The U.S. House of Representatives cast a pair of critical votes on Friday related to president Barack Obama‘s crony capitalist trade push (a.k.a. “Obamatrade“).
The result? A mixed bag … leaving the future of this massive deal (which would impact up to forty percent of the world’s economy) up in the air.
The first vote was on a so-called “trade adjustment assistance” (TAA) provision favored by Democrats as part of the Pacific Rim pact. This measure – which says all you need to know about the secretive deal – would have created a costly new government program aimed at helping American workers who lost their jobs as a result of Obamatrade’s passage.
That provision failed by a 302-126 margin.
Five of South Carolina’s seven congressmen – Jeff Duncan, Trey Gowdy, Mick Mulvaney, Tom Rice and Mark Sanford – voted against this provision. Only two of them – Jim Clyburn (the lone Democrat in the delegation) and Joe Wilson – voted for it.
The next vote addressed whether to give Obama’s administration so-called “trade promotion authority” (TPA, or “fast track” negotiating authority) to conduct the trade deal. This provision would let Obama continue drafting the agreement in secret – forbidding Congress from debating it, amending it or even overseeing it once it had been approved.
That measure passed by a narrow 219-211 margin.
Unfortunately, only three South Carolina congressmen – Clyburn, Duncan and Mulvaney – voted against this provision.
The rest of the delegation – including so-called “conservatives” Trey Gowdy and Mark Sanford – voted for it. Their votes were critical, too. Had all of the Palmetto State’s so-called “conservative” delegation opposed this provision, then the chamber would have deadlocked.
