GOP And Obama Agree, Global Trade Deals Are Necessary For Level Competition
The US House entered a 2-day debate over trade legislation Thursday, a controversy so ‘heavy’ that US President Barack Hussein Obama conferred on strategy with Republican Speaker John Boehner (OH), and drew a public rebuttal in the House from a Democratic foe of the initiative.
With a showdown vote expected Friday, Speaker Boehner declined to predict the fate of White House-backed legislation allowing Mr. Obama to complete global trade deals that Congress could approve or reject but not change. The bill also would renew an aid program, due to expire soon, for workers who lose their jobs as a result of
The White House dispatched US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew and other administration officials to a mid-day closed-door meeting with House Democrats, but there was no indication they came away with any converts.
Richard Trumka, head of the AFL-CIO, also attended the heated session, and strongly recommended defeat of the trade bill.
The House’s top Democrat, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (CA) is publicly uncommitted. She seeks to maintain leverage to the end to sweeten the package for workers directly disadvantaged by trade.
Republicans hold a commanding 246-188 majority in the House but are expecting a large number of defections on the trade measure.
The legislation is a top priority for Mr. Obama who hopes to complete a major deal with 11 Pacific Area nations. It has drawn fierce opposition from Democrats, many of them supported by unions arguing that expanded global trade will cost jobs at home.
Mr. Obama publicly disagrees with critics in his own party on the merits of the legislation, saying they were wrong in their objections.
The legislation to strengthen Mr. Obama’s hand in international talks was one of several trade-related measures pending in the US House.
In an era of divided government, most Republicans and the White House are on the same side of a bitterly contested issue.
Like Mr. Obama, the GOP agrees that trade deals are necessary to give US companies the ability to compete with overseas companies.
“Either we shape the global economy, as Americans, with trade agreements, or it shapes us. The rest of the world is moving,” Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said in an interview Thursday.
Mr. Ryan is Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.
Stay tuned…
HeffX-LTN
Paul Ebeling
The post GOP And Obama Agree, Global Trade Deals Are Necessary For Level Competition appeared first on Live Trading News.