What the New York Times thinks you are if you oppose corporate trade deals (cc photo: John Lillis)
The New York Times‘ Jonathan Weisman (2/9/15) reports that President Barack Obama’s chances of getting “fast track” authority to negotiate trade agreements are shrinking as “the political fringes expand on each end.”
Later on, he notes that while some conservative groups support giving Obama fast track—the ability to sign a treaty that Congress cannot amend, but only vote up or down—this is opposed by “groups more on the fringe.”
Weisman also reports that “administration officials say the voices on the left and right may be loud, but they are still a small fringe.”
Toward the end of the article, Weisman writes that 150 out of 188 Democrats in Congress signed a letter opposing fast track. He notes that House Speaker John Boehner in the last Congress said he would need 50 Democratic votes to pass fast track, which would imply that there were about 72 anti-fast track Republicans. (Weisman suggests that that number may be bigger now.)
A hundred and fifty plus 72 is 222 congressmembers, or 51 percent of the House of Representatives. That’s a pretty big “fringe.”
And as to those “fringes” on the “extreme right” and “extreme left” who are opposed to fast track, Weisman counts Dana Rohrabacker and Louie Gohmert, two genuinely extreme rightists among the former, and Louise Slaughter and Rosa DeLauro, two moderate liberals, as their supposed counterparts on the “extreme” left fringe.
I’m opposed to any legislation that is not reviewed by congress and ammended where necessary especially agreements that are internationaly binding with no termination date.
Ditto Pat Norton
I’m opposed to any legislation that is not reviewed by congress and ammended where necessary especially agreements that are internationaly binding with no termination date.
I am opposed to any legislation that might hinder the already fully corporate $$ corrupted Congress.