There is something very wrong going on with the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade negotiations.

The red warning flags are flashing brightly and storm sirens are sounding loudly.

All Americans have a right — a right, not a mere privilege — to be fully informed about the activities of their government.

Especially this Congress and President.

The list of congressional investigations of wrongdoing by the President and members of his administration are the likely the longest of any administration in American history.

The Republicans, up to now, seemingly viewed the President as intentionally undermining the economy with his Alinsky-like strategy to radically transform the United States to bring about a socialist revolution. Then there is the matter of his supporting the rise of Islamic groups dedicated to the overthrow of Western civilization and Israel.

The Congressional Democrats, to their credit, at least act like the loyal opposition party and defend the President from every accusation and claim. Likely liquid hypocrisy flows through their veins instead of blood.

Together they have earned a level of such disgust and revulsion by the voters that survey after survey shows that cockroaches and lawyers are held in more esteem.

Now America is faced with the bizarre situation where the Republican political establishment and the president are working hand in hand against the Democratic political establishment to promote some sort of trade agreement.

Making this all the more abhorrent is that they both claim that it all must be kept an undisclosed from the American people whose lives and livelihoods are at stake.

The public's right to know about government policy and its formulation is a foundational principle for the people in to trust and hold accountable their governmental representatives.

I have no doubt that some matters of government must of necessity be done behind closed doors. The Constitution provides that some matters can be kept secret. Reaching a compromise between competing political interests is not generally a spectator sport.

I have no doubt that the wheels of progress move forward a little easier when greased occasionally.

Secrecy may be warranted when matters involve diplomatic, military, and covert intelligence gathering activities.

But even this has fallen into disrepute by the revelations of widespread spying and lying which has become the standard operating procedure of the government. All blessed by the Supreme Court who rule as if the American public were the enemies of the state.

The Congress, the president, and the Supreme Court represent a government that has gone amok.

A government that operates surreptitiously undermines the constitutional system of checks and balances. As one article I read recently pointed out, this notion of secrecy "presents and active threat to individual liberty and undermines the very notion of government of, by and for the people."

Make no mistake, I am all for free trade. I am a free-market capitalist in principle who recognizes that a free-market does not mean a free-for-all market. In order to have free trade there is a need for rules.

But what are those rules going to be?

When those members of Congress and a president who have been mortal enemies get together and mutually agree to act together furtively and in secret, then all Americans, investors and workers alike, should know the red warning flags are flying.