Hey, I have to watch this for general work so what the heck...
Setting the stage first (and apologies ahead of time for the typos).
BREAKING UPDATE HERE: Nancy Pelosi is voting NO on TAA *likely* dooming fast track...for now...let's see how the vote goes. Remember what she said: she wants to slow down the fast track bill. This does not mean Fast track is dead forever, IMHO.
BREAKING: First vote beginning. 15 minute vote. TAA vote. If this does not pass, fast track cannot proceed because they are linked.
VOTE UPDATE: WITH LESS THAN TWO MINUTES LEFT ON TAA VOTE, 147 NOS VERSUS 98 YEAS
**TAA FAILS BY LARGE MARGIN, MAJORITY OF BOTH PARTIES VOTE NO*
FINAL VOTE ON TAA:
NO: 302
YES: 126
NOT VOTING: 6
CHAOS IN THE CHAMBER! The rejection by the Republican Party members has got to be a big fuck you to Boehner/Ryan et al...
FAST TRACK VOTE NOW ON THE FLOOR
FAST TRACK PASSES 219-211 28 Democrats voted for this crap. So, now the Rules Committee will have to parse this out--it can't go to the president without TAA. So, my guess is that they will try to bring the TAA back up.
AS PROMISED: THE 28 DEMOCRATS WHO VOTED FOR FAST TRACK. PRIMARIES!!!
There will be two votes. The first vote will be on the Trade Adjustment Assistance, which I've called "burial insurance"--it sprinkles a smidgen of money for retraining of workers who can demonstrate they've lost jobs due to trade...retraining for jobs that don't exist and certainly don't pay anything near what they currently earn. TAA, indeed, enhances inequality. Even an amendment by the Progressive Caucus would only increase the TAA amount to $575 million!!!
That said, there is a chance TAA will be voted down because a chunk of Republicans hate the whole idea--because, of course, the government should never help workers--and Democrats are opposed to the exclusion of public sector workers in the TAA. If TAA goes down, the fast track vote will not happen because they are tied together--but that doesn't mean fast track could not be brought up again.
If TAA passes, then, fast track will come next.
9:45 a.m. I'm updating this high up: The House went into recess mid-debate on the TAA because Obama has arrived at the House. There is speculation that TAA was headed to defeat.
UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE POST VOTES:
Yes, this is confusing. Here is what I believe we know:
1. The House handed the president and the Republican leadership a huge fuck-you by voting down the TAA
2. The leadership then pushed through the fast track vote which passed very narrowly.
3. This CANNOT GO TO THE PRESIDENT without the TAA because of the way the bill came over from the Senate.
4. There, then has to be some wrangling in the Rules Committee and they will then have to bring the TAA vote back for a vote.
In terms of a vote count, oh, I'm not going to pick a number. Some of these public lists are useless. For example, The Hill has Republican Rep. Kevin Yoder of Kansas as undecided but he was clear this morning on C-SPAN that he has been a "yes" vote. For once, I agree with
Steve Israel:
“The only thing that is predictable is the unpredictable,” said Rep. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.). “Anyone who tells you they know where this is going to land is the last person you should be listening to.”
1:32 PM EST: Inserting update here as voting starts:
TAA vote now, I'll post the Democrats who abandon workers once the roll call is posted. If the TAA fails, it will be essentially impossible for Republicans to bring up fast track on its own because the two are linked. BUT BUT BUT...IMHO it does not mean fast track is forever dead--it is likely that Pelosi will then have leverage over Obama and Republicans to get a different bill. On the other hand, maybe not!
Prior to the vote, Rep. Barbara Lee made the case against fast track on C-SPAN (I'm paraphrasing):
I come from Oakland where economy depends on trade. This trade bill in no way will create jobs [clearly she's talking about TPP]. Other trade deals diminished job growth. The president is doing what he needs to do to win, he has a legacy, quite naturally he would call everyone. I think it's important that there be loyal opposition [basically, Lee was trying to be careful not to slam POTUS too hard]. I have not read TPP, I know in essence where it's going.
Q: How are you going to vote on TAA? A: I'm not going to vote for it. It's not broad enough. It's not deep enough.
Q from caller: I'm a conservative Republican. I'm not a rocket scientist but if you first have to pass a bill to help workers when they lose their jobs, hello? A: She made the case against.
Asked by moderator about 2016: not endorsed. But I think Senator Clinton is doing a fine job. She's going to pull it off. [Then she was asked by moderator but what about Bernie Sanders?]: He's a good friend. He's going to make for a stronger Democratic nominee. He's raising important issues...[Dodged it...God, this is a leader of the progressive caucus??? Very disappointing, though her vote against the Iraq War resolution will always stand.]
One observation about the people: every single caller--Democratic, Republican, Independent--spoke against fast track and TPP...
House gavels in at 9:00 A.M.[again, mostly will paraphrase, sorry for typos]: prayer blah blah blah...journal approval, blah, blah, blah...Pledge of Allegiance...Hey, the Senate has approved the reprinting of the pocket version of the Constitution!!!! One minutes speeches...some guy died in Illinois.
One minute speech. Rick Nolan (D-8th--Minn): These trade agreements are destroying the middle class. It takes 2 or 3 jobs to earn an income before these trade agreements. This is a race to the bottom. The time has come to say no to these agreements. It's destroying the American Dream, the middle class...
One minute speech...Peter DeFazio (D-ORegon): How many times will Congress be fooled? first there was NAFTA. Now Obama Administration? A new paradigm! Now the TPP...we need to retrain workers for McDonald's and it's being funded by cutting Medicare. They've got the votes to jam this through unless we kill TAA.
Note here: DeFazio seemed to indicate, though it could be just rhetoric, that he acknowledges the votes are there to pass fast track and only way to stop fast track is to kill TAA.
Apparently, Obama is meeting with House Democrats this morning, which means they are still trying to make the case--doesn't mean there aren't enough votes for fast track but likely Obama wants as many Dem votes as possible...after all he, has already united the Republican Party in the Senate, he'd probably like to show that he still leads his own party...
Lloyd Doggett (35th--TX): This Congress can be fast tracked or it can be right tracked. We can backtrack or move forward. Tried to make changes in committee. Asked that they meet environmental standards of the last Bush Administration. All changes were rejected.
6:18 AM PT: Paul Ryan is calling up the bill.
6:19 AM PT: Ryan and Sander Levin will control the time on each time.
6:22 AM PT: Ryan: if we want to create more jobs in America we have to make more things here and sell them over there (yeah, right, for what wages, you bozo?). There are 262 free trade agreements across the world. Since 2007, when fast track expire, there have been 100 trade agreements negotiated and signed--we are a party to none of those (damn, was that an argument against fast track??? LOL). blah blah, lowering trade barriers (idiot, this has nothing to do with lowering trad barriers at this point--you want to lower trade barriers...that takes a deal written on one page, not hundreds with corporate rights...my editorializing...)
6:26 AM PT: Ryan: this TPA will give us in Congress the leverage...Congress says to president you have to pursue certain objectives, you have to keep us informed, we get access to negotiating documents...transparency! Not again!!! When America gets agreement, we make it public for 60 days...(Oh, c'mon, now you have to outright lie...uh, it's meaningless...god, talk about trying to put lipstick on a pig...not to mention Ryan is talking not to members of Congress but clearly to viewers)
6:32 AM PT: Ok Sander, kick Ryan's butt:
Sander Levin: I have worked all my years here to expand trade to the many, not to the few. To strike the right balance. No currency manipulation provisions (He is really referring to TPP, not fast track). Wrong direction on access to medicines and environmental protections. Worker rights violations by Mexico and Malaysia (Levin clearly focusing on TPP and I'm guessing that this is about keeping any undecided Democrats to vote against fast track). We should be using our leverage to impact the negotiations. This bill (fast track) does not do this. We in Congress will be in the back seat. This is not about protectionism versus free trade. I want a TPP that is worthy of broad bi-partisan support. TAA should not be a bargaining trip to get a deeply flawed (fast track) across the finish line. This TAA bill includes shortcomings.
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Letter today from AFL-CIO to House:
Dear Representative,
H.R. 1314 Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA): Vote No
H.R. 1314 Fast Track: Vote No
H.R. 644 Customs Bill: Vote No
On behalf of the AFL-CIO, I write urging you to oppose H.R. 1314, the Hatch-Wyden-Ryan “Fast Track 2015” legislation. We oppose both the current Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) and the Fast Track Trade Promotion authority contained in that bill. We also oppose H.R. 644, the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 (Customs Bill).
The misnamed “Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015” (Fast Track 2015) is unfortunately another reincarnation of prior, failed “Fast Track” policy. It gives the executive branch the opportunity to negotiate—in secret and out of public view—as many trade agreements as it can through at least June 30, 2018 (and likely an additional three years), and send them to Congress, which may then only vote yes or no on each.
Fast Track 2015 fails to hold the executive branch accountable for achieving negotiating objectives, addressing the job-killing U.S. trade imbalance (which currently stands at $505 billion), or ensuring that trade deals do not continue the current race to the bottom in terms of pay and benefits, worker rights, environmental protections, access to affordable medicines, food safety rules, and other vital protections for working families. In short, it will do nothing to prevent repeating the mistakes of failed trade policies that have contributed to stagnating wages, increasing inequality, and the closure of more than 60,000 factories since 2000.
The AFL-CIO has been clear that any new Trade Promotion Authority must include improved transparency, public participation and congressional oversight. Hatch-Wyden-Ryan fails on every single criterion.
The Right Track alternative proposed by Ranking Member Levin, but denied a vote both at the Committee and on the Floor, represents a strong improvement over traditional Fast Track legislation. It limits trade promotion authority only to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and provides mandatory oversight and instructions from Congress, as opposed to the unenforceable and aspirational objectives in Fast Track. USTR Ambassador Froman and other TPP-nation trade ministers have recently made it clear: the TPP negotiations are almost finished. They are not interested in further input by Congress. Granting Fast Track to the Administration would be giving USTR carte blanche to finish TPP with no requirement to heed input from Congress. The Levin alternative would have ensured that Congressional marching orders given to USTR must be certified as achieved by both House and Senate trade advisors before the agreement
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could be completed. Unfortunately, this superior legislation will not be considered. The AFL-CIO strongly believes that a vote to reject Fast Track 2015 is a vote to improve Trade Promotion Authority and will provide Congress an opportunity to incorporate reforms that the AFL-CIO has been seeking for many years.
America’s working families cannot afford more trade policy made by and for global corporations and economic elites—trade policy that does nothing more than shrink paychecks and further diminish America's struggling middle class.
Trade Adjustment Assistance: Vote No
We will continue to oppose TAA unless the funding levels are restored to a minimum of $575 million and public-sector workers are eligible for the program. The labor movement has strongly supported TAA for decades, but an inadequate version of TAA should not clear the way for a disastrous trade bill. We need a better TPA and a better TAA and defeating the current versions is the only way to achieve this.
H.R. 644—Customs Bill: Vote No
The customs bill, which when it emerged from the Senate had bipartisan support and included enforcement provisions supported by both labor and industry, has been loaded by the House Republican leadership with numerous controversial and partisan provisions that weaken or unacceptably alter it and make it more difficult to negotiate agreements that are good for workers and the environment.
Stripped from the customs bill is a currency provision the administration opposes. This bipartisan provision, supported by labor and business, was potentially the most critical enforcement tool in the entire package. It would have allowed the U.S. to treat currency manipulation as a countervailable subsidy.
The customs bill also amends Fast Track bill in a way that prevents the United States from making commitments on climate change in trade agreements. Such provisions are important to creating a “21st Century” trade agenda and ensuring that trade policy does not thwart climate policy.
Also added to the customs bill is unacceptable language weakening the Menendez amendment, which requires countries to thoroughly address human trafficking before they could be included in a fast-tracked trade deal with the U.S. Weakening this provision undermines the U.S. commitment to lead on human trafficking and raises doubt regarding the ability of the TPP to protect workers and ensure compliance by trading partners with internationally recognized ILO labor rights, including the right to be free from forced labor.
The enforcement package has also been weakened in a number of places, including Green 301 and the ENFORCE Act, undermining years of work by those standing for better, fairer trade policies. The bill also excludes other important provisions contained in the Senate bill regarding funding to enforce and monitor trade agreements.
Not one of these changes moves the customs bill in a stronger direction and we urge you to oppose it. The AFL-CIO supports the version of the bill that passed the Senate.
Sincerely,
William Samuel, Director
Government Affairs Department
6:36 AM PT: Lloyd Doggett: some have referred to TAA as burial insurance [http://www.workinglife.org/...]
6:38 AM PT: David Nunes (R-22nd-CA): blah blah (I love when people stand up and try to say something really consequential, sound important, knowledgable and start with something like, "this is a moment when we have to step back", "geopolitical"...blah blah...and really it's stupid talk.)
6:40 AM PT: Sander Levin gives Ron Kind time to pimp for fast track and TPP..fuck, make that time come off Ryan's time, Sander!
6:45 AM PT: The House has not recessed
6:45 AM PT: Recess because Obama has arrived at The House
6:46 AM PT: Apaprently TAA was headed to defeat, thus Obama's visit.
7:41 AM PT: [http://www.politico.com/...]
President Barack Obama went to Capitol Hill Friday morning to meet with House Democrats in a last-minute bid to salvage his trade agenda.
The meeting was a big, risky moment for the president and his second-term agenda, as a package of trade bills is stalled because of Democratic opposition. The president needs to convince Democrats to back a measure, known as Trade Adjustment Assistance, that would provide aid and retraining to workers who lose their jobs due to trade agreements. The aid legislation, which is in serious jeopardy, must pass before the House can vote on the central Trade Promotion Authority legislation. That would give Obama fast-track authority to negotiate the massive Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Republicans and Democrats were predicting that TAA was potentially headed for defeat — bringing fast track down with it — unless the dynamic dramatically shifted this morning. Obama’s visit to Capitol Hill, a rare round of personal lobbying by a president not known for his relationships with lawmakers, was designed to do just that.
7:51 AM PT: Gene Green from Texas: Obama didn't change my mind, voting against all of it.
7:55 AM PT: Aside: I do always like how the C=SPAN anchors politely get rid of the really crazy, unhinged callers...wonder if they get specific training for that?
7:55 AM PT: HOUSE COMING BACK INTO SESSION NOW
8:00 AM PT: John Lewis (D-GA): opposed NAFTA. Reflection of values. I'm not for trade at any price or any cost. Vietnam: no right to organize unions. America should not have to compete with starvation wages. I'm going to cast my lot with the working people of America. Do what is right, stand up for the working people of this country. (love this guy!)
8:03 AM PT: Danny Davis (D--7th IL): opposes, especially for using a single cent from Medicare. I want a trade bill that create s economic opportunity for the communities that I represent. I don't want a fast track--jobs left communities fast enough. I'm voting against this. I'm going to be voting with the people who I represent, who sent me here.
8:07 AM PT: Earl Blumenauer (D-OR): (fuck this guy...and why should Sander give time from his time? Make Republicans give time): pitching Obama's pitch. (Sounds like the Republicans). Strongest labor and enviro provisions (dude, you are full of shit--would you send your CHILDREN to work in those factories???)
8:10 AM PT: Bill Pascrell (9th-NJ)Remember, we are giving assistance to workers who already lost jobs. Wouldn't it make sense to save the jobs first? Who are we kidding here? Past trade deals have hurt the American worker.
8:15 AM PT: Linda Sanchez (38th-CA) Nothing in this that requires countries to bring labor and enviro laws into compliance. This should not be a race to the bottom for standards for workers. Offered amendment to protect people from being put to death for their sexual orientation.
8:17 AM PT: Peter Roskam (R 6th-IL): Recede or move forward blah blah blah stupid shit about American exceptionalism...oh Israel: amendment to shield Israel against boycotts! If you want to trade with US, you can't boycott Israel...(SMH, head hits table)
8:22 AM PT: Marcy Kaptur (9th-OH): What a figleaf...TAA...it's too little for the damage abut to be done. This latest job outsourcing deal serves only the one percent. (she's awesome). A few thousand people will benefit, but America won't. I urge, no, no, no votes.
8:26 AM PT: Nydia Velasquez and Rosa DeLauro yucking it up in the background.
8:30 AM PT: Nydia Velasquez: time and again we are promised trade deals will offer opportunity. Time and again, jobs are sent abroad. This agreement will make things work. The only people who are pushing fast track are lobbyists and big corporations. That is not who I represent.
8:34 AM PT: Some dopey Republican...Without TPA the president alone sets objectives...more blah blah stupid shit...(it's on the Internet!!! woohoo!)
8:35 AM PT: Brad Sherman (D--30th-CA): If you are against fast track, vote no on TAA. What's the good of having a little trade adjustment when it sends millions of jobs overseas (and then he makes a stupid reference to NANCY REAGAN!!!)
8:36 AM PT: Sellout Henry Cuellar (D-38th-TX): Let's support fair trade...what? (shilling for it all).
8:39 AM PT: Rosa DeLauro (3rd-CT): the debate today is about one question. Do we support hardworking Americans or do we abandon them? TAA is underfunded. We must stop fast tracking bad trade deals. Fast track denies public scrutiny. It relinquishes congressional authority. our job is to vote down this bill. (She led the whipping against this crap).
8:45 AM PT: Time for debate over. The vote will happen at about 12:45 p.m.
8:45 AM PT: That was the vote for TAA.
8:48 AM PT: David Schweikert (R-AZ) Big Labor-Goebbels (ok we've gone to the wingnut arguments...)
9:00 AM PT: Boehner: (oh no)...we're not hear to debate a particular trade bill. American leadership!!! When America leads, world is free, China is really bad for everyone, it's the Red Menace! Watch out, for our kids, our grandkids (can Boehner order the Star Bangled Banner to be played while he speaks???)
9:08 AM PT: Xavier Becerra (34th-CA)Everyone agrees, we have to stop countries from manipulating their currency. Yet this legislation would prohibit us from going after the countries that are allowing companies to cheat? Vote this down
9:10 AM PT: Steve Scalise (R: LA, Majority Whip): It's China menace again. Transparency (it's oniine!!! God, the faith in the Internet over executive power is amazingly...stupid)
9:13 AM PT: Debbie Dingell (12th-MI): I promised the working men and women who I represent that they would have a seat at the table. We cannot compete with the Bank of Japan and Bank of China. The Korea deal was a great deal for Korea...Congress cannot abdicate its responsibility, it's our responsibility to protect the American workers.
9:27 AM PT: OK, so, on both sides, we're sort of getting repetitive at this point. The votes are coming soon, within the half hour. Will update if someone says something really new and/or interesting.
9:43 AM PT: Keith Ellison (5th-MN): Trade Adjustment assistance shouldn't pave the way for trade promotion authority. The only reason we've been lobbied for TAA is so that we can give up our constitutional authority.
9:59 AM PT: We're coming to a close on the debate. First vote will be on Trade Adjustment Assistance
10:06 AM PT: Pelosi: thanks to just about everyone...(she lists everyone but the ushers...and your position is???). We all understand we live in global economy. I was hopeful we could find a vote to YES. Each week, we go home to our districts, we put a hand on a hot stove, concerns of so many families. Why are we fast tracking but slow walking the transportation bill. We have an opportunity to slow down. We want a better deal for American workers. (Have to say, pretty, incoherent rambling speech so far)
10:08 AM PT: More Pelosi: fast track, vote it up or down, I find that unnecessary. (It appears she will vote NO but use the Republican "bad bill" as the reason...preserve Obama relationship...but who knows?)
10:09 AM PT: More and more Pelosi: (oh no invoking a Pope!). economic justice, I don't see that happening in this bill. Increasing the paycheck of American workers should be the purpose.
10:11 AM PT: Pelosi still going on: bringing in climate change. Rejected fast track for Clinton. When Democrats had majority in the House under Bush, we didn't have fast track. (still smelling like NO vote)
10:13 AM PT: Pelosi: prepared to vote against TAA to slow down fast track!!!
10:14 AM PT: Pelosi: IF TAA bill fails, fast track is stopped. It's stuck in the station. For that reason, sadly, I will vote against the TAA. Will vote to slow down fast track.
10:23 AM PT: Votes starting.
10:35 AM PT: With four minutes left in vote, 114 Nos versus 86 yeses on TAA
10:50 AM PT: well you see you never know: the other two bills are going to be voted on.
10:54 AM PT: It's a very close vote as predicted
11:07 AM PT: see my update on where we are now in the body of the text, bolded and blockquoted.
11:22 AM PT: Friends: need to do some other stuff. Will post names of renegade Dems when official roll call vote is posted.
11:29 AM PT: Statement from Public Citizen. Note emphasis on the word package, which confirms my view of where we are:
The Fast Track package sent over from the Senate was rejected today by the House because two years of effort by a vast corporate coalition, the White House and GOP leaders – and weeks of procedural gimmicks and deals swapped for yes votes –could not assuage Americans’ concerns that more of the same trade policy would kill more jobs and push down our wages.
Passing trade bills opposed by a majority of Americans does not get easier with delay because the more time people have to understand what’s at stake, the angrier they get and the more they demand that their congressional representatives represent their will.
Welcome to the weekend as the millions of Americans across the political spectrum actively campaigning against Fast Track will intensify their efforts to permanently retire the Nixon-era scheme and replace it with a more inclusive, transparent process that instead of more job-offshoring can deliver trade deals that create American jobs and raise our wages.
Today the allegedly unstoppable momentum of the White House, GOP leadership and corporate coalition pushing Fast Track to grease the path for adoption of the almost-completed, controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal just hit the immovable object called transpartisan grassroots democracy.
The crazy gimmicks employed to try to overcome what polls show is broad opposition to Fast Track actually backfired. Yesterday, the House GOP leadership put most GOP representatives on record in favor of cutting Medicare by $700 million with a vote on a procedural gimmick. Today, it was Democrats’ ire about a gutted version of a program to assist workers who will be hurt by the trade agreements Fast Track would enable that was the proximate cause of the meltdown. That program was included only to try to provide cover for the two dozen Democrats who would even consider supporting Fast Track at all.
Today’s outcome is a testament to the strength and diversity of the remarkable coalition of thousands of organizations that overcame a money-soaked lobbying campaign by multinational corporations and intense arm-twisting by the GOP House leadership and the Obama administration. The movement now demanding a new American trade policy is larger and more diverse than in any preceding trade policy fight. It includes everyone from small business leaders and labor unions to Internet freedom advocates and faith groups to family farmers and environmentalists to consumer advocates and LGBT groups to retirees and civil rights groups to law professors and economists.
12:11 PM PT: AS PROMISED THE 28 DEMOCRATS WHO VOTED FOR FAST TRACK. PRIMARIES [http://www.dailykos.com/...]