House Passes TPA Bill

[DemocratSinceBirth]

I thought it was dead.

[Romeo.lima333]

1. the things the 1% want never die they just keep getting reintroduced untill enough arms

have been twisted to get it passed

[djean111]

2. No, the DINOs are just trying to figure out who is most vulnerable and who can

vote Yes with impunity. The skids have been greased. Personally, I will not be voting for anyone who votes yes. Ever. I am going to start not voting for DINOs. This is what we get.

[newfie11]

3. As I understand it

They are now trying to get it through without TAA ( job Retraining).
If it clears the house I don't think it will need the TAA vote.
If true THIS SUCKS!!!!!!
What the hell are the Dems doing by voting for this!!!!!!

[MineralMan]

4. It was never dead. They just shed the TAA

part. Now, the Senate will vote on the House version. They'll probably pass it, too.

Trade agreements tend to get passed. The problem is that we need trade agreements. It's what's in them that causes all the problems. They're all a process of negotiated compromises between multiple countries. That's where the trouble lies. Nobody gets everything they want, so nobody's ever really satisfied.

Still, trade agreements are a necessary evil, so they tend to get passed in Congress. We can't dictate what's in them unilaterally, since they are the product of multinational negotiations. All trade agreements have issues that affect things in negative ways for all parties. The TPP is no exception. The TPA lets the TPP reach some sort of final form. At that point, Congress will vote whether or not to accept it, but won't be able to tack on a bunch of amendments.

The TPA passed. Fast Track is how these multinational agreements get done, unfortunately. They can't be completed without Fast Track authority, really.

Now, I'm going to duck and cover. Incoming!

[DemocratSinceBirth]

6. If there are going to be trade agreements

If there are going to be trade agreements then it is morally necessary that there be some form of reparations for those workers adversely affected by it. Getting TPA without TAA seems like the worst of both worlds.

[AZ Progressive]

9. Thanks to Nancy Pelosi

[DemocratSinceBirth]

10. She shouldn't have let herself be outmaneuvered like that...

[jeff47]

25. Why do you think she was outmaneuvered? She was whipping votes FOR TPA/TAA.

She personally voted against the bills because they are toxic in her district. But behind the scenes she was whipping votes for the bills.

[jeff47]

21. TAA has never actually done that.

TAA is just political cover. It has utterly failed in all previous trade agreements.

First, you had to show your job was lost due to the trade agreement. And your former employer is very unlikely to write a letter saying "We shipped your job overseas". Instead, your former employer just outsourced part of their supply chain, and the company doing the work just happens to be located in another country.

If you do manage to have a former employer that documents your job was lost to a trade agreement, the problem becomes the utter ineffectiveness of "retraining". For example, turning a 45-year-old former factory worker into a software developer takes a lot of time and money. It requires at least a 4-year-degree to get an interview. And even if they land that interview, the company is going to prefer a 20-something they can abuse the fuck out of over the 45-year-old.

And that also ignores H1B visas.

There's also the incredibly short window to apply for TAA, and TAA only covers half of your salary difference.

This results in workers that took TAA actually getting a lower income than workers who did not.

[MineralMan]

27. I agree 100%. I'm neither arguing for or against any of this.

I'm just talking about how this stuff works, most of the time.

[sabrina 1]

19. George Bush's Fast Tracking of his Trade Bill did NOT pass. So no, they don't always pass. Here on

DU in 2007 it was a huge issue, not just the Bill, but the Fast Tracking of any legislation.

I guess when the Global Economic Corps fail to get their legislation passed with a Republican, they try again with a Democrat. And at exactly the same point in their respective administrations, after their last shot at being elected.

[DeadLetterOffice]

5. Fuckity fuckity fuck fuck. n/t

[Hoyt]

7. Well, it won't look good down the road that so many Democrats voted against the TAA.

I get what Dems were trying to do, but maybe we should have tried something else rather than appearing to vote against job assistance.

[Populist_Prole]

11. Doesn't matter, it was just theater anyway

The whole TPP was wrong to begin with. Compensation for job losses ( losses vociferously denied earlier in their rhetorical push ) is just accepting it's another 1 percent power grab and asking for a bone to be thrown ( and paid for out of medicare ). It's like they admitted defeat and tried to make it sound like they went down swinging.

Fucking bullshit.

[Hoyt]

13. I think Medicare funding bit is about to be removed. It was drop in bucket, didn't start until 2024

anyway. So likely would have been changed with future budgets.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

16. I read in another thread TAA is still alive./NT

[jeff47]

31. The Medicare cut was necessary to stop a Republican filibuster.

Adding TAA stopped a Democratic filibuster, but that was not acceptable to the Republicans. So the Republicans added the Medicare cuts to stop a Republican filibuster.

So it's not going to be trivial to remove the Medicare cuts. Republicans will demand someone get screwed to keep TAA.

(And it should be noted that TAA has utterly failed in previous trade agreements. So fighting for that is all political theater)

[DemocratSinceBirth]

12. They wanted to make the bill so odious that no Democrat would vote for it...

Given how few Democrats needed to pass it that was an unwise bet.

[LondonReign2]

17. Why do we need job assistance?

The TPP is going to rain down jobs according to you

[kentuck]

18. Exactly!

I continue to be amazed at how some people think?

When they lose their jobs to someone overseas, they will be able to get foodstamps. Yay!!

[Hoyt]

20. Yes it is, but we need it because you guys think there are people out there with jobs that can

exported overseas. Fact is, there are jobs -- like the iconic buggy whip maker -- that can't be supported no matter what we do. Fortunately, most jobs -- teachers, police, firemen, road workers, builders, retail, law, healthcare, government, etc., can't be exported, with a very few exceptions. Time to move the few remaining people out of the former (easily exported), don't you think, rather than sacrificing our future. I'm also for a guaranteed income, big increase in minimum wage, etc.

[jeff47]

22. Then why do you lament not passing TAA?

If the TPP is going to rain jobs upon the country, why does TAA matter?

[Hoyt]

24. Seems obvious. Those in few remaining low paying, easily moved jobs, are gonna need retraining.

[jeff47]

28. Not according to your claims about the TPP.

You've been claiming the TPP will create lots of jobs in the US. That would create a higher demand for labor.

That high demand would result in lower hiring standards. Which means marginal applicants would get hired. Leaving vacancies in their old jobs. Which can be filled by the people who lost their jobs due to the TPP.

So if your theory about the TPP was correct, there's no need for TAA.

Also, "Retraining" will not turn a former factory worker into a STEM worker. That requires at least a 4-year-degree, and an older, zero-experience applicant is at a massive disadvantage to a younger, zero-experience applicant. So "retraining" won't help there.

[Hoyt]

30. The few folks affected have to have the skills, and there would be a time lag

for the few that might be affected . Why is that so difficult for you to grasp?

[jeff47]

32. Those few affected would get hired to fill positions left by those with the skills.

Also, it's cute you think TAA funds arrive quickly.

TAA failed with every previous trade deal. There's no reason to think it will work with the TPP. Hiding behind TAA is political theater.

And the need to hide behind TAA demonstrates that the supporters of these agreements don't believe their own story.

[LondonReign2]

23. Ahhh, so TAA has NOTHING TO DO with TPP, eh?

You must have been quite the gymnast in the day to be able to contort like that

[Hoyt]

26. Your reading comprehension skills need updating.

[LondonReign2]

37. No, you've merely gotten tripped up by your own lie

I feel for you, it must be hard to keep it all contradicting talking points straight.



I hope the Third Way pays well.

[Rex]

34. At least he is amusing to watch flip flop all over the place.

Like a fish out of water. Still no elaboration on how the jobs will be high paying and many. You think he has a clue really or is just stirring? I think he is just stirring for reaction.

[LondonReign2]

38. No, he has a job to do and he's attempting to do it

It's unfortunate that his job is advocating for fucking American workers.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

29. The buggy whip

I owned a small publishing business...It was so small that there was only one employee and that was myself. I would publish directories and relocation guides for chambers of commerces. It was great because I was my own boss. I would sell advertising space and use the revenue I generated to pay the various vendors needed to produce a directory or guide like writers, graphic designers, and printers and keep what is left for myself. It was a simple business model... Back in the early 00s one person who was involved in selling e-mail mailing lists said print publishing is going the way of the buggy whip. He was correct...

Chambers Of Commerces started putting their membership directories and relocation guides online and getting advertisers to pay for internet space is much harder than getting advertisers to pay for print space. I tried and tried but couldn't come up with a profitable business model.

If i was younger I could have reinvented myself because I believe I can sell anything but at my age I didn't have the juice.

Change is going to come and its going to create winners and losers...A just society looks out for the latter.

[Hoyt]

40. That's the way I feel. It's sad, but all kinds of jobs go due to technology, economics, internet,

The print industry, printed news, magazines, etc., have all been impacted. Many of things I used to do have been phased out or taken over by competition. Fine, I can do other stuff. But those who can't/won't need to have a good safety net and we might as well figure out how to do that now. It's going to get worse, and there is no way to protect jobs from reality.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

41. The internet devastated print... Look at Time and Newsweek...

Newsweek is dead and TIME looks like a pamphlet...

I think the Conde Nasts of the publishing industries still do okay because they print magazines like GQ, Vanity Fair, and Vogue which are coffee table pieces.

[Rex]

33. LOL! Good catch, now look at all the non answers!

He better watch all that back pedaling (might trip over his own two feet), notice not a single elaboration on how exactly the jobs are going to be raining down?

Sad right? You would think snake oil salesmen would only inhabit the seedier side of the internet.

[neverforget]

14. It has to get through the Senate again and the President has to sign it.

Filibuster and veto are still options.

[bigwillq]

15. If one believes Obama, he said he won't sign bill without TAA

So even if it passes the Senate, our great president will not sign it.

[closeupready]

36. He'll sign it, with or without, in my opinion.

He'd prefer it with the TAA, but considering the Clintons as the example of what happens when you play nice with Congress' benefactors even though you aren't up for re-election, he's gonna sign it - if it makes it to his desk, he's signing it. And I happen to like Obama.

Granted, that's just my humble opinion, but yeah, I think he's gonna sign it.

[Romulox]

39. LOLOL. nt

[Herman4747]

35. Me too. Goes to show that life often holds surprises (n/t)