The Left and Tea Party members don’t agree on many things. But, National Public Radio reported that when it comes to trade and trade policies, liberals and Tea Party members are in agreement regarding the issue of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP.
President Barack Obama said that he’d push to complete trade deals with both Asian and European nations, calling the deals “good for American business.”
According to NPR, negotiators from Pacific Rim nations assembled in Washington, D.C. to advance. In our nation’s capital, the negotiators were met with protesters from liberal groups representing environmental causes, unions and consumer advocacy groups.
Conservatives are also raising concerns about TPP, or at least how the President is handling these negotiations. Nineteen Republican congressmen sent a letter to House Speaker John Boehner, saying they would not support having Congress give the President “fast-track” authority to complete the negotiations.
That authority allows the President to have his representatives settle a deal with other countries’ negotiations, which are then brought before Congress for a straight yes-or-no vote, with no addition of amendments.
Here is the text of that letter:
As we enter into the Lame Duck session of Congress, we believe it is imperative that any efforts to grant Trade Promotion Authority(TPA), or Fast Track, to President Obama are tabled until at least after the new Congress is sworn in.
The American people have spoken loud and clear: they want a new direction for our country. The habitual abuses of power by this President have eroded the faith of the American people, who no longer trust his judgment or leadership. This sentiment was reflected in the mid-term elections, when the President’s agenda was soundly repudiated.
Because there aren’t enough votes in the House to pass TPA as a stand-alone bill, we understand that there are discussions of including TPA in a larger legislative package — either Tax Extenders or a Continuing Resolution — to be considered during the Lame Duck session of Congress. We believe that this is a bad idea.
More than 60 Members of the House will not be returning for the 114th Congress. We do not believe it is right to pass legislation that grants significant additional power to the Administration with votes cast by elected officials who can no longer be held accountable by the electorate.
It is evident from the outcome of this month’s elections that any efforts to grant TPA to the President during a Lame Duck session would be harmful to the trust that the American people just put in us at the ballot box. For that reason, we respectfully request that any consideration of Fast Track legislation be delayed until January when the 114th Congress is sworn in.
Liberty activist Jesse Graston told BenSwann.com’s Joshua Cook just how dangerous the TPP actually is. “It (TPP) will be essentially NAFTA on steroids,” said Graston.
Listen to the exclusive interview below: