Today, the House of Representatives is attempting to vote through the unconstitutional Trade Promotion Authority that it approved last week while rejecting the Trade Adjustment Assistance. Sadly, it is Republicans who are leading the charge for TPA.
Roll Call reports:
The House is set to vote Thursday on Trade Promotion Authority, with GOP leaders employing procedural maneuvers and indirect promises to make sure the bill eventually gets signed into law.
Pro-trade lawmakers are moving ahead with a vote on TPA without Trade Adjustment Assistance, which aids U.S. workers displaced by international trade.
The success of their plan hinges on whether Democrats who voted for TPA will still support that measure without immediate certainty they’ll also get TAA, which trade opponents voted down on June 12 to derail the entire package.
As I’ve pointed out previously, this measure illegally delegates trade agreement authority to the Executive Branch, something it has not been given constitutional authority over. The reason is quite simple. According to Article I, Section 7 of the US Constitution:
All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives…
This is not an issue of treaties because they are something entirely different. This is an issue of tariffs, and tariffs are taxes, which must originate in the House. Additionally, this is the same problem with Obamacare. As it was deemed a tax by the Supreme Court (when it simply should have been struck down as unconstitutional), it also failed to originate in the House.
It is vitally important that you contact your representative today and tell them to vote against the TPA as it would be a violation of the Constitution and their oath of office.
Mick Mulvaney, my South Carolina representative, informed me that he would continue to stand fast against TAA and TPA.
Barack Obama has vowed to veto the bill is the TAA welfare is not a part of it. TAA would provide subsidies for Americans who lose their jobs once TPA is in place and Obama advances his job killing, gun grabbing, illegal invading, super secret, non-disclosing, one world economy Trans-Pacific Partnership into the mix.
