumers will know just what they are buying. Why should tobacco products escape similar control?

[Pterodactyl]

72. Not surprising. He is a smoker.