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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsObama pursues Democrats on trade in test of his clout on Capitol Hill
Tribune Washington Bureau, Michael A. Memoli and Christi Parsons
WASHINGTON As a proposal concerning a major trade deal reached a critical point in the Senate last week, lawmakers reported a rare occurrence: last-minute calls from President Barack Obama that ultimately helped ensure that the pact, a key agenda item of his, remained on track.
The landmark trade deal among 12 Pacific Rim nations presents Obama with the most significant test of his clout on Capitol Hill since his push half a decade ago for what would become known as Obamacare. Standing in his way are not Republicans, who have an unusual partnership with Obama on trade, but the president's fellow Democrats, who are concerned that the proposed pact would hurt the U.S. middle class.
The Republican-led Senate ultimately approved the measure granting Obama authority to negotiate the deal, but a fiercer battle awaits him in the House, where Republicans will also need the votes of at least some of the minority-party Democrats to pass the bill.
The president's attempt to get Democrats to back the trade deal has required a reboot of their relationship, which Democrats have complained ranges from strained to nonexistent. The White House says the president and other top members of the administration are trying to persuade Democrats to come around.
Obama and key officials have focused on two key blocs of potential support the moderate New Democrat Coalition and the Congressional Black Caucus in an extended courtship that's included rare White House invitations and promises to help them respond to any political fallout in their re-election campaigns next year.
continues at: Obama pursues Democrats
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Obama pursues Democrats on trade in test of his clout on Capitol Hill (Original Post)
yallerdawg
May 2015
OP
It is not the "trade" that is the problem, it is the odoriferous corporate coup that is
djean111
May 2015
#2
Perhaps the President would get more of his agenda passed if he changed parties.
CentralMass
May 2015
#5
CentralMass
(15,265 posts)1. Lets hope that they collectively vote nay.
djean111
(14,255 posts)2. It is not the "trade" that is the problem, it is the odoriferous corporate coup that is
the bulk of the TPP that is the problem.
So supporters can just stop with that oh, you must hate the poor Vietnamese!! or whatever. Heh, the corporations will sue and get the right to ruin Vietnam, too, my lovelies.
Obama and key officials have focused on two key blocs of potential support the moderate New Democrat Coalition and the Congressional Black Caucus in an extended courtship that's included rare White House invitations and promises to help them respond to any political fallout in their re-election campaigns next year.
Heh, there is nothing Obama could do to induce me to vote for anyone who votes yes on this. Or helped write it. Or who praised it in speeches and in a book.
And imagine - the TPP is so toxic that Obama is not saying oh, your supporters will swoon with delight when they finally see it - he is saying yeah, they will be pissed, so we will help you with that.
CentralMass
(15,265 posts)4. Well said.
yallerdawg
(16,104 posts)3. Another reason Democrats oppose it.
But at that 90-minute meeting in the Cabinet Room, the conversation turned to what has been another vexing issue for the party: health care reform. Democrats' 2010 votes in support of the president's health care overhaul were a main factor in driving them out of the House en masse that year, taking his party from a substantial majority in the chamber to their lowest total in nearly seven decades. The administration argued that, despite the political risks, the Pacific Rim trade pact would ultimately be a consequential achievement, as the health care law has proved to be.
CentralMass
(15,265 posts)5. Perhaps the President would get more of his agenda passed if he changed parties.
yallerdawg
(16,104 posts)6. What President Obama says:
It's no accident that one of Obama's major public speeches on trade came in a summit of Organizing for America, his former campaign operation that has morphed into a group that builds support for his policies, where he referred to critics of the trade deal who say it could harm the middle class.
"They don't know what they're talking about. I take that personally," he said. "Some of these folks are friends of mine. I love them to death. But in the same way that when I was arguing for health care reform I asked people to look at the facts somebody comes up with a slogan like 'death panel,' doesn't mean it's true. Look at the facts."
"They don't know what they're talking about. I take that personally," he said. "Some of these folks are friends of mine. I love them to death. But in the same way that when I was arguing for health care reform I asked people to look at the facts somebody comes up with a slogan like 'death panel,' doesn't mean it's true. Look at the facts."
Populist_Prole
(5,364 posts)7. He's trying to use his halo-effect from other issues to push TPP
It's the policy ( this one is BAD, not the person pushing it.