<HTML><FONT FACE=arial,helvetica><HTML><FONT SIZE=2 PTSIZE=10 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" FACE="Arial" LANG="0">PM Thursday, December 15, 2005 <BR>
<BR>
WTO and Wal-Mart <BR>
<BR>
A controversial World Trade Organization services agreement that will be <BR>
discussed at this week's WTO ministerial meeting in Hong Kong poses a <BR>
serious threat to state and local authority over land use policy, <BR>
according to a briefing paper released by Public Citizen. <BR>
<BR>
SARA JOHNSON, <A HREF="http://by106fd.bay106.hotmail.msn.com/cgi-bin/compose?curmbox=00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000001&a=a7e5a3abeb5b6a0625bb45e354a7149aea66324dc501cef3817b08e510a86a26&mailto=1&to=sjohnson@citizen.org&msg=8D7226EC-F2E9-4DEE-AA3E-8755F6B4D80B&start=0&len=6861&src=&type=x">sjohnson@citizen.org</A>,<BR>
<BR>
<A HREF="javascript:ol('http://www.citizen.org/pressroom/release.cfm%3FID=2099');">http://www.citizen.org/pressroom/release.cfm?ID=2099</A><BR>
<BR>
Johnson is state and local outreach coordinator for Public Citizen's <BR>
Global Trade Watch division, which has just released the paper "Big Box <BR>
Backlash: The Stealth Campaign at the World Trade Organization to <BR>
Pre-empt Local Control Over Land Use." Johnson said today: "Major big <BR>
box retail corporations have been eyeing the WTO's General Agreement on <BR>
Trade in Services as a way of gutting local zoning and land use laws <BR>
that have kept them out of communities in Europe and the United States. <BR>
... Wal-Mart is just one of the firms that have been lobbying both the <BR>
U.S. government and the WTO on this issue." <BR>
<BR>
JEFF MILCHEN, <A HREF="http://by106fd.bay106.hotmail.msn.com/cgi-bin/compose?curmbox=00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000001&a=a7e5a3abeb5b6a0625bb45e354a7149aea66324dc501cef3817b08e510a86a26&mailto=1&to=jeff@ReclaimDemocracy.org&msg=8D7226EC-F2E9-4DEE-AA3E-8755F6B4D80B&start=0&len=6861&src=&type=x">jeff@ReclaimDemocracy.org</A>,<BR>
<BR>
<A HREF="javascript:ol('http://www.ReclaimDemocracy.org/walmart');">http://www.ReclaimDemocracy.org/walmart</A>, <BR>
<BR>
<A HREF="javascript:ol('http://www.tompaine.com/articles/20051115/beyond_walmart.php');">http://www.tompaine.com/articles/20051115/beyond_walmart.php</A><BR>
<BR>
Milchen directs ReclaimDemocracy.org, a non-profit organization <BR>
focused on restoring citizen authority over corporations. He wrote the <BR>
recent article "Beyond Wal-Mart." Milchen said today: "Big box stores <BR>
often ride roughshod over communities by running their own ballot <BR>
initiatives when a town makes law that corporate executives dislike. Now <BR>
they aim to pre-empt democracy entirely by using the WTO to override <BR>
local decision-making authority. ... We need to recognize that Wal-Mart <BR>
is merely the corporation most efficient at exploiting structural <BR>
problems -- it's the symptom, not the disease. We need root-level <BR>
changes to halt the growth of parasitic corporations like Wal-Mart and <BR>
instead encourage business models that advance democracy, strong <BR>
communities and widely shared economic prosperity." <BR>
<BR>
STACY MITCHELL, <A HREF="http://by106fd.bay106.hotmail.msn.com/cgi-bin/compose?curmbox=00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000001&a=a7e5a3abeb5b6a0625bb45e354a7149aea66324dc501cef3817b08e510a86a26&mailto=1&to=smitchell@ilsr.org&msg=8D7226EC-F2E9-4DEE-AA3E-8755F6B4D80B&start=0&len=6861&src=&type=x">smitchell@ilsr.org</A>, <BR>
<BR>
<A HREF="javascript:ol('http://www.hometownadvantage.org');">http://www.hometownadvantage.org</A><BR>
<BR>
<A HREF="javascript:ol('http://www.newrules.org/retail/news_archive.php%3Fbrowseby=slug%26slugid=162');">http://www.newrules.org/retail/news_archive.php?browseby=slug&slugid=162</A><BR>
<BR>
Mitchell is the author of the book "The Home Town Advantage: How To <BR>
Defend Your Main Street Against Chain Stores and Why It Matters" and a <BR>
researcher with the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, which has helped <BR>
dozens of cities and towns across the U.S. enact local ordinances <BR>
limiting big box expansion. She said today: "As the tide of communities <BR>
acting to curb big box sprawl swells, Wal-Mart and other mega-retailers <BR>
are now looking to run an end-game around local authority by harnessing <BR>
the power of the WTO." <BR>
<BR>
JENNIFER ROCKNE, <A HREF="http://by106fd.bay106.hotmail.msn.com/cgi-bin/compose?curmbox=00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000001&a=a7e5a3abeb5b6a0625bb45e354a7149aea66324dc501cef3817b08e510a86a26&mailto=1&to=jennifer@amiba.net&msg=8D7226EC-F2E9-4DEE-AA3E-8755F6B4D80B&start=0&len=6861&src=&type=x">jennifer@amiba.net</A>, <BR>
<BR>
<A HREF="javascript:ol('http://www.amiba.net');">http://www.amiba.net</A><BR>
<BR>
Rockne directs the American Independent Business Alliance, a <BR>
national organization helping communities support independent <BR>
businesses. She said today: "Communities nationwide are organizing <BR>
successfully to resist the proliferation of chain stores and, instead, <BR>
nurturing the development of healthy local economies with primarily <BR>
community-based businesses." <BR>
<BR>
For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy: <BR>
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; or David Zupan, (541) 484-9167<BR>
915 National Press Building, Washington, D.C. 20045 <BR>
<BR>
<A HREF="javascript:ol('http://www.accuracy.org');">http://www.accuracy.org</A> * ipa@accuracy.org<BR>
<BR>
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Vision2020 Post by Ted Moffett<BR>
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