White House launches frantic campaign to save trade deal

[mystery-ak]

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/06/house-democrats-vote-trade-bill-unfair-fast-track-barack-obama-118892.html


White House launches frantic campaign to save trade deal

By Edward-Isaac Dovere

6/11/15 4:45 PM EDT

Updated 6/11/15 7:42 PM EDT

President Barack Obama and his aides launched a full-court press to save his trade package on Thursday, as House Democrats’ internal struggles pushed Obama’s top legislative priority perilously close to defeat.

As Obama made phone calls to reluctant Democrats from the White House, Chief of Staff Denis McDonough, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew and Labor Secretary Tom Perez went face-to-face with trade opponents including AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka in a testy closed meeting on Capitol Hill.

It was unclear whether the White House was making any progress.

Rep. Sandy Levin (D-Mich.) asked McDonough whether the president could use his leverage with Republicans — who “desperately want” the legislation to pass — to push for changes that would make the bill more palatable for Democrats.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/06/house-democrats-vote-trade-bill-unfair-fast-track-barack-obama-118892.html#ixzz3cnolwvpR

[Fishrrman]

This "deal" wouldn't have had a Chinaman's chance of passage, had its contents been publicly available from the beginning.

Chances are, it -is- going to get passed, and the Pubbies are going to be labeled the guilty party on this one, without whose collaboration the bill would have failed.

This is NOT going to help them come election time, 2016.

[Bigun]

I just had a 20 minute long heated conversation with my congressman's chief of staff over this. She assures me that TPA is public and has been passed by the senate is what is up for a vote. TPA will mandate that TPP or any future trade agreement over the next 6 years be public for 60 days before any president can send that agreement to Congress for debate and vote.

I'm going to read it to find out if that is true! Here's a link if you want to do the same.

http://kevinbrady.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=399096

[alicewonders]

I just had a 20 minute long heated conversation with my congressman's chief of staff over this. She assures me that TPA is public and has been passed by the senate is what is up for a vote. TPA will mandate that TPP or any future trade agreement over the next 6 years be public for 60 days before any president can send that agreement to Congress for debate and vote.

I'm going to read it to find out if that is true! Here's a link if you want to do the same.

http://kevinbrady.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=399096

Thank you Bigun.  I went to the link and tried to read the document, but my eyes started crossing and I couldn't go on.  I trust your judgment on something like this and I can't wait to hear your take on it.  It's a strange thing - the alliances and the secrecy.  It can't possibly be good.

[Bigun]

Thank you Bigun.  I went to the link and tried to read the document, but my eyes started crossing and I couldn't go on.  I trust your judgment on something like this and I can't wait to hear your take on it.  It's a strange thing - the alliances and the secrecy.  It can't possibly be good.

This is what I found. Make of it what you will.

SEC. 106. IMPLEMENTATION OF TRADE AGREEMENTS.
(a) In General.—

(1) NOTIFICATION AND SUBMISSION.—Any agreement entered into under section 103(b) shall enter into force with respect to the United States if (and only if)—

(A) the President, at least 90 calendar days before the day on which the President enters into the trade agreement, notifies the House of Representatives and the Senate of the President’s intention to enter into the agreement, and promptly thereafter publishes notice of such intention in the Federal Register;

(B) the President, at least 60 days before the day on which the President enters into the agreement, publishes the text of the agreement on a publicly available Internet website of the Office of the United States Trade Representative;

(C) within 60 days after entering into the agreement, the President submits to Congress a description of those changes to existing laws that the President considers would be required in order to bring the United States into compliance with the agreement;

(D) the President, at least 30 days before submitting to Congress the materials under subparagraph (E), submits to Congress—

(i) a draft statement of any administrative action proposed to implement the agreement; and

(ii) a copy of the final legal text of the agreement;

(E) after entering into the agreement, the President submits to Congress, on a day on which both Houses of Congress are in session, a copy of the final legal text of the agreement, together with—

(i) a draft of an implementing bill described in section 103(b)(3);

(ii) a statement of any administrative action proposed to implement the trade agreement; and

(iii) the supporting information described in paragraph (2)(A);

(F) the implementing bill is enacted into law; and

(G) the President, not later than 30 days before the date on which the agreement enters into force with respect to a party to the agreement, submits written notice to Congress that the President has determined that the party has taken measures necessary to comply with those provisions of the agreement that are to take effect on the date on which the agreement enters into force.

[alicewonders]

This is what I found. Make of it what you will.

Thanks Bigun.  I can't say I feel better now.  The way they write these things, you could have a huge bill - like Obamacare - thousands of pages written like that.  By the time you got to the end of it - they will have already changed parts of it.  Nothing should be that complicated.