McConnell makes final fast-track push: 'Today is a very big vote'

[mystery-ak]

http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/245815-mcconnell-urges-trust-ahead-of-trade-vote

June 23, 2015, 10:20 am
McConnell makes final fast-track push: 'Today is a very big vote'

By Jordain Carney

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday morning made a final push for a fast-track trade bill ahead of a procedural test vote.
 
"I urge all of our colleagues to vote for cloture on this bipartisan trade bill today, that will open the way for final passage of [trade promotion authority] tomorrow," he said. "Today is a very big vote. It's an important moment for the country."
 
The Republican leader's push comes roughly an hour before senators are expected to take a cloture vote on a motion to concur with the House-passed trade promotion authority (TPA) bill.
 
He added that senators must "keep working together and trusting each other."
 
His remarks come after Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said ahead of Tuesday's votes that House lawmakers "remain committed to ensuring that both TPA and TAA are passed and enacted into law."
 
McConnell said that both he and Boehner are "committed to building trust across the aisle."
 
The Senate originally passed trade legislation in May that included both TPA and a separate trade adjustment assistance (TAA) measure, but McConnell is now trying to pass both measures separately.
 
McConnell faces a 60-vote threshold on Tuesday's vote, meaning he can only afford to lose a few supporters from the Senate's initial trade vote last month.
 
But, ahead of the vote, he's facing opposition from within his own party, with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) saying he will flip his vote from "yes" to "no."
 
Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) on Monday evening urged his Republican colleagues, most of whom backed the original trade vote, to block the TPA bill on Tuesday.
 

[alicewonders]

I don't understand why Ted Cruz is switching his vote.  What has changed for him?  Why did he vote yes in the first place?

Can anyone tell me what is in this for us?  On what basis are the lying politicians and traitors telling us (because no one else is allowed to see the deal) this is going to be good for us?  And if we can't see the thing because it's still be negotiated - then how do we know the end result - how do we know it's importance to us?

My gut tells me this is the icing on the cake of the sell-out of the American people.  I know of nothing good that is connected to it for the United States.  No doubt these politicians will be personally enriched by it - but what is there for the people?  I didn't think I could hate Mitch McConnell more.....but it turns out that I can!

[sinkspur]

I don't understand why Ted Cruz is switching his vote.  What has changed for him?  Why did he vote yes in the first place?

Can anyone tell me what is in this for us?  On what basis are the lying politicians and traitors telling us (because no one else is allowed to see the deal) this is going to be good for us?  And if we can't see the thing because it's still be negotiated - then how do we know the end result - how do we know it's importance to us?

My gut tells me this is the icing on the cake of the sell-out of the American people.  I know of nothing good that is connected to it for the United States.  No doubt these politicians will be personally enriched by it - but what is there for the people?  I didn't think I could hate Mitch McConnell more.....but it turns out that I can!

Either we participate in setting trade rules for the Pacific Rim, or the Chinese will set the rules all by themselves.

[alicewonders]

Either we participate in setting trade rules for the Pacific Rim, or the Chinese will set the rules all by themselves.

I thought the Chinese were not included in this agreement.

[GourmetDan]

McConnell said that both he and Boehner are "committed to building trust across the aisle."

Yeah, like the Demonrats did when they were in power... right Mitch?



"The sole purpose of the Republican Party is to serve as an ineffective alternative to the Democrat Party." 

[Fishrrman]

Alice wrote above:
[[ My gut tells me this is the icing on the cake of the sell-out of the American people.  I know of nothing good that is connected to it for the United States. ]]

You gotz a smart gut, Alice.

I said this before in another post, I'm going to repeat it:
If the Pubbies are instrumental in passing these secret trade agreements, and the "secrets within" turn out to be mass abrogations of American autonomy, the Republicans are going to pay for their folly in November 2016.

They're going to lose.
And they're going to lose badly.