TAFTA affects Arlington

Don't let corporations get the power to take away democratically-enacted regulations that protect consumers, residents, homeowners, children, and everyone. That's what the current Trade Talks with the EU are focusing on as they move to Arlington next week.  They want to reduce "trade barriers" (anything that doesn't make more money) and create an extra-judicial process that would allow corporations to sue local, state, and federal governments in secret trade tribunals who would have the ability to overturn U.S. laws with no appeal process.  This new system would be outside the Constitution. 
There are loads of evidence that NAFTA has hurt the American workers with hundreds of thousands of jobs lost to sweatshop labor in foreign lands. The new trade talks, both conducted in secret without consumer, worker, environment, health advocate input - only business was allowed to participate - will ruin democracy both here and abroad.    Remember a few years ago when an EU corporation sued the state California because of its water protection regulations? That corporation lost in U.S. Courts, but with these new trade agreements (Trans Pacific and TAFTA) that corporation would be able to overturn California and take all the water it wanted for its bottling company - in a secret tribunal that the state could not appeal.
These trade deals go too far. Protect American Democracy - say no to secret tribunals in California or any state. Restrain business from ruining the air, stealing our water, spoiling our food supply, poisoning our drug supply -- all results if corporations are given free rein with no oversights.