NAFTA Negotiations Start in Secrecy; Corporate Lobbying Heats Up

``The first round of re-negotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement between the US, Canada, and Mexico began on Wednesday and is scheduled to last through Sunday. And the one thing we know about it is this: Despite promises in March by US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer (USTR) that the negotiations would be transparent, the USTR now considers the documents and negotiations "classified" and they'll be cloaked in secrecy. But corporate lobbyists have access. And they're all over it... One big topic is the inclusion of an Investment State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) procedure... ISDS is an arbitration procedure outside of the national court system. Its rulings force legislatures to change laws in favor of foreign corporations, and the courts are helpless...''