Pat Choate: Those Trade Lies

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…

Philly.com: On trade, Pelosi does GOP a favor

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…

CNN: Inside the trade bill’s collapse

(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…

Greg Autry: Why Our Trade Deal Disasters March On

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…

Lori Wallach: Fast Track Down

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…