"Obama has asked Congress to grant him fast-track authority, too. He wants it so the 12-country Trans-Pacific Partnership talks, which began five years ago, can close. He also wants Congress to grant this authority to him under new conditions, including that any final deal have strict, enforceable labor and environmental standards."
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“We are supposed to vote on (fast-track), tie our hands and not vote on amendments, before we’ve seen what the (Trans-Pacific Partnership) is. I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who has seen something exactly like it more than a dozen times during his 34 years on Capitol Hill
"So why is the left making such baseless, tea party-style claims of executive branch overreach?
Because it’s desperately trying to prevent a deal from concluding. Withholding fast-track authority looks like a winning strategy. Delegates of other countries involved in the negotiations — including Japan, Australia and New Zealand — have said that a final deal won’t happen without a guarantee of an up-or-down vote from Congress.
“You cannot conclude serious trade negotiations without fast track. It can’t be done,” says Craig VanGrasstek, a trade historian at Harvard’s Kennedy School. “It’s like a law of nature.” History bears this out, he says, at least if you look at prior multilateral negotiations. No fast-track equals no big, unified deal."
They're shocked!
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