TPP negotiators forced negotiators from Australia and New Zealand to keep TPP text secret for four years, in order to "facilitate candid and productive negotiations," naturally. The article doesn't say whether American trade negotiators also had to sign such a "gag rule," but if they did, it would violate American law (Sec. 106 (a)(1)(B) of Public Law No. 114-26, to be precise) mandating that the President make the TPP text public for 60 days after the President "enters into" a trade agreement. I suppose President Obama's end-around could be to make Congress ratify the agreement before he "enters into" it, which would obviate his legal obligation to publish the TPP's text. And that would just be one more reason to tell your Congressfolk to vote against it.
Citizens for Tax Justice reports that offshore corporate tax shell games are alive and well in 2015, as nearly three out of four Fortune 500 corporations maintain overseas tax havens -- over twenty tax havens each, on average -- and three out of five of those corporations maintaining tax havens maintain one in Bermuda and/or the Cayman Islands, both notorious tax havens. That's $2.1 trillion that could be fixing bridges, upgrading sewers, paying teachers -- or turning our fossil fuel-dependent energy grid into a more renewable one. And no, tax havens don't "create jobs," or we'd have more and better jobs right now.
D.C. City Council introduces bill granting workers in the city 16 weeks of paid family leave, which would be the most generous package in the country, if passed. It also means staff members working for the numerous right-wing Congressfolk who'll live here over the next few years will enjoy the best family leave plan in the nation as their employers try to destroy it everywhere else. I'd be surprised if this hadn't occurred to President Obama.
Matthew Rodriguez at Mic offers "Six Surprising Ways to Curb Gun Violence That Have Nothing to Do With Gun Control." These are: increased access to drug/alcohol rehab, reforming sentencing guidelines for drug users, breaking the "school-to-prison pipeline," addressing structural racial inequality (this section is a bit low on actual solutions, though ending redlining would be a big start), narrowing the income gap between rich and poor, and addressing structural gender inequality. Yep, that ought to do it. And I'm glad someone is saying it.
In the meantime, a school in Indiana has implemented a number of reforms designed to thwart school shooters, including "hardened" doors and walls, doors that automatically lock, key fobs that contact the police faster than 911 calls, and smoke to disable shooters trapped in hallways. None of these require additional gun control measures or additional guns in the hands of school personnel, nor are they "Big Brother" measures, like forced ID for students and personnel. I wish them the best in preventing the next tragedy.
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