Pop goes the Democratic Party

[KamaAina]

http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/op-ed/article18696176.html

It was another one of those rallies on Capitol Hill where lawmakers line up to take shots at the Obama administration. But this time the lawmakers were all Democrats.

A quartet of senators and a dozen members of the House took the stage in a park across from the Capitol midday Wednesday to join hundreds of steelworkers, union faithful and environmentalists in denouncing President Obama’s bid for fast-track approval of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal.

“I’ve never seen a trade agreement that is more secretive than this one,” Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, told the crowd. “What are they hiding? What they’re hiding is a huge shift from democratically elected governments to corporations all over the world, and that’s why we’re fighting.”

“The administration is engaged in new transparency with this agreement – transparency – so I brought a copy,” Rep. Peter DeFazio of Oregon said, holding up – nothing. “Oh. It’s transparent. You can’t see it.”

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

1. Whenever the people are well informed, they can be trusted with their own government;

Whenever the people are well informed, they can be trusted with their own government; that whenever things get so far wrong as to attract their notice, they may be relied on to set them to rights.

 Thomas Jefferson

[billhicks76]

10. Call Out The Liars In Our Party

Brown and DeFazio are real heroes.

[Ken Burch]

14. I really hope Peter DeFazio challenges Ron Wyden in Oregon's Senate Dem primary in '16.

Wyden's really not on the people's side any more-he's carrying too much water for the corporations.

[Agnosticsherbet]

2. I think it is healthy for many in the party to disagree with the President.

He has not made a good case for the TPP or for fast track authority.

I am not as bothered by secret negotiations. It is not easy comeing to an agreement when the negotiators are under pressure from the public.

I do think that rather than an up or down vote that is all that is necessary under Fast Track, that the agreement should be debated by Congress and available to the public to read before itis passed.

[bluedigger]

3. I think the problem is less secrecy and more the choice of who negotiates.

They do not have the interests of the American public foremost.

[daleanime]

9. +1

[1StrongBlackMan]

6. Fast Track allows for just that ...

and with the recent "60 and 120 deal", there will be more time for review and debate of what is actually in the agreement.

[yallerdawg]

13. Don't you know?

Facts don't matter.

Nice try!

(seriously - keep trying! - facts do matter)

[rhett o rick]

20. So why have Fast Track? nm

[1StrongBlackMan]

21. I can think of several reasons ...

the most prominent being, it calls for a straight up or down vote of the agreement; rather than, allowing Congress to unwind 4+ years of negotiations, on highly technical trade rules, because they want to change a comma (hyperbole here, of course).

[rhett o rick]

22. But in this case I think the Republicons are in favor of passage and it's the

progressive Senators that are interested in debating the various aspects. This doesn't sound like a democratic process.

[1StrongBlackMan]

23. And debate they will/can ...

after any final agreement is made public. And then, after the 120 days, they can vote it up or down.

That is very democratic.

[Luminous Animal]

33. Fast track will bar Congress from making any amendments or filibuster.

President Obama would be free to reject any suggestions as a result of any review or debate. The citizenry would be powerless to influence any sort of outcome of a review and debate.

[1StrongBlackMan]

34. Yes ...

If FT fails, I can't wait to see the abortion and SSM bans, the IRS/Does elimination, and balance budget amendments!

[GTurck]

26. Republicans....

never disagreed with Bush. Right there is a major difference between the 2 major parties.

[Agnosticsherbet]

27. Republicans have better ideological discipline and hold their members to a narrow, ideological

view.

The different between Corporate Republicans, Religious Right Republicans, and State's Rights Republicans, and Teaparty Republicans are not as great as the differences found on the left. They have been so successful at primarying Republicans that step over the ideological line that individual Representatives are afraid to cross their electorate.

Personally, I don't think that kind of control is good for the citizens.

[ann---]

4. Good for them

At least there are some decent Democrats left.

[MannyGoldstein]

5. The Presidents motives are TOTALLY TRANSPARENT

What the Hell more do these people want?

Haterz!

Regards,

TWM

[L0oniX]

7. LMAO

[Major Hogwash]

11. He's a uniter, not a divider.

Now he's got both parties against him!

[Plucketeer]

15. +1K

[840high]

28. Unfortunately they are.

[Mnpaul]

31. Everyone gets a seat at the table

that one lasted about 5 minutes

[bunnies]

8. There goes that damn left fringe again.

[HereSince1628]

16. I hope there's a surry under that fringe, and a team of horses to pull it...

All the world will be in a flurry when dems take off in that surry!

https://video.search.yahoo.com/video/play?p=surrey+with+the+fringe+on+top&vid=3bc497841ded53f302a05bbc04d7d0cf&l=5%3A31&turl=http%3A%2F%2Fts4.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DWN.g%252bLeZM3H3dX68Y1onlj%252feg%26pid%3D15.1&rurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DBIG_GVE-KiE&tit=The+Surrey+With+The+Fringe+On+Top&c=1&sigr=11bs6tikn&sigt=1114tnnh7&sigi=123gahu2f&back=https%3A%2F%2Fsearch.yahoo.com%2Fyhs%2Fsearch%3Fp%3Dsurry%2Bwith%2Bthe%2Bfringe%2Bon%2Btop%26ei%3DUTF-8%26hsimp%3Dyhs-004%26hspart%3Dmozilla%26fr%3Dyhs-mozilla-004&sigb=13r97ra0p&ct=p&age=1394737327&fr2=p%3As%2Cv%3Av&hsimp=yhs-004&hspart=mozilla&tt=b

[polichick]

12. k&r

[chapdrum]

17. I can scarcely believe

that this is not a very bad dream instead of a pointed, pungent reality.
Everything about it - from its base secrecy to its draconian, amoral provisions - seems to me profoundly anti-democratic.
So much so that it is hard to believe it's to be taken seriously, but then so much of contemporary American life is either a ludicrous (at best) imposition or a surreal acceptance of the stupid and tawdry.

[whatchamacallit]

18. GOOD!

This is what we pay them for.

[Wilms]

19. k&r n/t

[peacebird]

24. Excellent news!

[ibewlu606]

25. Kicked!

Except for signing the Lily Ledbetter Act into law (very early in his first term), this President has NOT been a friend of Labor. When HRC is President, she will finish driving the final nail into the coffin of organized labor.

[840high]

29. +1

[GoneFishin]

30. Indeed, if there are any left by then.

[99Forever]

32. K. R