Lawmakers reach deal on 'fast track' trade authority

[Brian4Liberty]

Just in case there are people who don't know how this is going to go down, I'll mention it. With fast-track authority, congress, who are supposed to be representing us, can't ammend the thing. They get to debate it for 10 minutes an then a straight up or down vote happens.

I don't understand. Is the whole "deal" being done under treaty authority (needing 2/3 vote in senate) or under the authority to regulate foreign commerce (needing a majority in both houses)? I mean, if it looks like a treaty and smells like a treaty and quacks like a treaty, isn't it a treaty? It would seem like fast track tries to by-pass the need for a 2/3 vote in the senate?

That's what I am getting from this. It's a way to lower the bar, among other things.

[pao]

It is my understanding that full details of TPP will not be available to the public for 4 years after passing...if true, not very transparent, and just enough time to embed itself beyond removal. Wish Rand would challenge this, get details to the pubic for debate before vote.

[presence]

If You Want a Trade Deal, ‘Let Us See It’

Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) has been one of the loudest opponents to the Obama administration’s proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, which earned her a presidential rebuke on Hardball last night. Warren fired back on her website this morning, calling for the White House to release details of the trade deal before Congress grants Obama fast track authority. “If the American people would be opposed to a trade agreement if they saw it, then that agreement should not become the law of the United States,” she wrote Wednesday.
“If most of the trade deal is good for the American economy, but there’s a provision hidden in the fine print that could help multinational corporations ship American jobs overseas or allow for watering down of environmental or labor rules, fast track would mean that Congress couldn’t write an amendment to fix it,” Warren wrote. “Before we sign on to rush through a deal like that – no amendments, no delays, no ability to block a bad bill – the American people should get to see what’s in it.”
The battle of the trade deal, which is supported by the administration and many Republicans but opposed by labor and environmental groups, threatens to pit flanks of the Democratic Party against each other ahead of election season. Liberals disdain trade deals, arguing they gut the U.S. labor force by sending jobs overseas.

“I love Elizabeth. We’re allies on a whole host of issues,” Obama told Matthews in an interview last night.



“But she’s wrong on this.”

http://www.mediaite.com/online/eliza...let-us-see-it/

[enhanced_deficit]

Seems like an immoral move.

Fast Track Trade Bill: Congress quietly pushes Legislation to Penalize Boycott of Israeli settlements