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Critics' claims that the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership is a secret deal simply don't hold water.
A few weeks ago, Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., soared into full-throated whine mode on the floor of the Senate. Having blasted the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement as a secret deal, she finally had availed herself – after months of complaining – of her privilege to read the entire draft. She was now incensed that she and her accompanying staff were not allowed to take physical copies of the current (and ever-evolving) draft of the 29 chapters out of the building.
What she neglected to mention (or maybe even know) was that the rules for viewing trade agreements were not something newly concocted by the Obama administration. They were put in place by the Congress itself. Though now controlled by Republicans, the security arrangements go back to the NAFTA negotiations of the early 1990s, and have been renewed by Republicans and Democrats alike. Boxer opposed the Trans-Pacific Partnership even before reading parts of the text; and like other congressional opponents of the agreement, she is just using the "secrecy" ploy as another arrow in the quiver of darts to bring down the trade deal.
www.usnews.com
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