Strange Bedfellows--

[Jackpine Radical]

It now appears that Obama is busily making friends with the bipartisan Congressional Business Caucus.

Weirdly, to the extent that there is any possibility of blocking any of the Corporate Agenda (e.g. TPP), it might well be by means of a Teabagger-Progressive alliance against the combined corporate wings of their respective parties.

[Enrique]

1. i agree with your post but it drives me crazy too

you suggest this is a change, but I recognize your handle and I know you know that he has ALWAYS been friends with the BCBC, whether or not that is an actual thing. So why suggest this is a new thing?

Unless i"m misunderstanding you...

[Jackpine Radical]

3. I guess the operative word is "appears."

Previous machinations, such as the unholy alliance with the health insurance industry that killed the Public Option, were somewhat better hidden & obfuscated, but he & Mitch are meeting to divide up the spoils like the oil companies did Iraq in Cheney's secret energy policy committee before 9-11. Mitch has already announced their agreement on TPP.

[deutsey]

2. Interesting

An anti-TPP activist was on Democracy Now this morning:

As far as the members of Congress, so the way the math works—and this is the House of Representatives where this fight’s going to happen—almost all the Democrats are against the old fast-track system, the legislative luge run that rolls bad trade agreements right over Congress. However, in the Republican Party there’s a split. One should not write off talking to one’s member of Congress if they’re a Republican. There is a Wall Street versus Main Street split in the Republicans. The more conservative and the more moderate of the Republicans are against fast track. The sort of corporate, "main," Wall Street contingent are for fast track. That’s what the Chamber of Commerce wants. So, interestingly, the more progressive—there are a handful of progressive Republicans. They support labor rights, etc. Those guys and gals and the tea party conservatives, together, are the bloc of Republicans who don’t want fast track.

And by the way, this is not just right now. When President Clinton, Mr. Trade Expansion, tried to get fast track himself, because he only had it for two of his eight years as president, he was defeated on the House floor when 171 Democrats were joined by 71 Republicans in 1998, who said, "No, we are not going to give away our constitutional trade authority, to make sure that these trade agreements don’t rewrite our domestic laws, don’t offshore our jobs." And that combination of left and right maintained trade authority for the Congress, and Clinton was denied. And, in fact, in the last 20 years, there’s only been a delegation of fast track for five of the last 20 years. So it would be an anomaly if suddenly Congress caved in.


http://www.democracynow.org/2014/11/6/obama_mcconnell_pledge_cooperation_will_fast

[MisterP]

4. the NAFTA vote was also split--55% Dems and 55% Pubs