I guess this is the kind of heart-warming bipartisanship President Obama has been hoping for after all these years of tooth-and-nail opposition from Republicans:
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Top Republicans predicted on Sunday that both chambers of Congress would muster the votes to pass the "fast-track" authority sought by President Barack Obama to negotiate major trade deals, despite opposition from Obama's fellow Democrats.
"Yes, we’ll pass it. We'll pass it later this week," Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said in an interview with ABC.
Republican U.S. Representative Paul Ryan said on CNN's "State of the Union" that he was confident the measure would also pass the House of Representatives.
"We will have the votes," said Ryan, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. "We're doing very well. We're gaining a lot of steam and momentum."
The trade issue has made unlikely allies of Republicans in Congress and the Democratic president. McConnell, who has frequently clashed with Obama on a number of issues, offered him rare praise on Sunday.
"The president has done an excellent job on this," McConnell said on ABC's "This Week." He pointed out that the six-year Trade Promotion Authority was "not just for President Obama, but for the next president as well."
Well hopefully that will be a President Bernie Sanders or a President Hillary Clinton. Somehow, I don't think that's quite what McConnell had in mind though when commending his new BFF President Obama for throwing the progressive wing of his own Democratic Party under the bus on this issue in order to pass a Republican-initiated, Republican-favored trade deal.
(via)