TPP keeps moving ahead

It's been almost a year since I found out about the TransPacific Partnership, which is an attempt to create a trade agreement between the U.S. and a number of countries which surround the Pacific Ocean.   

The negotiations are being held in secret between unelected government officials and representatives from more than 600 of the world’s most powerful corporations; our elected representatives are not involved and not informed.  Perhaps that's because the TPP “will create binding policies on future Congresses in numerous areas,” including “those related to labor, patent and copyright, land use, food, agriculture and product standards, natural resources, the environment, professional licensing, state-owned enterprises and government procurement policies, as well as financial, healthcare, energy, telecommunications and other service sector regulations.”

Foreign corporations operating in the United States would no longer be subject to our laws regarding protections for the environment, finance or labor rights.  If we try to make the companies comply, they can appeal to an international tribunal made up of lawyers specializing in corporate law.