I am reminded of the calming advice of David Nicklaus a couple of weeks back that the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal was nothing really to worry about, dismissing anxiety about secret trade courts that can overrule national sovereignty.
We see now the very compliant Republican House of Representatives has passed legislation to overturn rules that require labeling meat products with country of origin. Although this simple bit of consumer information is favored by 90 percent of Americans, if this legislation becomes law, it will be prohibited. Why? Because one of those secret trade courts ruled that our country’s country-of-origin law adversely affected someone’s profits. So much for national sovereignty.
And, although we saw some backbone in Congress resisting the TPP, it will no doubt pass soon enough. When quislings walk the halls of Congress, what chance do citizens have?
Then there is the pending legislation that would protect Monsanto and others who promote keeping secret the GMO content of food products that we eat. Among St. Louis-area representatives, only Rep. William Lacy Clay seems interested in protecting consumers’ right to know what goes into our food and where it comes from.
On another note, who can forget Rep. Ann Wagner’s cynical service to the insurance industry with her declaration of "war" on the Department of Labor. For what transgression? For having the audacity of establishing a rule that financial advisers must assume a fiduciary responsibility toward their clients when dealing with retirement investments.
Of course, all this comes as no real surprise. American citizens seem always to take the seat at the back of the bus when it comes to what our supposed representatives do in our names. As reported in the analysis by M. Gilens and B. Page in "Perspectives on Politics," the opinions of average citizens have virtually no influence on policy making, while the influence of economic elites and business groups dominates the outcome of policy making in our legislative bodies.
Sad indeed, but we have become a nation of governance of the people, by the corporations, for profit — not at all what was once envisioned by Abraham Lincoln as a government of the people, by the people and for the people.
