Of politicians and poison pills
by Tom Sullivan
First things first. If you haven’t called Washington to weigh in on (or inveigh against) Fast Track — it comes up for a vote in the House today — find your representative’s number here. Operators are standing by.
As Reuters calls it:
President Barack Obama’s quest for “fast-track” negotiating authority on a Pacific Rim trade deal passed its initial tests in the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday ahead of a final vote on Friday on contentious trade measures.
By a vote of 397-32, the House approved a measure authorizing funds to help workers who lose their jobs as a result of trade deals, without cutting Medicare health benefits for the elderly to pay for it, as the Senate had proposed.
Turns out Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim wasn’t enough of a poison pill. The Senate had slipped Medicare cuts into the Fast Track trade authorization package. A late-night deal between Speaker John Boehner and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi stripped the provision on Tuesday, Pelosi helping smooth the way for passage. She’s just helpful that way.
Reuters continues:
The House also voted 217-212 in favor of procedural rules that set up Friday’s votes on the core issue before it: the fast-track bill. Already approved by the Senate, fast-track is needed, Obama says, to help him promptly conclude a 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal.
Eight Democrats were also helpful. They jumped in at the last minute to shore up the vote for passage. Howie has got a little list. Gaius has more gory details
below.