On Friday, June 12th, 2015, the House of Representatives held an extensive debate on whether Congress should adopt fast track rules for ratifying the Trans Pacific Partnership. Advocates of this secret trade deal made arguments that took them into a world of fantasy economics and delusional politics. Some examples illustrate that point. [Reposted with the…
Updated: The House Republican leadership has decided to delay from Tuesday (June 16) until July 30 the deadline for the House of Representatives to hold a second vote on renewing the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program, in a move apparently aimed at giving President Obama and supporters of his trade agenda in Congress more time to…
When Nancy Pelosi pleaded with her Democratic colleagues to “slow down the fast-track to get to a better deal for the American people,” the House minority leader inadvertently helped the GOP. By pulling the plug on President Obama’s crony corporatist trade deal, Pelosi effectively held Republicans back from colluding with an unpopular president to fully…
The U.S. Constitution clearly states, “The Congress shall have power to … regulate commerce with foreign nations.” Congress has a responsibility to assert this right and forge consensus on trade and globalization. [Reposted from USA Today | Rep. Nancy Pelosi | June 15, 2015 In order to succeed in the global economy, it is necessary…
(CNN) There’s no path for Congress to send President Barack Obama a historic free trade package right now, potentially marking the death of a measure he envisioned as a pillar of his second-term legacy. [Reposted from CNN | Eric Bradner and Deirdre Walsh | June 16, 2015] The House was expected to hold another vote…
Stan Sorscher is the president of the Washington Fair Trade Coalition and sits on the Board of the Coalition for a Prosperous America. Congress’ vote on fast-track authority is historic [“Reps. Denny Heck and Adam Smith wrongly oppose Obama’s trade ambitions,” Opinion, June 12]. We should congratulate U.S. Reps. Adam Smith, Denny Heck and Jim…
While trade is indeed a great and wonderful force for improving the human condition, the fundamental problem with any agreement approaching the scope of the Trans Pacific Partnership is that the complex weave of needs and demands from many nations will invariably cause it to deviate very significantly from David Ricardo’s extremely simple theoretical model…
The Fast Track trade authority package was rejected Friday because two years of effort by a vast corporate coalition, the White House and GOP leaders — and weeks of deals swapped for yes votes — could not assuage a majority in the House of Representatives facing constituents’ concerns that more of the same trade policy…
We won. Yes, there was delay. There was confusion. That is a win for us. Not a final win. But we’ll take it. There may be another vote this week. Because of the confusion, let me explain in some detail. This is not an “action email”, but an explanatory one. I will email you separately…
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Democrats would be more likely to support a controversial trade package that was defeated on Friday if Republicans would support a long-term transportation funding package. [Reposted from The Hill | Keith Laing | June 12, 2015] Pelosi, who helped sink President Obama’s trade package in a Friday vote…
