Republicans Want to Pass Obamatrade to Find Out What’s in Obamatrade
The Obamatrade bill is even more secret than it is supposed to be since key supporters have not bothered to read it.
As far as I know, Breitbart News dubbed the Trans Pacific Partnership Bill the Obamatrade bill. It is a good name. While the Senate Democrats saved us from Repubican-Obama collusion once, the Senate is certainly going to vote again on giving the President special authority to push the “trade deal.”
And in this case, major Republican proponents are pushing the bill without reading the bill. I guess Nancy Pelosi is a great teacher on how to govern.
According to Breitbart:
Two members of House GOP leadership—Majority Whip Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) and Rules Committee chairman Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX)—refused to admit through spokespersons to Breitbart News whether they have read the text of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) Pacific Rim trade deal, but they still support granting President Barack Obama the Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) to fast track it.
[…]
Jill Shatzen, a spokeswoman for Sessions, said in an email:
Chairman Sessions has been a strong proponent of TPA in order to ensure the Congress has a major role in overseeing trade deals and ensuring they are representative of what the American people want. Because negotiations on TPP are not complete, the full agreement is not yet available for review by members. However, when it is complete, TPA ensures that all members and the public have 60 days to review the final agreement before Congress acts. The Chairman looks forward to reviewing the final agreement at that time.
That was in response to Breitbart News asking if Sessions had been to the secret room inside the Capitol to read the text of TPP, and if he’d support TPA without reading TPP. The argument Sessions’ office is making—one that’s been echoed by others in leadership, like Scalise’s team and by chief Obamatrade proponent House Ways and Means Committee chairman Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI)—is that TPA is separate from TPP. While they’re technically correct in asserting that TPA is different from the specific TPP, there is essentially no way to stop a trade deal once it has been fast-tracked. Since fast track was created in the Richard Nixon administration, not one trade deal that started on fast track has been thwarted. As such, a vote for TPA is a vote for TPP, since passing TPA will all but guarantee the successful passage of TPP.
So notice the layers of deniability given to our rulers in a supposedly representative government. These men are willing to vote in favor of a law that does not pass the law to which it is addressed (because they haven’t even finished writing that law) but which does make it extremely likely that it will be passed. The entire contraption is designed to be a maze of lies so that voters are not sure who to blame.
Yes, Congress may get to review the bill before they vote (we hope), but they will not be allowed to amend the bill—only vote up or down.
Breitbart claims that their stance on this bill might make it harder for them to be re-elected. I wish I could believe that. In any case, I’m sure the risk is well worth it to them since, if they do have to leave office, besides have plenty of loot from the time they spent in power, they can be confident the groups they supported will reward them in the “private sector.”
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