Fast Track

Welcome to ModestoThe first Blue America truck of 2015 is on the road. Our driver is using the Golden State Highway (Route 99) as the backbone of a trip up and down two Central Valley districts-- CA-10, represented by Republican Jeff Denham, and CA-16, represented by Blue Dog Jim Costa.

The famous "Yes We Can" theme, just before its conversion to "No I Won't." Why is this painful to watch? Six years of broken promises and a party-wide TPP cave by its leaders have rebranded Democrats for a generation. by Gaius PubliusTPP and Fast Track may be closing down the show and heading home. We may (or may not) know its fate very soon.

Route 99, the Golden State Highway, splits off from the 5 Freeway just south of Bakersfield in southern California and stretches north to include a straight path through the Central Valley-- including all of CA-16 and all of CA-10, way into the north where it merges with the 5 again at Red Bluff.

Why Washington State senators need the Export-Import Bank to be reauthorizedby Gaius PubliusHouse Democrats, 28 of them, handed Obama and House Republicans a win by passing Fast Track, called Trade Promotion Authority, or TPA, as a stand-alone bill. The bill yoked to it by the Senate — an "assistance for workers" bill called TAA — was cut loose.

Senators asking big spenders at Monsanto to pony upby Gaius PubliusWhile we're waiting for the Fast Track drama to deliver its next non-final event, I thought I'd offer some background. The big money behind the scenes is paying a lot to get this bill past the goal line (but as you'll see, not a whole lot).The Guardian offers this report (my emphasis):

Blue Dog Jim Costa voted with the GOP to pay for TPP with cuts to MedicareBig Business/Wall Street-oriented conservatives in California from both parties voted to fast-track the job-killing TPP last week. All of California's Republicans and most of the state's Blue Dogs and New Dems voted badly on the package of bills. So did a couple of normal Democrats-- Sam Farr, Anna Eshoo and Karen Bass. Most California congressmembers voted against the trade deal.

No one should have expected anything good coming from conservative New Dem Kathleen Rice when she joined the Republicans and other conservative Democrats to try to pass Fast Track authorization. John MacArthur, writing Friday for Harper's, said, "Rice last week reversed her opposition to fast-track the TPP.

Wall Street and Big Business, usually thought of as an integral part of the Republican Party, finances The New Dem faction of the House Democratic caucus to ensure that they have their fingers in the internal affairs of both parties. Currently there are 46 New Dems in the House and, generally speaking, they tend to be the most conservative Democrats in the House, the ones who back corporate/Wall Street policies and the Republican agenda.

Brown has been fighting against the job-killing corporate trade agenda since long before he was ever elected to the Senate. He was the primary champion of the battle against these unfair trade bills in the House-- just as Grayson is today. Last week, Brown did an OpEd for the Jackson County Times-Journal about the dangers of fast-tracking the TPP.

UPDATE: The Rule as described below passed the House, 217–212, with eight Democrats jumping in at the last minute to push it over the line. McCarthy's order of business will start soon, presumably Friday. The roll call vote on the Rule is here. Blumenauer was a lead vote, again. There could be trouble ahead, with yet more kind words for Pelosi's helpful role, from New Dem chair Ron Kind, at the link.