Members and Subscribers,

Please take a few minutes now to contact your members of Congress and ask them to publicly oppose the Panama FTA! The agreement has still not been introduced, and we want to keep it that way! However, it has been reported that it is likely to be introduced soon, and perhaps before Memorial day. We need to ask members of congress to take a public position against it now, to reduce the likelihood that it will be introduced.

Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,

I'm writing today to ask you to take a public position against the US-Panama Free Trade Agreement. Our country needs a new direction on fair trade policy, not this left-over Bush administration agreement. In general, I oppose - and ask you to oppose - trade agreements that fit the NAFTA model, such as this one. My main concerns include the inadequate labor and environmental provisions, investor-state provisions that protect foreign investors over local environmental and social needs, and that these agreements limit our state from being able to decide our own procurement provisions, such as passing anti-sweatshop or Buy American policies. In addition, Panama's economy thrives on banking secrecy, and its "comparative advantage" rests on the ease with which U.S. companies can create subsidiaries there to evade U.S. taxes. A Government Accountability Office study identified Panama as one of eight countries - and the only current or prospective FTA partner - that was listed on all of the major tax-haven watchdog lists. Given the role that banking secrecy played in the global financial meltdown, a trade agreement with Panama should be conditioned on much greater regulation and transparency within its financial sector. Please publicly oppose this flawed agreement today. Your constituents want to see you support fair trade, not continue the harmful policies of the past. Thank you."

Sincerely,

Campaign Launched:
May 13, 2009