Here's email I received this evening from Senator Ron Wyden (Oregon). Wyden made a real effort to salvage something from the TPP by changing the 'fast-track' procedures. He thought he had a deal, which surprised me, because I have said all along that the Republicans can pull this off on their own - considering the money-media power of the Republican National Committee.
I did think that Senator Wyden had valid points to make and what he was trying to do made some sense. But today's GOP has no principles and no honor: their only value is money, nothing else.
What I expect now is that the RNC will do what they did in 2010 with the DISCLOSE Act - make it a party-line vote. Every member of the Senate who hangs tough against another trade sell-out of America from here on out will be targeted - Republicans as well as Democrats - in 2016 or if, like Wyden, they don't come up for reelection until 2018, then they will be targeted in 2018 with the rest of them due in 2020.
Here's the text of email I just received from Senator Ron Wyden this evening:
As I told you last month, it is critical that any new trade agreements protect American workers, level the playing field, protect human rights, raise labor standards, protect the environment, and defend a free and open internet.
If we're going to strike a trade agreement, it has to be a fair deal for American workers.
To make that happen, I negotiated an agreement with Republicans in the Senate. We agreed to move forward with votes on critical enforcement provisions at the same time as the vote on trade promotion authority. We had a deal.
But today, it became clear that the Republican leadership in the Senate would insist on moving forward on expanding trade without the accompanying enforcement provisions.
Without enforcement, this trade deal is a bad deal for America. Without enforcement, this trade deal would fail to protect our workers against trade cheats. Without enforcement, this trade deal would allow the shameful practices of child labor and slavery to continue unchecked.
As I told my colleagues, if we don't have a deal on enforcement, then we don't have a deal on trade.
No deal means no deal.
I remain committed to expanding trade opportunities for Oregonians and all Americans. But we're going to do it right.