It's Over! Some Dems Say--As Obama Gets Trade Win: Democrats Give In on TAA

(I say....it ain't over until the last legal case against it gets exhausted after it's made Public and we "Who Fought Against It" have our Legal Teams parse the legalese and prepare the Lawsuits!)

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Obama Gets Trade Win: Democrats Give In on TAA

By Emma Dumain Posted at 1:22 p.m. on June 24

“It’s over.”

That’s how several House Democrats and senior aides described the current feeling in the caucus regarding their efforts to stop “fast-track” trade authority for the White House.

Over the past two weeks, most members of the House Democratic Caucus have gone from opposing Trade Adjustment Assistance legislation — packaged with the related Trade Promotion Authority, a Republican and Obama administration priority — to acknowledging there’s little point in voting “no.”

Some of TPA’s most vocal critics, among them Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut and Ways and Means ranking member Sander M. Levin of Michigan, informed colleagues Wednesday morning during a closed-door meeting they would vote for a broad trade-preferences bill that includes TAA, despite concerns the legislation, a longtime Democratic favorite, doesn’t do nearly enough to train workers displaced by global trade.

House Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer, D-Md., and Caucus Vice Chairman Joseph Crowley, D-N.Y., also announced their support for TAA at that meeting. It’s expected to hit the House floor Thursday, if all goes according to plan on the other side of the Capitol.

Sources described the meeting as contentious, with members clamoring for Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi to articulate her position. They complained she was being purposefully vague on her stance while she waited for labor groups to put in writing their permission for lawmakers to vote “yes” on TAA.

After the meeting, the California Democrat sent out a “Dear Colleague” letter making it clear she, too, would vote in favor.

“I’m disappointed that the TAA bill isn’t nearly as robust as it should be in light of a trade agreement that encompasses 40 percent of the global economy,” Pelosi wrote. “While we may not all vote in the same manner on TAA, I will support its passage because it can open the door to a full debate on [the Trans-Pacific Partnership].”

Pelosi voted against TAA during the first round of House votes to block TPA, which, if approved, will clear the way for President Barack Obama to negotiate a 12-nation Pacific trade pact.

Many members said Pelosi’s eleventh-hour opposition to the legislation two weeks ago stopped TAA in its tracks.

Similarly, her support now could sway the pendulum in the other direction — though not all members are ready to come on board. Democratic Caucus Chairman Xavier Becerra of California said the current iteration of TAA was still “essentially the same as it was before.

“In my mind it’s still woefully inadequate,” he told reporters after the caucus meeting, though he stopped short of saying which way he would vote.

Members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, who have whipped consistently against TAA, plan to meet Wednesday evening to discuss how they’ll vote.

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http://blogs.rollcall.com/218/obama-trade-win-democrats-give-in-taa/?dcz=