Lucas,
At a time when budgets are being cut everywhere, corporations are pushing a NAFTA-style trade pact with Korea that will allow them to loot our public treasuries as compensation for simply having to comply with environmental, financial, health and other laws.
Tell Congress to defend democracy -- and our taxpayer funds -- by rejecting the Korea trade deal!
Corporations want to use the Korea pact to allow them to challenge U.S. and Korean public health, financial services and environmental laws that get in the way of their "future expected profits." If governments want to maintain or pass such laws, corporations will be able to use the new trade pact rights to challenge them outside of the U.S. court system for taxpayer-funded compensation.
A nearly identical "investor-state" system under NAFTA has led to many corporate demands for taxpayer cash in challenges of public interest policies, with over $300 million paid out so far. Even when a government successfully defends their laws, they must pay millions of our tax dollars in legal fees. It's outrageous!
Tell your representative to vote "No" on the Korea trade deal.
With the Korea deal, these NAFTA-style investor rights are a particular threat. Why? There are over 270 corporate affiliates of Korean firms in the U.S. that would obtain these new rights to challenge local, state and national laws.
Tell Congress to block this corporate assault on our treasury and our democracy!
When Mexico tried to protect jobs in its fragile farming sector, the giant agribusiness company Cargill was able to use NAFTA to get Mexican taxpayers to cough up $77 million plus interest. While Cargill claimed mega bucks, the displaced workers that Mexico was deemed unable to protect had little choice but to emigrate or join the drug gangs that are tearing our neighbor apart.
Closer to home, Canadian businessmen attacked the U.S. states' settlement with tobacco companies that led to a sharp reduction in teenage smoking, saving countless lives and health costs. The U.S. thankfully won the case, but had to spend years and millions of dollars in the legal proceedings, while the NAFTA tribunal that stuck the U.S. with the tab left the door open to similar attacks on U.S. public health measures in the future. There are $9.1 billion in these corporate attacks under NAFTA pending now.
If the rest of us are tightening our belts, corporations shouldn't treat our democracy as their all-you-can-eat meal ticket.
Tell Congress to reject the Korea trade deal!
Thanks for all you do!
Beatriz and James
Senior Field Organizers
Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch