Obama Busted BIG Time

Senate votes against fast-tracking TPP

RT.com

US President Barack Obama delivers remarks on trade at Nike’s corporate headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon May 8, 2015 (Reuters / Jonathan Ernst)

Lawmakers in the United States Senate have thrown a wrench in a plan that would have given President Barack Obama “fast track” authority to advance a 12-nation trade deal between the US and Pacific Ring partners.

In a 52-45 vote Tuesday afternoon, the Senate opposed moving forward for now on the Trans-Pacific Partnership. A procedural vote required at least 60 “ayes” in order to let the Senate host discussions on whether or not to give the president so-called “fast track” authority on the matter, and failure to reach that threshold puts the future of the trade agreement in jeopardy.

Had the vote gone the other way, lawmakers would have hosted a debate to weigh giving Pres. Obama the power to approve the potential deal on his own before then asking Congress to either ratify or reject any agreement. Ahead of Tuesday’s vote, however, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, told Reuters that the possibility of expediting the process as the White House had requested “may be dead” due to the lack of support evidenced soon after when the procedural vote failed.

Pres. Obama has been touting the TPP as a catalyst for the domestic jobs market and an enabler of workers’ rights abroad, and last week he pitched the deal at the main office of footwear giant Nike.

“If I didn’t think that this was the right thing to do for working families then I wouldn’t be fighting for it,” Obama told the crowd at Friday’s event.