"Did Barack Obama Just Lose to Elizabeth Warren?" (Not really...)

[RiverLover]

Did Barack Obama Just Lose to Elizabeth Warren?
Not really. On the fast-track trade bill, he was rebuffed by his own party.
—By David Corn
| Tue May 12, 2015 Mother Jones



In Washington, as in much of life, it often seems that social evolution doesn't progress much beyond high school. So it was hardly surprising that in the media the battle over the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal was often depicted as a spat between the BMOC of the party (President Barack Obama) and the queen of the alt crowd (Sen. Elizabeth Warren). Yet the vote on Tuesday afternoon in the Senate that blocked fast-track legislation—which would allow the president to bring the TPP to an up-or-down floor vote with no amendments—was a sign that Obama's problems are not just with Warren, the Massachusetts populist and progressive darling. Every member of his own party but one voted to stymie a vote on the fast-track bill Obama has been pushing. And after the vote, Sen. Chuck Schumer, the New York Democrat who often is mindful of the interests of Manhattan-based financiers, was at the mic denouncing the fast-track measure and demanding a trade deal that does right by American workers—a jab at Obama, who has passionately asserted the TPP is good for US workers.

It turns out that Warren was not holding a marginal position, as the White House had contended. The president was....

Despite what Obama officials were saying, there are real policy issues at the heart of this debate. One is transparency...Snip..

...There are plenty of other policy details Warren has cited to support her opposition to the TPP and the fast-track bill. This is rather complicated stuff. Yet the White House tried to cast this as a political fight driven by Warren's desire to remain the favorite of progressive Democrats.

Perhaps the White House fell into a trap and focused too much on Warren. Harry Reid, the Democratic leader in the Senate, was just as adamant in his opposition, declaring that he would block the fast track bill unless it contained provisions aimed at currency manipulation by China. (Labor unions have been demanding that trade deals confront this matter because currency manipulation allows China to export cheap goods and inflate the price of imported goods manufactured by American workers.) But TPP advocates have feared that a currency manipulation provision could sink the whole deal. Democrats, though, rallied behind Reid on this matter.

The outcome of the vote was "shocking," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell observed afterward. And it was. Even pro-trade Democratic senators sided with Reid.

The TPP and fast track are not dead. The White House called the vote merely a "procedural snafu." But Obama and his aides did seem to miscalculate. His strategy of trying to make Warren the odd woman out failed—at least in this round....

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/05/barack-obama-elizabeth-warren-tpp-fast-track

[cali]

1. Much more than a procedural snafu- that's clearly a lie to minimize

this philosophical rift, but obviously the TPP and TPA are FAR from dead.

[RiverLover]

2. We have to really parse through the attempts to spin the narrative here.

That's why I loved this article at MoJo, it drilled right to the heart of the matter & exposed the failed attempt by the president to make this something it wasn't.

[HereSince1628]

18. I think the ground shook...TPA/TPP/TIPP are shown as vulnerable

regardless of how it's described, American citizens are going to view these things differently after yesterday.

clearly some aspects of TPA must be changed to move it forward, it seems less certain to me that anything in the TPP itself will actually be changed.

Moreover, it's up to the politicians to use this to advantage in negotiating the agreement's path forward. I don't really trust DCdems to do more than find a way to make sure this works for their financial overlords.

[JaneyVee]

3. Dems voted NO because it didn't include provisions Obama wanted....

Republicans stripped worker protections and currency manipulation from it. Doubtful Obama would have signed considering his support for those provisions. In the meantime, we're stuck with NAFTA as TPP was basically a repeal.

[99Forever]

4. Spin spin spin!

Bwahahahahahha.

[JaneyVee]

8. Spin this:

Email from Shaheen:

"The Senate Finance Committee passed a package of trade bills that included provisions to level the playing field for American workers and businesses, including measures to address currency manipulation and properly enforce trade agreements.  Unfortunately, the Republican leadership in the Senate did not bring the entire Finance Committee package to the floor for consideration. It’s critical that these measures be included in the trade package before I can agree to vote for cloture on the motion to proceed to the bill.” 

###

[99Forever]

11. Blah blah blah.

POTUS lost to Democrats. Deal with it.

[JaneyVee]

12. Here's from Wyden email after vote:

"As I told you last month, it is critical that any new trade agreements protect American workers, level the playing field, protect human rights, raise labor standards, protect the environment, and defend a free and open internet.  

If we're going to strike a trade agreement, it has to be a fair deal for American workers.  

To make that happen, I negotiated an agreement with Republicans in the Senate.  We agreed to move forward with votes on critical enforcement provisions at the same time as the vote on trade promotion authority.  We had a deal.  

But today, it became clear that the Republican leadership in the Senate would insist on moving forward on expanding trade without the accompanying enforcement provisions.

Without enforcement, this trade deal is a bad deal for America.  Without enforcement, this trade deal would fail to protect our workers against trade cheats.  Without enforcement, this trade deal would allow the shameful practices of child labor and slavery to continue unchecked.  

As I told my colleagues, if we don't have a deal on enforcement, then we don't have a deal on trade.  

No deal means no deal.

I remain committed to expanding trade opportunities for Oregonians and all Americans. But we're going to do it right."

###

Blah blah blah = troll level. It's apparent you only care about "Obama look bad" instead of facts. That's a tea party trait. Cheers!

[99Forever]

14. More blah blah blah.

Progressives won, Republicans lost. I guess we can clearly see which side of that equation you sit on, eh?

[JaneyVee]

16. Spin! Spin! Spin!

You're hilarious. "Facts bad, progressive good!"

[randome]

17. Jesus, you're rude.

Apparently you go 'blah blah blah' over information you don't like. That's the absolute worst thing about this setback for the TPP -that we have to contend on DU with childish baiting like "I told you so!" and "I was right!"

Whereas the rest of us -what I assume to be the majority of DU- are simply waiting to see what happens next. You know, like objective observers of national politics.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]The truth doesn’t always set you free.
Sometimes it builds a bigger cage around the one you’re already in.[/center][/font][hr]

[JaneyVee]

20. This is what we're dealing with. And...

Here I thought sticking fingers in the ear and saying blah blah blah to facts was exclusively a conservative trait.

[pampango]

15. "... social evolution doesn't progress much beyond high school ..."

"Spin spin spin!

Bwahahahahahha."

[TheSarcastinator]

5. I thought Dems voted no because they were disrespectful to the POTUS

and racist too.

[m-lekktor]

7. you left out schizophrenic . nt

[JaneyVee]

9. That's what happens when people accuse him of sexism

For saying "Elizabeth". PC police run amok.

[m-lekktor]

6. OMFG

you're a hoot!

[JaneyVee]

10. This issue may be over your head.

[cherokeeprogressive]

19. "Doubtful Obama would have signed"

Oopsie!

[appalachiablue]

13. Very interesting piece; it was a mistep for the President to focus on Sen. Warren obviously.