TPP - Is Ron Wyden (D) the KEY for blocking its passage in the senate?
2/1/15
Since the President’s State of the Union message where he announced his plan to push corporate trade agreements and seek Fast Track trade promotion authority, the movement against Fast Track, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and globalized trade has grown. Instead of the bump in support that Obama expected after the State of the Union, opposition has increased inside Congress and in the grass roots.
Before the President’s speech there was already a large movement organized from across the political spectrum to oppose Fast Track and stop corporate trade agreements.
When we took action on Capitol Hill this week, we did so as part of a larger campaign to stop Fast Track. The US Trade Rep Michael Froman testified before the House and Senate. It was essential for him to be confronted at these hearings because he has consistently misled the Congress and the people. There are multiple false statements to dissect, but his latest is the claim that Fast Track will give Congress the power to shape the negotiations. This is a laughable lie since the negotiations have been carried on in secret for most of Obama’s Presidency. How can Congress shape negotiations that Froman claims are near completion?
The truth is that Fast Track removes Congress from the equation....
...After the President’s speech there was a protest at a town hall of Oregon Senator Ron Wyden. Wyden is a key player as the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee. He has played both sides of the debate and the movement needs to monitor him closely and hold him accountable. If he cannot reach agreement with Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch, then Fast Track is unlikely to pass the Senate. This week Senator Grassley said that currently they don’t have 60 votes in support of Fast Track and therefore it could not pass a filibuster. If Wyden demands that Congress sees the text of the TPP and has true involvement in the negotiations before they are finalized, then he and Hatch will not reach agreement and the Republicans will have to go it alone.
In the House there are even more challenges for Fast Track. Chuck Porcari of the Communication Workers (CWA) writes:
“House Speaker John Boehner has said that the White House needs to deliver at least 50 House Democrats if Fast Track has any hopes of passing, especially now that the White House is trying to whip together 80 Democrats in the House and New Democrat Coalition is trying to cobble together at most 40 votes. . . . According to a story by Inside U.S. Trade, ‘one informed source questioned whether the New Democrats actually have an idea of which lawmakers will provide the 40 ‘yes’ votes they are seeking.’”...
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How We Win
The movement opposed to corporate trade is larger – representing tens of millions of Americans; broader – representing people concerned about food, water, healthcare, the Internet, workers’ rights, the environment, banking regulation and more; and more committed because they have seen degradation of the economy and environment by NAFTA and similar corporate trade agreements.
The key is for this movement to mobilize now. The next two months will decide whether corporate trade is finished for the remainder of President Obama’s term in office. If people take action (go to www.StopFastTrack.com), we will win.
There is also a week of national actions being planned in February during the congressional recess. Take the pledge at www.FlushtheTPP.org to get involved and stay informed.
This is a battle between mass people power and trans-national corporate power. It is a battle the people can win, and it is essential for every issue we care about that we win.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-social-movement-against-globalized-trade-and-the-trans-pacific-partnership-tpp/5428642
Wyden voted against Keystone XL, so I hope he is just as wise in his decision regarding the TPP.
This is very hopeful.
EDIT: Or maybe not hopeful. We ALL need to call/write this guy. Here's a bit more information about Wyden & the TPP~
April 2014
The new chairman of the Finance Committee, Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), made a speech this week announcing that he was working to introduce a new version of trade promotion authority that he is propagandistically calling “smart-track,” but which sounds more like fast track in sheep’s clothing. Wyden was vague on the details, but this far into the process any fast track bill being pushed will still rig trade in favor of transnational corporations.
Pushing for any form of fast track to get the unpopular Trans Pacific Partnership through Congress is a suicidal political move in an election year. The TPP is kept secret because it is unpopular, why assist the passage of something so unpopular — an agreement that will undermine jobs and income for most Americans, expand the wealth divide and increase the trade deficit. Already people are predicting the Democrats may lose their majority in the senate. Wyden’s pushing ahead on fast track for the TPP is a sure way to turn off the Democratic base and demonstrate once again the Republican-lite nature of today’s Democratic Party.
https://www.popularresistance.org/senator-wyden-starts-round-ii-in-campaign-to-stop-the-tpp/
He looks like he could be another Pretendem.
= new reply since forum marked as read
Good post. Tell it!!!
When details of the TPP began leaking Wyden made an angry statement as chairman of the trade subcommittee. He denounced the lockdown on details of the agreement and was outraged at the fact he, as head of the committee overseeing trade did not have access while Monsanto, Halliburton and a raft of other transnational corporations did.
So far so good.
Unfortunately, if you'll recall the second part of the story he came crawling out to the senate floor the next day in order to clarify his statement. He said he would support the TPP even though he didn't know what was in it. He was just bothered by the lack of transparency.
Wyden is on board 
I love that. 
And that's what the authors of the first article are doing, giving him the benefit of the doubt. I'm still going to write him
http://www.wyden.senate.gov/contact
Try to flex him on over to the good side, the side that's best for our country. Stick a nail in the TPP for good.
Then maybe we can start working on re-working NAFTA like both Obama & Clinton -said- they wanted to do back in 2008....this positivity stuff is going to my head. 
That's what my House Dem was pushing in a meeting this December with concerned groups about TPP and Fast Track. He was selling it as a way to "slow down" the TPP and give Congress a chance to look at it and modify. None of us were were reassured by his comments ad he has a habit of waffling on issues and always saying "compromise" is the only way to get anything done. He is not a DINO, btw. And has power in the House.
