Posted on 03/19/2015 4:39:39 AM PDT by Wolfie
House Democrats angry over Obama’s classified trade meeting
House Democrats are criticizing President Obama's administration for holding a classified briefing on trade with top administration officials, saying it's an attempt to push a trade program in secret.
Labor Secretary Thomas Perez and U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Michael Froman will meet with House Democrats on Wednesday in a classified briefing to discuss the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
Members will be allowed to attend the briefing on the proposed trade pact with 12 Latin American and Asian countries with one staff member who possesses an “active Secret-level or high clearance” compliant with House security rules. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) told The Hill that the administration is being “needlessly secretive.” “Even now, when they are finally beginning to share details of the proposed deal with members of Congress, they are denying us the ability to consult with our staff or discuss details of the agreement with experts,” DeLauro told The Hill.
Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) condemned the classified briefing.
“Making it classified further ensures that, even if we accidentally learn something, we cannot share it. What is USTR working so hard to hide? What is the specific legal basis for all this senseless secrecy?” Doggett said to The Hill.
“Open trade should begin with open access,” Doggett said. “Members expected to vote on trade deals should be able to read the unredacted negotiating text.”
In an interview with The Hill earlier this year, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Obama could attract a lot of Democratic votes on trade — if handled in the right and "transparent" way.
It’s not unusual for the administration to discuss trade negotiations in classified meetings. Leaks of information can give trading partners an advantage in the talks, and could also tip off lobbying groups.
U.S. Trade Representative spokesman Matt McAlvanah told The Hill that the "administration has made and continues to make classified documents available to any member of Congress who is interested in reviewing them."
"We have released public summaries of our negotiating objectives, and we are now embarking on a new series of briefings for members and their staffs that go above and beyond past practices," he said.
An administration official said the briefing was classified because “these are sensitive, ongoing international negotiations.” Senior Democratic aides representing pro-trade lawmakers vehemently pushed back against their party’s criticisms of the White House. One called the complaints “bizarre” and said, “It just makes no sense.”
“For some inexplicable reason, they seem to think that, by shutting down the only chance Congress has to shape the contours of trade agreements, that’ll lead to greater transparency,” the aide said.
Another senior Democratic aide said the briefing is classified because it's “like a briefing on any international agreement — just like the Iran negotiations.”
“It's impossible to go into the detail members are asking for in an unclassified setting,” the aide said.
But DeLauro argued the classified briefing “flies in the face” of past talks and hurts the administration’s credibility.
“If the TPP would be as good for American jobs as they claim, there should be nothing to hide,” she said.
Lori Wallach, director of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch, said the administration's handling of its trade agenda is “even more secretive” than former President Clinton's push for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), a deal that unions and liberal groups criticize as destroying U.S. jobs.
One former Democratic Capitol Hill staffer said the administration has “made clear at every turn that they're not interested in real transparency.”
“They have a very clear policy of withholding information, because they think secrecy is the only way to get the trade deal through Congress,” the former staffer said.
Treasury Secretary Jack Lew and Froman will address House Democrats Wednesday in a nonclassified briefing on currency manipulation, an issue that lawmakers on both sides of the aisle want addressed in the talks.
Larry Cohen, president of the Communications Workers of America, and James Hoffa, Teamsters president, will appear at the briefing, along with Jared Bernstein, a former economic adviser to Vice President Biden. They will discuss currency and labor’s broader concerns.
The Perez and Froman meeting will delve into TPP’s labor and investment chapters, as well as investor-state dispute resolution provisions.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has raised concerns in recent weeks that those dispute provisions could be used to weaken U.S. law such as Dodd-Frank.
A source familiar with the meetings between the members and the administration said that any policies shown to members are not redacted.
Pelosi helped organize the briefings. The minority leader has been focused on finding a “path to yes” for House Democrats to support Obama on trade.
A senior Democratic aide said this week’s three meetings are just the start of trade discussions with top level Obama administration officials.
Democrats get off your assess and get your guy under control
Screw globalism and free trade.
Why should foreign companies not subject to the same hamstringing environmental and labor regulations and laws that American companies are, be allowed to sell their goods here without any tariffs, as if it is actually a level playing field?
ok, wth is classified about a trade meeting??
The regime becomes more and more secretive about its own behavior. The more anyone pushes for “transparency” the more 0bama shuts people out.
Money bets...this is a Middle East Trade Agreement to bring jobs to jihadists.
A few months ago it leaked from 0bama’s own mouth that they believe by giving jobs, creating jobs, etc. for the Middle East it will stop terrorism/jihad.
Moslem King-Caliph Obama:
“’Transparency’ is my ability to read all your mail,
all your IRS and medical papers, everything on your
computer, and for you to have access to NOTHING.”
Oh come on guys, Obama wouldn’t keep things secret, would he?
It’s obviously the Republicans fault. It’s their War on Women©. Or something about denying racist© climate change©. Or because they hate children and the middle class. But even with all that, it could still be Bushs’ fault©.
The Obama regime trying to hide another bad deal...
Dude, the EPA is fixing to regulate dust . . . .
The GOP needs to strongly support American trade.
Stand up GOP.
Yep - them "principled" folks who couldn't vote against him because "the alternative was just as bad" and who will do the same when it comes to seating Queen Hillary", were absolutely right.....
“...where you have a concentration of power in a few hands, all too frequently men with the mentality of gangsters get control. History has proven that... Every thing secret degenerates, even the administration of justice; nothing is safe that does not show how it can bear discussion and publicity.” Lord Acton
“Democrats get off your assess and get your guy under control.”
The person who feels the best about Obama’s administration has to be Jimmy Carter. It must be nice telling his grandchildren that Obama is the worst President evah.
It wouldn’t surprise me in the future if the EPA in the future requires Americans to wear fart monitors, so they can fine people for adding methane to the atmosphere.
Excellent idea!
How high will the tariffs be that make you happy?
When the Tea Party and Elizabeth Warren appear to be in agreement on something, it must stink to high heaven.
More transparency, People.
“The TPP is a massive, controversial ‘free trade’ agreement currently being pushed by big corporations and negotiated behind closed doors by officials from the United States and 11 other countries – Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam [and probably later, China will sign on].
“And U.S. TPP negotiators literally used the 2011 Korea FTA [Free Trade Agreement] – under which [US] exports have fallen and [US] trade deficits have surged [and 85,000 US jobs have been lost] – as the template for the TPP.
“We only know about the TPP’s threats thanks to leaks – the public is not allowed to see the draft TPP text. Even members of Congress, after being denied the text for years, are now only provided limited access. Meanwhile, more than 500 official corporate ‘trade advisors’ have special access. The TPP has been under negotiation for six years, and the Obama administration wants to sign the deal this year…”
Yes, secret deal. The public is not permitted to see what is in it. We only know some of what’s in it because of several partial leaks.
Obama wants Congress to fast-track the TPP with a strict up or down vote: no amendments permitted; no filibustering; the final vote must take place within 90 days of the TPP’s introduction on the floor of Congress; no Committee vetting first.
This is your transparent President.
From what we can glean about the TPP so far, these will be some of its effects (consider how each effect can impact employment in the United States:
offshoring more US jobs; inviting more corporate pollution; importing more foods (unsafe, incompletely unlabeled); outlawing restrictions on GMO foods while expanding mega-corporate agriculture; encouragement granted to Wall Street to multiply the same kinds of insane investments that crashed markets eight years ago; US federal contracts to private companies will be forced to take competitive bids from any corporation in any TPP member country.”
One that 0bama and his demons want kept private so that WE DON’T KNOW until it’s too late.
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