Liberal Democrats align with Tea Party against Obama's trade agenda
WASHINGTON, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- A coalition of liberal Democrats and Tea Party Republicans is fighting against U.S. President Barack Obama's ambitious trade agenda that he hopes to secure before he leaves office, U.S. media reported.
The extreme left and right align in pushing back on trade just as Obama and Republican leaders have joined together to secure the so-called trade promotion authority (TPA) before the Obama administration concludes major trade agreements with 11 other Asia-Pacific countries, New York Times reported.
The TPA empowers the president to negotiate trade deals and then present them to Congress for votes, with no amendments allowed. Without such authority, many trade analysts say, Obama's hopes to enact trade deals before he leaves office will be doomed.
But Tea party and other conservatives oppose granting Obama that authority, arguing it would cede Congress's constitutional authority over trade to a president they don't trust.
"After President Obama's power grabs over the past three or four years, people have come to the conclusion you should not be giving this president any additional authority," Rick Manning, president of Americans for Limited Government, a Tea Party-aligned advocacy group, was quoted as saying by New York Times.
"To do so really is a betrayal to the people who elected this Republican Congress," said Manning.
The TPA is also a tough nut within his own party for the president, as liberal Democrats and activists from labor unions have concerns that trade deals have hurt U.S. workers and increased income inequality.
"I've always been suspect in my entire career in Congress of these trade agreements. I don't support fast track," Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid told reporters last month.
"I have not been shown that these trade agreements have helped the middle class," said Reid.
What's worse, a group of bipartisan lawmakers have called for the U.S. to introduce binding currency provisions into trade agreements currently under negotiation by the Obama administration including the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which is close to completion.
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Liberal Democrats align with Tea Party against Obama's trade agenda