Richard Berman, lobbyist and political consultant, was secretly recorded during a speech to oil and gas industry executives in Colorado. He explained that the industry “…must be willing to exploit emotions like fear, greed and anger and turn them against the environmental groups”. Then he summed up his philosophy in one cringeworthy sentence- “you can either win ugly or lose pretty”.
People have complained for years about propaganda techniques that give the illusion of grassroots support for policies that only benefit corporate interests. But it seems these Orwellian strategies may be perfectly acceptable if they’re pushing the “right” policy. In the looming fight over the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), Corporatists are once again rolling out the same strategies that they’ve used for decades. With apologies to Mr. Berman… win or lose, it won’t be pretty.
The TPP would be the largest trade agreement in history, creating trade rules for 12 nations and over 500,000 people around the Pacific Rim. It would control 40% of global GDP and for the US alone, it would govern about 40% of our imports and exports. TPP has been in negotiation since 2010, but the public knows little about it because all negotiations have been conducted in secret. Even members of Congress can only see parts of it. They have to go to a special office, alone, to read the complicated legalese and can’t make copies or even take notes. The little we “know” comes from text leaked to WikiLeaks, which discovered that only 5 of the 29 chapters deal with trade at all.
Whether or not the TPP is good policy, the ugliest part is the way it’s being rammed down the throat of the public and Congress. Corporatists have created a secret deal that serves the interests of their masters, so they know better than to think it can garner support among the people at large. The solution? Resort to the Frank Luntz wordsmithing tactics we’ve seen pushing so many other NeoCon and corporatist agendas.
Click here for our “News To Make You Furious” article on the TPP
A PR firm called 270 Strategies, headed by two Obama campaign veterans, has just created a website in support of TPP called the “Progressive Coalition for American Jobs”. The website touts “More jobs, protections for workers, and free and fair trade” as benefits of the TPP. That wasn’t enough to convince Dave Johnson at Campaign for America’s Future, so he called up the “Progressive Coalition” to ask a few clarifying questions. He wanted to know: 1) Who is in the coalition? 2) Who is funding the campaign? and 3) Has anyone at 270 Strategies read the TPP agreement?
None of his repeated calls or messages resulted in a reply, but digging a little on his own he found a few answers. The Washington Post’s Fact Checker had already given the Jobs claim “4 Pinocchios”. No other members of the “coalition” were listed on the website or anywhere else. “Progressive” went down in flames when Dave found a letter from actual Progressives Raul Grijalva and Keith Ellison (leaders of the Congressional Progressive Caucus) expressing their doubts both about the substance of the deal and the emphasis on Fast Track authority. His last question is answered by the news each day… no one but the negotiators and the roughly 500 CEOs who had input on the deal have read it. Interestingly, when we went to the site ourselves the “Get the Facts” link was a dead end when we clicked it.
Lying only gets you so far, though, so there has to be some strategy to shove TPP through before people have a chance to think about what’s in it. Worried that the facts of the deal won’t win on their merits, President Obama has asked for Fast-Track authority to pass the deal. This would give Congress 60 days to vote yes or no, without amending or filibustering it. Don’t talk, don’t think… take it or leave it. And you damn well better take it.
Americans broadly think the best way to legislate is to create rational, logical policies through an honest, transparent, and inclusive process, then present the legislation to citizens for debate, amendment, and passage based on its merits. That ideal may be naïve, has been frequently breached, and certainly hasn’t always paid off, but it’s been the core of the American legislative ideal for decades. Obama and the Corporatists may end up winning the TPP battle, but even they don’t think it can win on its merits… and they’ve already given up any possibility of winning pretty on it.
Digging Deeper…
Don’t Let Congress Fast-Track TPP– Petition at EFF.org
Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement– Fact page at Electronic Frontier Foundation
With TPP at ‘Make-or-Break Point,’ Fast Track Foes Prepare for Battle– Deirdre Fulton on Common Dreams, Mar 11, 2015
The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement- Your Guide To Copyright In The TPP– Fact Page from Public Knowledge
Leaked Texts & Negotiator Info– From Public Knowledge
Quiz: Will The Tpp Be Good For Me?– Center for Popular Economics, Feb 13, 2014
Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP): Job Loss, Lower Wages and Higher Drug Prices– Fact Page at Public Citizen
Hard-Nosed Advice From Veteran Lobbyist: ‘Win Ugly or Lose Pretty’– Eric Lipton in the NY Times, Oct 30, 2014
Big Green Radicals– Smear site
Democrats create an ALEC-killer– Kenneth Vogel on Politico, Nov 9, 2014
A Trade Campaign Built On Four Pinocchios– Dave Johnson at Campaign for Americac’s Future, Mar 11, 2015
How to fight the Trans-Pacific Partnership: Anti-TPP petitions, protests, and campaigns– Connor Sheets in International Business Times, Nov 18, 2013
Obama Faces Backlash Over New Corporate Powers In Secret Trade Deal– Zach Carter on Huffington Post, Jan 25, 2014
Working Families Party Threatens Contest Against Ron Wyden Over Free Trade Deal– Ali Watkins on Huffington Post, Mar 4, 2015
The Obama administration’s illusionary job gains from the Trans-Pacific Partnership– Glenn Kessler in the Washington Post, Jan 30, 2015
Progressive Coalition for American Jobs– Coalitionless Coalition
On the Wrong Side of Globalization– Joseph Stiglitz in the NY Times, Mar 15, 2015
Obama Trade Deal Secrecy Insulting, According To Key Democrat– Zach Carter on Huffington Post, Jun 7, 2012
Obama Campaign Alumni Form New Astroturf Group to Promote TPP– Member on DailyKos, Mar 9, 2015
