This Agreement is an all out effort to further deregulate global capital markets, and reduce the capacity of governments to enforce investment, and finance standards; and to eliminate the enforcement by governments of environmentally responsible behavior on the part of transnational corporations. Where NAFTA allows countries to withdraw with six months notice, the current draft of MAI would lock signatories to the agreement for 20 years. You will not believe the sovereign legal and constitutional evolved powers that corporations have created and are in the process of establishing and instituting. Corporations have unlimited country granted incentives to move their production to specific countries and locales that it staggers the imagination. I will touch on some of them later. The corporatist media practices the sin of omission by leaving out nearly all of the factual realities that the global citizenry has a disparate need of to facilitate effective self governance. Thus the need for free lance journalists. Institutional credentials, not a prerequisite—comprehensive reality based reporting—yes, a genuine necessity.

According to U.S. Senator Paul Sarbanes: the cumulative trade deficit of the United States, is from 1.5 trillion to 1.8 trillion depending on what factors are used to reduce it. We were the largest creditor nation in 1981 by 1996 we were the largest debtor nation to foreign countries! Who are the beneficiaries of these huge trade deficits?

Giant transnational corporations play both ends against the middle. Only the global corporatist and the top tiers of the lowest production cost countries garner temporary profits, everyone else in this economic equation are exploited or used. The homeland economies of the First and Third World countries lose in numerous ways; some become major losers. As the Asian countries collapse financially the taxpayers, are going to be required to bail them out. So again, the victims bail out their victimizers. Will we wake up in time?

Number one: Do you want a citizen regulated economy or; a corporate established legal tribunal regulated economy? An economy where countries can provide unprecedented incentives for corporations to build factories and produce there. Where, in some countries even bribery is legal. Where, the powerful are welcome to exploit the poorest human beings in the poorest countries. Where the economies of all countries become interdependent. Do you like volatility, instability, and insecurity?

Number two: Would you rather have an economy based on regulatory incentives that would optimize a self sustaining homeland economy while, optimizing mutually beneficial trade. Do you want countries that build self sufficient, self sustaining economies from the ground up? Do you like stable and sustainable economies that are not critically interdependent? There is a model of capitalism that can provide the opportunity to achieve equity of economic opportunity within and across all economic sectors. Zero-sum models of capitalism can be converted to Mutual win/win economic relationship equations.

The meeting of the economic needs of the masses should be the primary standard of legitimacy for all economic systems.  The existing model of capitalism does not meet those minimal criteria. There is injustice incorporated in a multiplicity of policy components within this model of global capitalism.  Therefore, it is incumbent that we find a model of capitalism that does meet these human requirements.  I have a clear vision of what is required but ask you to consider alternatives that would fill the need. Consider what these mutually beneficial changes could mean to literally billions of lives! Consider the lives that will be spared!

I have heard the "labor productivity, comparative advantage arguments," and they are mere sophist rhetoric. While labor cost differentials are critical to wages and production jobs in Developed Countries, the majority of production cost differentials are in other areas.  In every arena of production costs, these developing countries have colossal advantages. Transportation is the singular area of greater cost, but it is nominal. The result is a noncompetitive advantage for global corporations to produce in these countries. These unjust exploitive advantages produce exponential spreading of gross injustice. We must care about the marginalized people that this model of global capitalism produces. No one should have to tell you what the consequences would be to billions of human beings worldwide that require equity of economic opportunity. The existing corporate model of Capitalism is on trial and the findings require a global discussion to find the best possible model of capitalism to adopt. If we fail to do this other countries will write off; not just this model of capitalism but; capitalism period.

There are no more important political issues in respect to sovereign self governance and economic life chances than the Multilateral Agreement on Investments. If we allow corporations to pass it, they will have the sovereign power to govern countries, and their people will be wholly subservient to corporations. Corporations will become the New World Order reality unless, we do an effective job of either modifying or eliminating these agreements.

First, the tremendous mobility of global corporations allows them to move into and out of countries whenever there is an economic advantage to exploit in another country. Second, most of these countries or communities have over borrowed or their banks have made to many bad loans. This has left them vulnerable to the World Bank; the IMF; and other corporate financial institutions that then place severe policies and other regulations on them. These regulations benefit global investors. In this way, those countries lose their sovereignty to govern their economic and political affairs to corporate institutions. Therefore, even if we were to maintain the status quo the majority of these countries would lose their governing rights and become corporate governed colonies. It is Corporate State Imperialism and Colonization at its worst; everybody loses in the end, including the global corporations. I refer you to a good dictionary; remember corporations can now transpose countries as Ruling Collective Imperialist Empire States.

• No government can favor domestic companies over foreign companies
• All Governments must treat firms from all member countries equally
• No Government can impose "performance requirements" that require companies to do special things in order to invest
• Governments cannot expropriate
• If governments violate these principles, an international tribunal can force them to pay damages

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This is the Defining Corporate Global Policy Agreement Issue of this Era

The economic future and governing sovereignty of over six billion World citizens is at stake in these corporate agreements. The corporate global economic policies in existence must be reformed if we are going to stop the exploitive injustice that is pervasive. As things stand global financial institutions can dictate to and govern countries, their economies and their citizens.

Corporate Rights under the Multilateral Agreement on Investments would dwarf those of NAFTA.  However, under NAFTA, the American Ethyl Corporation filed a law suit against the Canadian government for banning a gasoline additive that the Canadian law says is harmful. American Ethyl has a plant in Ontario manufacturing this additive. American Ethyl claims: Canadian law amounts to expropriation of its property and it wants $250 million dollars compensation. Every law imaginable will be an expropriation of corporate property and be ripe for a huge lawsuit.

The vote is due in May; it will be too late then; we need to take a hard look at what these corporate initiated agreements are going to mean to the average person's political and economic life chances. The evidence is overwhelming against the existing policies that must be changed; let alone allowing them to pass new far reaching agreements that will create even further economic disparities.

Injustice and exploitation breeds rebellion. My message to all victims is to practice total nonviolence and unite with the global citizenry that is campaigning for your cause. Everyone needs to begin to network through every means possible. That includes all forms of mass media; broadcasting, print media, audio and video cassettes, and film. The world's citizenry must be informed and educated in accord with experiential realities, not propaganda.

Look up Article I Section 8 of our U. S. Constitution.

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