IT'S A TRAP! BREAKING: FAST TRACK [TPP] VOTE FRIDAY!
Robert Cruickshank, Democracy for America
It's happening. On Friday, the House of Representatives is going to vote on the Fast Track bill for the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Before they vote, Admiral Ackbar from Star Wars has an important and infamous warning that you need to give to your Representative:
Here's how the trap works. Last Saturday, we explained how the Fast Track bill includes a whopping $700 million cut to Medicare, in order to pay for Trade Adjustment Assistance to help those who lose their jobs due to foreign trade.
According to reports, some House Democrats have cut a deal with Paul Ryan and the Republicans. The terms of the deal stink: Democrats have to vote for the Fast Track bill, including the $700 million cut to Medicare, in exchange for a vague promise to remove the Medicare cuts at a later date.
Democrats would go on record as voting for a Medicare cut -- and Republicans would attack those Democrats for doing so at the 2016 election. How can Democrats avoid this trap? It's simple: they just have to vote NO on Fast Track.
Fighting the Medicare cuts may also be our best hope of stopping the Fast Track bill itself. As Greg Sargent explained in the Washington Post last week, removing the Medicare cuts might alienate more Republicans and jeopardize passage of Fast Track.
If the House refuses to cut Medicare and finds another way to pay for aid to workers who lost their jobs to foreign trade, then they will have to reconcile their bill with the Senate version that includes the Medicare cuts. Paul Ryan has said that won't work and would kill Fast Track. That's fine by us.
In short, not only is fighting the Medicare cuts a good thing to do in itself -- it could also be a good way to stop the Fast Track bill.
Thank you for helping Democrats avoid this awful trap that would hurt seniors, workers, and their own re-election chances.
- Robert
Robert Cruickshank, Senior Campaign Manager
Democracy for America