Posted on 01/25/2016 7:59:46 AM PST by xzins
While he's not making an official endorsement for the presidency in 2016's GOP primary, at least not yet, Sen. Jeff Sessions is calling on the people of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina to very carefully pick a candidate they think can "negotiate better" when it comes to trade deals.
He laid out the case for why Republicans must nominate a candidate who opposes the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the accompanying two global trade deals that would come with it: The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (T-TIP) and the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA). All three deals, along with the fast-track Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) that greases the skids for the eventual easy passage through Congress of each of the deals since TPA lowers the Senate's 60-vote threshold to just 51 votes and kills the ability for amendments, have become collectively known as "Obamatrade."
President Obama's administration has since released the full text of TPP but the administration is holding the deal back for now, presumably waiting to formally introduce ratification legislation to Congress until a timeframe that would allow them to time it so that a vote in Congress would come up during a lame duck session after the November 2016 elections.
"There's no doubt that the pro-TPP people understood that there was a strong and growing opposition to this agreement," Sessions told Breitbart.
It's worth noting that 2016 GOP frontrunner billionaire Donald Trump has made this type of trade policy Sessions is talking about a centerpiece of his presidential campaign. While Sessions isn't endorsing anyone at this time officially, he has appeared with Trump at a Trump campaign rally in Alabama earlier this election and also held a meeting with him at the U.S. Capitol during the campaign. Sessions also helped Trump with his immigration reform plan.
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
All TPA does is change the threshold of the vote from 60 to 51, iirc. If it’s a treaty then more. IOW, it changes the rules in the Senate, primarily.
He would get it through the old fashioned way. Get the necessary votes.
I agree.
Good post
Freepers aren’t big nuance or fact
The whole concept of cloture versus real votes gives the critters cover
Always has
Yes, he can. He is an Ivy Law School Graduate like Obama and the Clintoons.
Americans too stupid to do factory work? Saying that is stupid. We can do any job required. We have the lowest labor participation rates in 38 years. We have a huge surplus of educated labor.
AMEN!!!!
He also changed his mind because the language Sessions warned about was added in conference committee. Sessions is the hero of this story.
What Cruz detractors are so hung up on, his initial support of TPA, becomes problematic for them when you point out that TPA (without the bs bits about immigration and sovereignty of labor laws in the new version) is the only way any President gets a trade deal passed.
Constitutionally all treaties have to pass through the Senate with a super majority. Constitutionally all tariff bills— or anything else dealing with revenue— must originate in the House. It’s a Constitutionally mandated legislative nightmare that terrifies our trade allies. A deal has to be approved by the major partners before it’s sent to the Congress where it can, without TPA, be re-written. Plus it has to be divided up into at least two different bills to meet the Constitutional requirements for origination. Then our allies (we’ll just leave off how it makes our enemies feel) have to renegotiate again after the Congress gets around to passing a deal.
There’s a reason TPA has been used for the past 50 years and it’s not because of some vast global conspiracy.
It does not matter. Trump has not been allowed by many posters on this site to change is views from 20 - 30 years ago.
That needs repeating.
No that is not all TPA does. See my previous post.
Covertly approved and pushed by the beltway GOPE and their minions like the NR Trump haters getting a paycheck from the above as you noted.
Except for those FReepers who are detailed oriented and note that you’re discussing two different bills with significant changes.
And his accomplishments are?
So blatant was the flip flop, Cruz invented the "Mitch lied to me" story and crapped all over the Senate floor.
A real profile in courage.
Fast Track, TPA, requires a 60 day notification of the full text of any deal be made public. That part they didn’t change. TPP isn’t going to be passed in secret. In fact, it has been out for more than 60 days and may not even be voted on by this Congress.
60 days? So what. TPA lowers the vote threshold to 50 and lets Wall Street lobbyists buy the votes needed to pass it. What a great idea for conservatives after the Iran Deal farce.
TPA was never just about TPP. There is TTIP and other Obama secret trade treaties. Pass it to see what’s in it, indeed. Shocking Senator Principled Conservative (TM) would campaign for that and even more shocking that you are still trying to snow conservatives about it.
Obama’s TPA was a rotten deal for conservatives and Cruz was foolish to campaign for it. Give it up, FRiend.
So our displaced American workers are not as smart as someone in a second or third world economy?
Very elite Follywood Weed speaking!
Well, there is that. :)
Cruz is no different that GW Bush.
Shouldn’t be a surprise given that Cruz worked in the Bush Admin.
As far as I can tell, Cruz was a mainline GOPe “conservative” careerist pre 2010 TEA revolution.
Determining what is genuine conservatism and what is beltway theater in Cruz is very problematic, IMO. The longer this goes on the less authentic Cruz looks in my eyes.
Actually, TPA lays out the framework that a trade bill must follow in order to get the "fast-track" consideration. If the trade agreement does not follow the guidelines, it can still be filibustered. Indeed, this version of TPA goes further than any previous version by allowing either house of Congress to deny the use of "fast-track" procedures for any trade agreement if they determine it does not follow the guidelines included in the bill. It also for the first time includes provisions that specify that no trade agreement can include requirements that would require us to change immigration laws or obligate us to implement changes with regard to the global warming cr@p.
And as far as the "pass the bill to see what's in the bill" nonsense, THIS version of TPA requires the bill to be publicly posted for a minimum of 60 days before a vote can even be scheduled.
A lot of Free Traitors™ need a history lesson.
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