Obama's Trade Deal Back On Fast Track

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Obama's Trade Deal Back On Fast Track

Posted: 6/12/15 at 2:22pm

Hooray!

WASHINGTON -- Democrats rebelled against President Barack Obama's ambitious trade agenda Friday, spurning his last-second personal appeal and blocking a measure in the House that would have granted him the power to fast-track sweeping, secretive international agreements through Congress.

The Democrats' revolt focused on a provision that they would normally back -- something called Trade Adjustment Assistance, or TAA, which would pay to help retrain workers whose jobs get shipped overseas by trade deals -- knowing that killing it would bring fast-track down with it.

But weeks of telephone calls from the White House, countless meetings, negotiations, public feuds and a last-minute trip to Capitol Hill from the president himself did nothing to sway Democrats and the GOP's conservative wing against Obama's trade agenda. In an especially stinging rebuke, Obama lost the key vote, 302 to 126, despite his personal lobbying just hours before.

I wonder what Hillary thinks? Or if she'll mention it in her speech on Saturday.

Democrats Rebel To Block Obama's Trade Deals

Updated On: 7/1/15 at 02:22 PM

Democrats Rebel To Block Obama's Trade Deals

Posted: 6/12/15 at 5:59pm

For once I agree with the Dems.

The world has gone mad today and black's white today....

If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.

Democrats Rebel To Block Obama's Trade Deals

Posted: 6/12/15 at 11:16pm

Why the hell isn't the TPP posted somewhere so we can read it in full? I'm sick of various portions being doled out by sources we may or may not trust to put spin on it.

Democrats Rebel To Block Obama's Trade Deals

Posted: 6/13/15 at 9:09am

True Wilmington, all we get is spin. The spin from the pro side is that without this agreement the Chinese will dominate SE Asian trade and cut our exports. Erik, the Clinton camp silence on this issue is disingenuous, this is a good issue for her opponents.

Stephanatic

Democrats Rebel To Block Obama's Trade Deals

Posted: 6/13/15 at 9:56am

The fact that this is one of the things Obama is spending so much effort on (reports are he hasn't lobbied for anything harder than this since the healthcare debate) is one of the reasons I can't support Hillary Clinton.

I don't expect she will say anything about it in her big campaign speech today. Although she did pick a perfect setting to speak on it. I expect that she will play it like her husband did with NAFTA. Maybe she'll prove me wrong. She's going to have a lot of pressure on her to take a stand. Especially in the debates.

Democrats Rebel To Block Obama's Trade Deals

Posted: 6/13/15 at 10:10am

We'll see. I'm sure she'll do the right thing.

AGAIN.

Did you even know that Hillary voted AGAINST fast-track the last time it was approved, when she was in the Senate in 2002?

Democrats Rebel To Block Obama's Trade Deals

Posted: 6/13/15 at 10:15am

Yes I did even know that! Thanks! My dislike of Hillary Clinton doesn't have anything to do with lack of knowledge about her record.

I'm more interested on how she feels about specifics of the trade deal than the issue of fast track.

Updated On: 6/14/15 at 10:15 AM

Democrats Rebel To Block Obama's Trade Deals

Posted: 6/13/15 at 11:05am

Didn't Obama say that his was going to be the most transparent administration ever? Didn't he say every bill would be posted online for five days before voting? Didn't he?

If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.

Democrats Rebel To Block Obama's Trade Deals

Posted: 6/23/15 at 10:35am

It's great to see Obama and Congress working together...to screw American workers.

Congress Tries To Resurrect Obama's Trade Agenda

#10

Democrats Rebel To Block Obama's Trade Deals

Posted: 6/23/15 at 12:39pm

On this, we both agree.

#11

Democrats Rebel To Block Obama's Trade Deals

Posted: 6/23/15 at 2:44pm

I think we agree on most things. We just disagree about one think in particular.

I also agree with everything you have to say in the gun control thread. And I think the insurrection you predict over the 2nd amendment could come even sooner over the continued dismantling of the working class.

Senate Gives Obama Huge Win On Trade

#12

Democrats Rebel To Block Obama's Trade Deals

Posted: 6/23/15 at 3:09pm

It's great to see Obama and Congress working together...to screw American workers.

Obama has to give back to his union buddies who elected him. I guarantee you this legislation will provide pork for unions.

If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.

#13

Democrats Rebel To Block Obama's Trade Deals

Posted: 6/23/15 at 3:33pm

No, exactly the opposite, Goth. The unions just put a lot of money and muscle into defeating it.

It was, actually, a major rift between Obama and the unions.

#14

Democrats Rebel To Block Obama's Trade Deals

Posted: 6/23/15 at 4:33pm

[quote]It was, actually, a major rift between Obama and the unions.

So why is he pushing so hard for it? What's the benefit for him?

If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.

#15

Democrats Rebel To Block Obama's Trade Deals

Posted: 6/23/15 at 4:49pm

Don't ask us Democrats. We're against it.

Go ask some of those Republicans who are the president's only support on this.

#16

Democrats Rebel To Block Obama's Trade Deals

Posted: 6/23/15 at 5:16pm

"[quote]It was, actually, a major rift between Obama and the unions.
So why is he pushing so hard for it? What's the benefit for him?"

For the same reasons US income ineqaulity is at its hightest rate since 1928.

Note...it started with Reagan.

Updated On: 6/23/15 at 05:16 PM

#17

Democrats Rebel To Block Obama's Trade Deals

Posted: 6/23/15 at 5:45pm

I'll admit I know very little about international trade and global deals like TPP/TPA and NAFTA etc except that, generally, unions are against them and multi-national corps are usually in favor of them. Can anyone recommend a good article/blog/vid that offers an explanation of why so many people are against TPP and TPA? Not just a list of cons, but a brief explanation of how we know these cons are an inevitability with deals like this.

#18

Democrats Rebel To Block Obama's Trade Deals

Posted: 6/23/15 at 6:59pm

It's obviously very complicated--and remember that Obama won't let anyone read this, except for legislators who must got into a high-security room with no cell phones or recording equipment--they can't even take notes!--but here's a good overview of why it stinks:

In one fell swoop, this secretive deal could:

* offshore American jobs and increase income inequality,

* expose the U.S. to unsafe food and products,

* jack up the cost of medicines,

* roll back Wall Street reforms,

* sneak in threats to Internet freedom,

*ban Buy American policies needed to create green jobs,

* and empower corporations to attack our environmental and health safeguards.

PUBLIC CITIZEN: Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP): Job Loss, Lower Wages and Higher Drug Prices

#19

Democrats Rebel To Block Obama's Trade Deals

Posted: 6/23/15 at 7:28pm

Thanks, PJ! That citizen.org posting was exactly what I was looking for.

#20

Democrats Rebel To Block Obama's Trade Deals

Posted: 6/25/15 at 7:49am

Here’s how much corporations paid US senators to fast-track the TPP bill

#21

Democrats Rebel To Block Obama's Trade Deals

Posted: 7/1/15 at 9:35am

"A recent draft of the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade deal would give U.S. pharmaceutical firms unprecedented protections against competition from cheaper generic drugs, possibly transcending the patent protections in U.S. law."

Leaked: What's in Obama's trade deal Is the White House going to bat for Big Pharma worldwide?

#22

Democrats Rebel To Block Obama's Trade Deals

Posted: 7/1/15 at 10:56am

The pharmaceutical industry was the greatest beneficiary of Obamacare. Now this.

Big Pharma is a huge stain on Obama's presidency.

#23

Democrats Rebel To Block Obama's Trade Deals

Posted: 7/2/15 at 4:41pm

Agreed.

I'm hoping we get to hear how Senator Clinton feels about this provision of the TPP!

#24

Democrats Rebel To Block Obama's Trade Deals

Posted: 7/9/15 at 6:35am

"WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration will remove Malaysia from its official list of the world's worst human trafficking offenders, according to Reuters, a move human rights advocates fear will damage U.S. credibility.

The maneuver would allow the administration to continue negotiating a controversial trade agreement with Malaysia and 10 other Pacific nations. Legislation authored by Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) effectively bars the U.S. from enacting trade deals with countries deemed "Tier 3" violators of human trafficking standards -- the worst of the worst in the State Department's formal reckoning of governments that facilitate modern-day slavery.

Malaysia earned its spot on that list, alongside Iran and North Korea, from years of human trafficking, including rampant sex slavery and forced labor in the agriculture and the textile industries, according to 2014 State Department documents. Malaysia's electronics industry also is rife with forced labor. This year, mass graves for trafficking victims were discovered in Malaysia near its northern border with Thailand.

Reuters reports that Malaysia will soon be upgraded to a "Tier 2" country, allowing it to sidestep the ban imposed by the Menendez legislation. The State Department said it does not comment on its human trafficking list before it is formally issued. In a statement to HuffPost, Menendez said the maneuver would undermine the international legitimacy of America's human rights efforts."

Obama To Upgrade Malaysia On Human Rights Despite Mass Graves

#25

Democrats Rebel To Block Obama's Trade Deals

Posted: 7/9/15 at 7:40am

Thanks Erik, SMH.

Stephanatic

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