Harry Reid: Fast Track Free Trade Bill Goes Nowhere

[cali]

WASHINGTON -- The fast track trade bill introduced in the Senate last week will go nowhere anytime soon, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Tuesday.

Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), chair of the Senate Finance Committee and President Barack Obama's pick to be his next ambassador to China, offered the legislation last week, surprising many of his colleagues.

<snip>

But if those opponents were worried the fast-track measure might advance, Reid was emphatic in saying it would not -- at least for now

<snip>

Indeed, many Democrats are so unhappy with the current draft of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, they are willing to kill it even though it is a key element of Obama's ambitious pivot toward Asia.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/14/harry-reid-fast-track_n_4598486.html

[BelgianMadCow]

1. excellent news

what an invaluable service have the leaks provided.

[cali]

2. the leaks are vital to stopping this. We owe a debt of gratitude to Wikileaks and Assange

[another_liberal]

6. Hear! Hear!

You are so right, cali.

[sabrina 1]

32. Yes, thank you Wikileaks and Assange. Thanks for the reminder. Shows how different

things would be if we had an actual FREE PRESS. We wouldn't need Whistle Blowers. They would be scared to death to try to pull most of what they are pulling on the people if they knew it would be exposed by a free, working press. But they bought the press and thought they were home free. The vacuum they created was filled by Whistle Blowers which is we see the outrage from them and the persecution of Whistle Blowers.

[Jack Rabbit]

42. Aboslutely

Support for this measure is tantamount to treason. If you disagree, please give me another word for turning over American sovereignty to regulate commerce to a kangaroo court of corporate shysters.

[mucifer]

3. "At least for now" Oy vey.

[Lasher]

4. Don't forget TAFTA, MEFTA, and FTAA

As well as about a dozen others waiting in the wings. Three new Free Trade Agreements have already been passed by the guy who said he was going to renegotiate NAFTA.

[another_liberal]

5. That is the best news I've heard in weeks!

TPP is a huge rip-off. It would serve only the wealthy, impoverish the American worker and hurry the degradation of our environment. Kill it off for good, Senator Reid!

[merrily]

7. Look at the part of the story that actually quotes Reid, rather

than the headline or the editorial commentary in the video.

The only direct quotes from Reid that I noticed in the story are:

Asked if he told Baucus that Reid would make time on the floor of the U.S. Senate to debate the measure, Reid said "No," four times.

"There's a lot of controversy on that, and I'm going to see how that plays out with my caucus and the Senate.," Reid told reporters on Capitol Hill.

As to the first sentence above, does it mean that Reid will never make time on the floor to debate the bill, or only that Reid did not already make a certain statement to Baucus?

As to the second sentence quoted above, what exactly does it mean?

[cali]

8. It's better than a kick in the teeth- or his bringing it straight to a vote

at least it gives the opposition some time.

[merrily]

44. Maybe, but it may important to know what he actually said, no?

[GoneFishin]

9. Gee. Max Baucus is the President's pick for ambassador to China. What a coincidence. nt

[Jack Rabbit]

43. I guess no health insurance company wanted to hire a retiring 70-year-old crooked politician

So Obama did.

[Javaman]

10. I will now commence with the holding of the breath. nt

[JDPriestly]

11. There is absolutely nothing in the trade agreement or any trade agreement thus far

that increases American wages, job opportunities or economic outlook. They have all been failures. We don't need any more trade agreements. Not now. Not until our manufacturing sector is revived and the American job market provides lots of opportunities for good, high-paying jobs. We just have nothing to gain from more trade agreements at this time.

[pampango]

12. Per Krugman: manufacturing wages declined 1973 to 1995, have increased since then

Though not back to its peak in the early 1970's. He does not say that is all due to trade policy but the rise began (coincidentally or not) after NAFTA took effect.



http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/01/13/youre-all-losers/?_r=0

And US manufacturing wages are now average $19.60 an hour and has been rising since 1995 or so.

But the vast majority of wealth has been going to the 1% due to our regressive tax policy and labor laws along with lax corporate regulation.

[TBF]

14. Don't know where Krugman gets his info -

According to a report by Economic Policy Institute economist Robert Scott, entitled "Heading South: U.S.-Mexico trade and job displacement after NAFTA," an estimated 682,900 U.S. jobs have been "lost or displaced" because of the agreement and the resulting trade deficit.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/12/nafta-job-loss-trade-deficit-epi_n_859983.html

[pampango]

15. The link shows where Krugman gets his info.

He did not say that the rise in wages was due to trade policy. He was citing evidence that Reagan's policy of tax cuts for the rich, deregulation, busting unions and attacking the safety net was bad for workers' wages. The rise in manufacturing wages occurred only after Clinton was in office.

[Romulox]

21. The chart is clearly labeled "Real wage of production and nonsupervisory workers"

It doesn't refer to manufacturing workers. You are either intentionally or unintentionally misrepresenting the data on that chart.

But then what's new?

[jeff47]

23. You're talking about two different things

You're talking about number of people working those jobs.

pampango is talking about how much people working those jobs are getting paid.

Both can be true. There's fewer people doing those jobs, and the ones that remain are getting paid more.

Which makes perfect sense - the unskilled jobs were the ones that paid the least while they were here. The trade agreements ship those jobs off to other countries. The fewer people that remain working are more skilled, and thus paid more.

But the higher pay doesn't make up for the fewer workers.

[TBF]

38. Yes that actually makes sense - thanks. nt

[freebrew]

39. Not in Missouri and other Red States.

'Right to Work' laws are being shoved down our throats and even though they haven't passed them yet, most HR departments act as if they have.

The economy has put so much pressure on folks here, they'll consider less than minimum wage!

And the idiot bastards still elect publicans.

[BlueStreak]

27. Well, duh. That's because the cheapest, lowest skilled mfg jobs

were the easiest ones to take offshore, so they were the first to go.

It is not a moral victory to say that by losing millions of manufacturing jobs, the average wage of the remaining ones increased a little.

[Capt13]

19. Manufacturing will never be revived in this country

Not until the US is leading the industrialized world in lowest wages.

[JDPriestly]

20. Or through some means we correct our trade imbalance. Perhaps by raising wages here

and taxing imports.

[davidpdx]

33. Yes, you are right

Anyone who thinks we'll go back to the level prior to the 80's is foolish. The manufacturing jobs are always going to move to the cheapest places. Right now that is China and India. While some may move back, it will never be to the previous levels.

It is the high tech and innovative jobs that we need. They'll pay better anyway.

[TBF]

13. Good. nt

[NorthCarolina]

16. It will have to wait until media coverage stops

and a means to pass the legislation outside of public scrutiny can be found.

[PowerToThePeople]

17. the sad truth to the matter.. n/t

[sabrina 1]

30. After the election, soon after, so we forget about before the next one.

The feedback from the public must be nasty. Thanks Wikileaks for the leaks that allowed the public to get a peek at their 'secret' deal.

[Phlem]

18. That's very good news! The TTP is Toxic in it's current draft

I would suspect it will only get to "less toxic" at best. I just don't see the benefit in this bill for the american people or the world.

-p

[Romulox]

22. Right. And NAFTA will be renegotiated in the President's first term. nt

[jsr]

35. As soon as he finds a comfortable pair of shoes

[Blue_In_AK]

24. Good.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

25. What has Harry been smoking?

[BlueStreak]

26. Funny how the dynamics of the second term can change.

Progressives hopes, and conservatives feared, that once Obama didn't have to face reelection, he would be free to move to the left.

But it seems that he is also free to move to the right, thereby assuring himself a very lucrative ex-Presidency.

[Armstead]

28. Good for Harry..,.I hope he sticks to his guns on this

[sabrina 1]

29. They will just hold it up until after the election. They are getting so much negative feedback and

they know that if they are put in a position to vote for it, they will face primaries they will have a hard time dealing with.

I no longer trust anything they say. Short of passing a law making such deals illegal, it will come up again and again until they pass it.

[ProSense]

31. It's a trap. n/t

[jsr]

34. Throw it in the trash.

[azurnoir]

36. Good simply good

[ProSense]

37. Warren, Sanders, and 10 Other Senators Write Letter to Reid Opposing Fast-Track Authority

Warren, Sanders, and 10 Other Senators Write Letter to Reid Opposing Fast-Track Authority
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024345247

[BlancheSplanchnik]

41. thanks! kicked! n/t

[BlancheSplanchnik]

40. good!

This is one congressional delay I can support.