REPUBLICAN-LED CONGRESS HANDS OBAMA MAJOR WIN ON TRADE

[Purveyor]

Source: ASSOCIATED PRESS

Jun 24, 4:47 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) -- In a triumph of divided government, the Republican-controlled Congress passed major trade legislation Wednesday that was long-sought by President Barack Obama but vehemently opposed by most lawmakers in his party.

The measure to strengthen Obama's hand in global trade talks cleared the Senate on a vote of 60-38, and will go to the White House for his signature - less than two weeks after it was temporarily derailed in the House in an uprising of Democratic lawmakers.

A second bill, to renew an expiring program of federal aid for workers disadvantaged by imports, was on track to pass the Senate in short order. It would then go to the House, where a final vote was expected on Thursday.

The rapid sequence of events capped the end of a back-and-forth struggle that played out slowly over months, with Obama, Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., on one side, and the union-backed Democratic leadership of the House and Senate on the other.


Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_CONGRESS_TRADE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-06-24-12-07-48

[cascadiance]

1. And hands our country and 99% of our citizenry a big loss!

His major win is only going to get him a nice retirement package, not make many friends outside of the 1%ers he seems to regard as his pals that are the only ones he seems to want to satisfy now!

[LiberalLovinLug]

5. He wants a nice nest egg for his family

I'm sure he'll be well rewarded one way or the other when he leaves office.

But also, he seemed from the get go, in spite of all the spite from the other side, to desperately want to be seen as a President that joined the parties, that was stubbornly determined to fulfill his famous 2004 speech at the convention..."we are not red states, or blue states, but the United States!". He was determined to play in the sand box with the other boy who was and still is the biggest greediest stupidest bully on the block, even if it meant giving him his truck, or sand shovel, and even let him kick over his sand castle while laughing. And all the Fox News and hate radio and racist Tea Bagger slurs only made him all the more determined to find something ANYTHING that the other side could praise him for, could say at least the n* got something right. And he seems now even willing to take down the American worker to raise his stock to finally get that praise and land him a place at the masters table in the big house.

Its a sad spectacle. He held such enormous promise. I don't even think he realizes what kind of transformative Presidency he could have been part of. He had the mandate early on. Its pretty obvious even he did not believe that real and progressive Hope and Change was ever possible or worth trying to fight for. That coming to any agreement with Republicans on ANYTHING no matter how lopsided, was his main goal.

[Plucketeer]

8. He wanted to be a

REPUBLICAN right outta the starting gate. Hell, he erased all doubt of his yearnings even before he won a second term.

[Fred Sanders]

2. Global trade talks will continue, the final deal will be debated openly and the sky is still there.

[OnyxCollie]

3. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

[Spitfire of ATJ]

6. Republicans are supposed to be the ones who give a speech against something and then vote for it.

[MisterP]

7. GOTV! half a loaf! my parents were poor and fought for everything they had! pragmatism!

[LiberalElite]

9. We can't afford too many more of these "triumphs" nt

[PSPS]

10. Should read: Obama hands GOP major win on trade. "Eat your peas, sucker democrats!"