Senate leaders are determining what provisions to include in a trade bill that is supported by the White House and the Senate majority, but not many Senate Democrats. [Reposted from Roll Call | Matthew Fleming | May 11, 2015] Two bills are expected to be included: TPA, known as fast track, which speeds up consideration of trade…
A controversial trade bill is well shy of the votes needed to pass the House and faces a difficult vote in the Senate as the debate in Congress kicks off in earnest this week. [Reposted from Politico | Lauren French, Burgess Everett, and John Bresnehan | May 11, 2015] Congressional sources say that fewer than…
Representatives of labor unions, the Sierra Club and Central Valley-Sierra Progressives gathered Thursday in front of Rep. Jim Costa’s district office in downtown Fresno to urge the Democratic legislator to oppose a streamlined approval process for a politically divisive trade pact backed by President Obama. [Reposted from The Fresno Bee | Tim Sheehan | May…
President Obama is scheduled to visit Nike’s Oregon headquarters on Friday to promote the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Yes, Nike – a company that grew to billions by outsourcing jobs to overseas sweatshops, a company that sets up P.O.-box subsidiaries in tax havens to avoid paying U.S. taxes, a company that uses threats to extort tax…
Mitch McConnell is calling Harry Reid’s bluff. With his move to tee up a critical trade vote for Tuesday, the Senate majority leader challenged Reid (D-Nev.) to make good on his threat to block movement on trade until the Senate determines a strategy for surveillance legislation and highway funding. [Reposted from Politico | Sueng Min…
The Obama administration’s full-court press on trade isn’t racking up enough Democratic votes to move the president’s agenda through Congress, Rep. Sandy Levin (D-Mich.) said Thursday. [Reposted from The Hill | Vicki Needham | May 7, 2015] The Obama administration’s full-court press on trade isn’t racking up enough Democratic votes to move the president’s agenda…
Washington (CNN)One of President Barack Obama’s favorite sales pitches for his proposed trade deal with Pacific Rim nations — known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership or TPP — is that it will be a boon to the U.S. auto industry. If the TPP is passed, Obama argues, more Ford Mustangs and Chevy pick-ups will be cruising…
The trade agreement lies stoop to a new low. Laughable. Nike, saying it will create 10,000 domestic jobs, backs the president’s case that the Trans-Pacific Partnership could help American manufacturing. [Reposted from The New York Times | Peter Baker | May 8, 2015] BEAVERTON, Ore. — President Obama on Friday lashed out at critics within…
Senators Orrin Hatch and Ron Wyden have introduced a Senate bill calling for “fast track” Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) along with House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan. A smoldering debate over trade is expected to get even hotter now that Congress has returned from its two-week spring break. Months of closed-door negotiations continue.…
Alabama senator Jeff Sessions, a Republican, has written a letter to President Barack Obama regarding the request that Congress “fast-track” legislation on Trade Promotion Authority. Sessions says he has a number of questions Congress should expect answers to before the body agrees to “yield its institutional powers.” Read the full letter below: [Reposted from The…