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fast track
ACTION ALERT: NPR Celebrates Fast-Track Victory With an All-Corporate Lobbyist Segment
Jun 28, 2015
After the Senate joined the House of Representatives in granting President Barack Obama fast-track authority to negotiate trade agreements, National Public Radio aired one report (Morning Edition, 6/25/15) on the legislative action that paves the way for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and other corporate-friendly international deals. The report, by correspondent Yuki Noguchi, had three sources:
- Business Roundtable president John Engler, "president of the Business Roundtable, which represents more than 200 member companies who took to Capitol Hill armed with data."
- National Retail Federation vice president Jonathan Gold, who "says 7 million retail jobs are directly or indirectly tied to trade."
- National Association of Manufacturers vice president Linda Dempsey, who says the 1993 US/Mexico/Canada trade agreement "NAFTA has actually made US manufacturing overall much stronger and much more competitive."
That's it-according to a search of the Nexis news database, those three corporate lobbyists are all the voices National Public Radio chose to air on the victory of fast-track (or "fast-tract," as the NPR News headline writer had it). What of the literally thousands of labor, environmental and other public interest groups that strenuously opposed giving Obama fast-track authority? They were relegated to a one-line summary from Noguchi:
Labor and environmental groups criticized the fast-track deal, calling it worse than the North American Free Trade Agreement passed two decades ago.
To which manufacturing lobbyist Dempsey was allowed to retort: "The critics are just wrong." So much for the opponents' perspective.
To her credit, Noguchi does correct Dempsey's claim about NAFTA, saying, "After an initial bump following NAFTA, manufacturing employment declined." But that raises the question: If business lobbyists are presenting a distorted picture of the impact of trade deals, why are they the only ones you're allowing to talk to your listeners about trade deals?
ACTION: Please ask NPR ombud Elizabeth Jensen to investigate why NPR News talked only with corporate lobbyists to cover the victory of fast track.
CONTACT: You can contact Ms. Jensen via NPR's contact form or via Twitter: @ejensenNYC.
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Expecting 'Goodies' for Fast Track Vote? New Report Cautions Lawmakers on Broken Promises
"Members of Congress who have exchanged 'yes' votes for such IOUs have more often than not seen the promises broken," says Public Citizen
Jun 10, 2015
Lawmakers banking on "special favors" in exchange for their votes on controversial trade legislation risk "political peril," according to a new report (pdf) from the watchdog group Public Citizen.
In the face of stubborn resistance from Democratic lawmakers, the Obama administration has "moved beyond trying to sell Fast Track on its merits," Public Citizen says, "and is now offering rides on Air Force One, promises of infrastructure legislation, and pledges to help representatives survive the political backlash of a 'yes' vote on Fast Track." What's more, lawmakers are striving to include amendments to allegedly make pending trade legislation more palatable.
But with news outlets reporting that dozens of lawmakers are withholding their support for Fast Track legislation--which would allow President Barack Obama to send the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership deal to Congress for an up-or-down vote--in order to "see what they can get" in terms of political favors and backing, Public Citizen's analysis illuminates how such promises "consistently have been broken, exposing representatives to angry constituents and electoral losses."
"Even in the rare case where a promise to 'fix' a controversial trade deal has been upheld, the acclaimed tweak has failed to offset or outlast the damage wrought on local communities," said Ben Beachy, research director of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch. "Voters do not tend to remember boasts of finite safeguards or worker assistance funds, while mass layoffs, farm foreclosures and news reports on inequality provide fresh, ongoing reminders of how their member of Congress voted on Fast Track and Fast Tracked deals."
Even now, Bill Moyers and Michael Winship point out, the pro-Fast Track faction is employing "strong-arm tactics" to pass Fast Track: "As the clock ticked past midnight into Wednesday, the House Republican leadership posted the legislation on line, hoping for a vote this Friday--'to spare supportive legislators,' POLITICO reports, 'the possibility of another weekend of attacks by trade foes back in their districts.' Heaven forbid they should have to go home and hear a discouraging word from their constituents--the actual voters, as opposed to their big donors."
They should take heed. One by one, Public Citizen's report offers "examples of the track record of empty promises made to obtain difficult trade votes and resulting truncated political careers, providing a cautionary tale to members of Congress who are now contemplating the administration's pledges of political cover, and offers of various goodies from the president and congressional leaders."
Of the 92 specific promises included in the report, only 17 percent were kept, according to the organization.
For example: In 1993, U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.), along with other Florida representatives, voted for NAFTA on the basis of the Clinton administration's promises to protect Florida's tomato growers from destabilizing surges in tomato imports from Mexico. But, Public Citizen points out, the Clinton administration did not honor its pledge--within two years of NAFTA, tomato imports multiplied, Florida's tomato revenues dropped more than 40 percent, and the number of Florida tomato growers fell 60 percent.
"Indeed, a review of the last two decades of presidential promises made to extract trade votes facing passionate public opposition reveals that members of Congress who have exchanged 'yes' votes for such IOUs have more often than not seen the promises broken, leaving them exposed to voters' anger over their vote against the opinion and interests of the majority," reads the report. "In many cases, this exposure has contributed to subsequent electoral losses, costing members of Congress their jobs."
The latest reporting suggests that a vote on Fast Track in the House will come on Friday. According to The Hill:
Despite Obama's efforts, an overwhelming number of Democrats are expected to vote against his call for fast-track. But the White House has won 19 Democratic votes, according to a Whip List kept by The Hill.
A handful of other Democratic votes could also be in play for Obama, fast-track supporters such as Rep. Gerald Connolly (D-Va.) have said.
Republicans are seeking to win as many as 200 votes in their conference for fast-track. Thirty House Republicans are "no" or "leaning no" on the vote, according to The Hill's Whip List.
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As Crucial Vote Nears, How Many Dems Will Stand Against Destructive TPP?
'As progressive opposition to Fast Track intensifies, Leader Pelosi is conspicuously absent from the fight,' says CREDO Action
Jun 05, 2015
With proponents expressing increasing confidence that they have the bipartisan support to pass Fast Track in the House--and Republicans pushing to hold a vote as early as next week and certainly by the end of the month--progressive groups are dialing up the pressure on key lawmakers whose influence they see as critical in the fight over corporate-friendly trade deals.
In particular, groups including the Electronic Frontier Foundation, CREDO Action, and Democracy for America are targeting House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who thus far has declined to say how she'll vote on Fast Track, or trade promotion authority.
Passed by the Senate last month, the Fast Track bill would grant Congress an up-or-down vote on Obama's trade deals, but prohibit amendments or a filibuster in the Senate. The authority is seen as a necessary step in the president's bid to finalize the highly secretive Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which continues to amass foes on many fronts.
While progressives in the House, such as Keith Ellison (D-Mich.), Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), and Donna Edwards (D-Md.), have been outspoken in their opposition to Fast Track and the so-called "free trade" deals it is meant to promote, the mainstream Democratic apparatus--while not supporting Fast Track outright--has been more accommodating to the White House, providing what groups call "extraordinary access to the Democratic House Caucus to make its case."
"As progressive opposition to Fast Track intensifies, Leader Pelosi is conspicuously absent from the fight," said Murshed Zaheed, deputy political director at CREDO Action. "President Obama has chosen to side with Republicans and big corporations. Now Leader Pelosi has to decide if she's going to use her position to help President Obama or rally her caucus on behalf of the millions of Americans who want to stop Fast Track and the TPP."
In an email sent Friday to members, Democracy for America chair Jim Dean echoed that call: "House Democrats are under intense pressure from the president, from Republicans, and from big corporations to support Fast Track. If Nancy Pelosi comes out against Fast Track, that will help give those Democrats important cover to stand up to the rich and powerful and stop this bad deal."
Meanwhile, members of the Electronic Frontier Foundation met Thursday with Pelosi's chief of staff to hand-deliver a letter from over 250 tech companies and digital rights organizations who oppose the TPP and Fast Track for containing threats to net neutrality, digital innovation, and online freedom of expression.
According to reporting by the Wall Street Journal on Thursday:
House Republican aides estimate that between 25 to 30 Democrats will be needed to pass the fast-track bill--a smaller number than previously estimated, because more Republicans are now indicating support. Mr. Obama has told lawmakers that he believes he has lined up 20 Democratic votes.
Mrs. Pelosi suggested Thursday morning that Mr. Obama has reached the limit of Democratic votes he will be able to muster. She stuck with her estimate that Republicans would need to produce 200 votes to get the measure passed. Mr. Ryan has suggested Republicans aren't yet at that level.
The Hill is updating a detailed--and constantly shifting--"whip count" here.
Obama is reportedly wooing select members of Congress, even as labor groups threaten political consequences for those legislators who vote in favor of Fast Track.
"Some of our lawmakers already have committed to stand with their wealthy campaign donors and support Fast Track," the AFL-CIO said in blog post this week. "But many of our elected officials still can be moved--especially if we remind them that we vote."
CREDO Action's Zaheed added on Friday: "Pelosi is the quarterback for House Democrats. Will she throw the game on behalf of the President or step up and be a true progressive leader by rallying her caucus to block Fast Track and kill this terrible pro-corporate trade deal? It's long past time for Leader Pelosi to prove whose side she is on."
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