Thursday, June 11, 2015

Obamatrade (TPA): No Transparency

What are the Republicans doing?

The Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) is much more than a trade bill.

From Breitbart:

In the wake of revelations that technically a vote for Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) would be a vote to grant the executive branch massively-expanded immigration powers, the Washington establishment cooked up an elaborate ruse to try to save the flailing Obamatrade bill.

This comes as Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) re-emerges as a central figure pushing Obamatrade. His polling numbers in early states remain stagnant and Obamatrade opponents like former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, Dr. Ben Carson, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum are gaining traction on the 2016 trail.

Earlier on Wednesday, leading up to the House Rules Committee hearing where chairman Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) is teaming up with House Ways and Means Committee chairman Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), Breitbart News exposed the expansive immigration provisions inside the Obamatrade package. Specifically, secret Obamatrade documents leaked to Wikileaks show that there are provisions contained within draft Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA) text that would massively expand President Obama’s immigration authority when it comes to immigration matters.

“The existence of these ten pages on immigration in the Trade and Services Agreement make it absolutely clear in my mind that the administration is negotiating immigration – and for them to say they are not – they have a lot of explaining to do based on the actual text in this agreement,” NumbersUSA director of government relations Rosemary Jenks told Breitbart News.

So, in response and in conjunction with chief Obamatrade proponent Ryan, Rep. Steve King (R-IA) introduced an amendment that wouldn’t actually fix the problem. King’s amendment, which would be to a different bill than Trade Promotion Authority, would push language into the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act — an entirely different piece of legislation.

...Glyn Wright, the executive director of Eagle Forum, told Breitbart News in an email that this whole ruse wouldn’t fix anything.

...Pete Sessions’ office, despite a claim during the hearing from the chairman that he would be transparent about this matter, has explicitly refused to answer questions from Breitbart News about this matter. Cruz’s team hasn’t responded to a request for comment on record either.
According to Obama, this alleged trade bill is about advancing his climate change agenda.

It's about immigration.

Phony amendments are an insult.

The American people deserve transparency.

It is not OK for the Republicans to dodge questions. The public should not be in the dark on this.

Hey, Republicans, this "pass the bill to find out what's in it" is unacceptable.





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