Derailment on the Fast Track

By Robert Kuttner


It’s now looking increasingly like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) will go down to defeat.

The first hurdle is the House vote scheduled for Friday on trade promotion authority, popularly known as fast-track, giving the executive branch an up-or-down vote in Congress on its Pacific trade deal.

In recent days, as President Obama turned up the heat on about a dozen House Democrats, it looked as if supporters of fast track were closing in on a bare majority if 218 House votes—mostly from Republicans.

But last night, actually at about 2 a.m. Thursday morning, the House Republican Caucus made several decisions that will likely increase opposition among Democrats and Republicans alike.

In a complex parliamentary maneuver, Speaker John Boehner linked two other bills to the fast track vote, encumbering the measure with provisions that Democrats can’t support. ..................(more)

http://prospect.org/article/derailment-fast-track