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Legislation key to US President Barack Obama's trade agenda has passed a key hurdle in the Senate, just two weeks after it appeared to have failed.
The bill known as the Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) or, more commonly, Fast Track, makes it easier for presidents to negotiate trade deals.
Supporters see it as critical to the success of a 12-nation trade deal known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
The bill is expected to pass a final vote in the Senate on Wednesday.
Tuesday's 60-37 vote - just barely meeting the required 60 vote threshold - is the result of the combined efforts of the White House and many congressional Republicans to push the bill through Congress, despite the opposition of many Democrats.
This is primarily a tech news site, and it's generally good to avoid political news, but the TPP is a huge trade deal, negotiated in secret, that will have large ramifications for the world economy that affects us all, and that also has large implications for the accountability of major world governments to their citizens.
Original Submission
(Score: 5, Insightful) by kadal on Wednesday June 24 2015, @06:39PM
TPP should be rejected just because it's secret. There isn't anything to discuss.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Thexalon on Wednesday June 24 2015, @06:54PM
Specifically, it's secret to those whose opinions should matter (We the People of the United States), and not at all secret to those whose opinions do matter (big business lobbyists).
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 24 2015, @07:05PM
If you weren't white and/or wealthy your opinion has never mattered in the US.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Thexalon on Wednesday June 24 2015, @07:37PM
This case is particularly egregious, though, because right now there are corporate bigwigs that have more access to this proposed treaty than US senators. Even the white and wealthy senators.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 4, Informative) by Marand on Wednesday June 24 2015, @07:57PM
If you weren't white and/or wealthy your opinion has never mattered in the US.
"If you aren't wealthy, your opinion has never mattered in the US" would be sufficient. My whiteness has done absolutely nothing to stop this or other proposals I find disagreeable because it didn't come with sufficient wealth. On the other side, it's clear Obama's blackness did not magically negate his wealth, or he'd never have managed to become President and have the power to push things like this.
Money talks, and wealth is disproportionately held by certain demographics in the US, but that doesn't mean that those demographics are all automatically winners. It just means that the people with the real power -- money -- are more likely to fit those demographics in the US. A poor white person might get some residual benefits because people will assume they're more likely to have money, but once that assumption is gone they'll get shit on just like anybody else that made the mistake of not being rich enough.
A lot of racist attitudes I seem to stem from this anti-poor sentiment, too; I've seen people get mad about blacks entering a neighbourhood, not because of their blackness, but because they're "probably poor" and going to "bring down the neighbourhood". Those same people didn't give a fuck about Japanese moving in, though, because they were assumed to be wealthy enough, which meant they were "good people". People here worship the "American Dream" of the working class person making it big and becoming rich, and it's been perverted in such a way that far too many of us look at people with less money as being inferior. After all, if they weren't inferior, they would have improved their standing, because that's the American Dream in action. A scary side-effect of this is some people being so eager to improve their apparent status that they'll neglect necessities because they spent all their money on cars and phones they can't afford just to look wealthier, and thus more important.
TL;DR: It's always about the money; in the US, poor people go to prison while rich people go to Congress.
(Score: 1) by Absolutely.Geek on Wednesday June 24 2015, @09:25PM
(We the People of the United States)
As New Zealander; there are far more then just the people of the US being screwed over by this. But don't feel special; our politians ignore us just as much as yours ignore you.
Does anyone know of any positives from this trade deal? All that I have heard about is the negatives from the leaks.
Don't trust the police or the government - Shihad: My mind's sedate.
(Score: 2) by kadal on Wednesday June 24 2015, @07:15PM
Further, if TPP is passed, does it then become public? or does it still remain secret?
If it becomes public can it's provisions be struck down by the courts?
(Score: 2, Disagree) by curunir_wolf on Wednesday June 24 2015, @08:02PM
Further, if TPP is passed, does it then become public? or does it still remain secret? If it becomes public can it's provisions be struck down by the courts?
What they have done here pre-ratify a treaty. They've decided they don't need to wait until the treaty is written and signed, they have provided the Constitutionally-required treaty ratification ahead of time, so when the President signs whatever it turns out to be, it already has the force of law.
So will it become public? Only if the President decides it will. Can it be struck down by the courts? No, not really. If there are provisions that are in direct conflict with the Constitution, it's possible they could strike down that provision. Of course, the treaty could always include provisions that trigger some other specific things if a court challenge is successful.
One thing that this vote does do is ensure the treaty will need to go back to Congress for anything. They have just given the President a blank check to sign anything he wants to, and it's automatically a ratified treaty.
I am a crackpot
(Score: 4, Informative) by bob_super on Wednesday June 24 2015, @08:08PM
Nope. As in nope. Not even close.
Unless they changed the definition of fast-track, they still have to vote on it, but they can't change it.
It's an up-down vote only, to avoid endless tinkering with provisions which have taken years to agree with with our "partners".
(Score: 2) by kadal on Thursday June 25 2015, @02:24PM
From the other Fast Track submission (which links to this: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2015/06/senate-passes-fast-track-we-can-still-prevent-tpp-train-wreck) [eff.org]