<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="color: rgb(31, 73, 125);" class=""><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/populist-democrats-hand-obama-a-stinging-defeat-on-tpp/2015/05/12/aec9be02-f8e7-11e4-a13c-193b1241d51a_story.html?hpid=z2" style="color: purple;" class="">http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/populist-democrats-hand-obama-a-stinging-defeat-on-tpp/2015/05/12/aec9be02-f8e7-11e4-a13c-193b1241d51a_story.html?hpid=z2</a><o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="color: rgb(31, 73, 125);" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 15pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12.5pt; font-family: FranklinITCProBold;" class=""><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions" style="color: purple;" class=""><span style="color: rgb(46, 109, 157);" class="">Opinions</span></a><o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 5.4pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 39pt;"><span style="font-size: 36pt; font-family: FranklinITCProBold; color: rgb(42, 42, 42);" class="">Democrats hand Obama a stinging defeat on trade deal<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 15pt;" class=""><a name="ce2f04bac75fe3218dd6b81dc5ea1c74ab40f239" class=""></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: FranklinITCProBold; color: rgb(17, 17, 17);" class="">By <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/people/dana-milbank" style="color: purple;" class=""><span style="color: rgb(46, 109, 157);" class="">Dana Milbank</span></a></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(17, 17, 17);" class=""> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);" class="">Opinion writer</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(17, 17, 17);" class=""> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(170, 170, 170);" class="">May 12 at 5:56 PM</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(17, 17, 17);" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 15pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(17, 17, 17);" class=""><br class=""></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.25in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.6pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: Georgia, serif; color: rgb(17, 17, 17);" class="">Could this be the populist moment?<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.25in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.6pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: Georgia, serif; color: rgb(17, 17, 17);" class="">A seemingly unstoppable coalition of the powerful assembled to advance the Trans Pacific Partnership trade bill: A Democratic president aligned with the Republican majority in both chambers of Congress and the full lobbying might of Corporate America.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.25in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.6pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: Georgia, serif; color: rgb(17, 17, 17);" class="">But on Tuesday afternoon, the Senate Democratic minority delivered a surprise defeat to President Obama and a severe setback to one of the last few items on his presidential agenda. They <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/democrats-threaten-to-stall-trade-legislation-in-the-senate/2015/05/12/08f71d66-f8c0-11e4-9ef4-1bb7ce3b3fb7_story.html" title="www.washingtonpost.com" style="color: purple;" class=""><span style="color: rgb(46, 109, 157);" class="">blocked consideration of “fast track” trade authority</span></a> – a crucial vehicle to get the Pacific trade pact through Congress.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.25in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.6pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: Georgia, serif; color: rgb(17, 17, 17);" class="">The victors: the ascendant populist wing of the Democratic Party, and its spiritual leader, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. “Over and over, America’s workers have taken the brunt of bad trade deals,” the former Harvard professor and scourge of big business told a gathering of the Roosevelt Institute, a liberal think tank, hours before Tuesday’s vote.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.25in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.6pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: Georgia, serif; color: rgb(17, 17, 17);" class="">“We can’t keep pushing through trade deals that benefit multinational companies at the expense of workers,” <a href="http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/elizabeth-warren-tpp-joe-stiglitz" title="talkingpointsmemo.com" style="color: purple;" class=""><span style="color: rgb(46, 109, 157);" class="">she added</span></a>, with theatrical urgency. “Government cannot continue to be the captive of the rich and powerful. Working people cannot be forced to give up more and more as they get squeezed harder and harder.”<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.25in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.6pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: Georgia, serif; color: rgb(17, 17, 17);" class="">Warren masterfully undermined the trade bill, by highlighting the administration’s obsessive secrecy (the details of the proposed agreement are classified) and the role of corporate interests in drafting the deal (500 non-government advisors participated, she said, 85 percent of them industry executives or lobbyists).<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.25in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.6pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: Georgia, serif; color: rgb(17, 17, 17);" class="">“And now this trade deal is getting the full court lobbying press from those same giant multinational corporations,” <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/may/12/senate-democrats-tpp-fast-track-harry-reid-currency-manipulation" title="www.theguardian.com" style="color: purple;" class=""><span style="color: rgb(46, 109, 157);" class="">she said</span></a>. “The middle class is on the ropes and now is the time to fight back.”<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.25in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.6pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: Georgia, serif; color: rgb(17, 17, 17);" class="">Under intense pressure from the Warren wing, 44 of the 45 Democrats present Tuesday afternoon defied Obama. Even Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), the chief Democratic advocate for the fast-track bill, buckled. Proponents fell eight votes short of the 60 they needed to take up the fast-track bill.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.25in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.6pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: Georgia, serif; color: rgb(17, 17, 17);" class="">Senate free-traders will likely find a way to revive the bill, but Tuesday’s defeat will embolden opponents in the House, where the free-trade package already faced trouble. However the trade debate is resolved, Tuesday’s defeat in the Senate is likely to be a turning point, because it shows that the populists are now firmly in control of the Democratic Party. Anger over growing inequality has reached critical mass, and a backlash has begun against a political system that has, over the last three decades, allowed 100 percent of all income growth to go to the wealthiest 10 percent.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.25in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.6pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: Georgia, serif; color: rgb(17, 17, 17);" class="">The trade deal has for now become the victim of that anger – less because of the details of the TPP than because it hasn’t been accompanied by more protections and assistance for American workers.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.25in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.6pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: Georgia, serif; color: rgb(17, 17, 17);" class="">“I believe in this,” <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/video/exclusive-interview-president-barack-obama-123805395.html" title="news.yahoo.com" style="color: purple;" class=""><span style="color: rgb(46, 109, 157);" class="">Obama said of the trade deal</span></a>, “the same way… that I believe in a higher minimum wage. The same way that I believe in stronger protections for workers who are trying to get a voice in their company. The same way I believe in equal pay. The same way I believe in paid sick leave.”<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.25in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.6pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: Georgia, serif; color: rgb(17, 17, 17);" class="">But Obama’s actions haven’t matched his words, and he didn’t require Republicans to accept any of those priorities before he joined them in pushing for free-trade legislation. Senate Republicans drove more Democrats into opposition when they declined requests to bring up other trade-related bills other than legislation offering a meager (and reduced) amount of training funds for workers who lose their jobs.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.25in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.6pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: Georgia, serif; color: rgb(17, 17, 17);" class="">At the White House, press secretary Josh Earnest called Tuesday’s vote a <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2015/05/12/the-white-houses-abnormal-talking-point-of-the-day-procedural-snafu/" title="www.washingtonpost.com" style="color: purple;" class=""><span style="color: rgb(46, 109, 157);" class="">“procedural snafu.”</span></a> But Obama was undone by more than procedure. His would-be successor, Hillary Clinton, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/on-trade-deal-hillary-clinton-keeps-her-distance-from-obama-and-her-past/2015/05/11/bc2cc604-f7e1-11e4-9ef4-1bb7ce3b3fb7_story.html" title="www.washingtonpost.com" style="color: purple;" class=""><span style="color: rgb(46, 109, 157);" class="">was not courageous enough to take a position on the trade legislation</span></a>, but her silence gave Democrats more freedom to oppose it. And Democrats in Congress bristled at <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-warren-feud-breaks-open-as-trade-legislation-blocked-by-democrats/2015/05/12/9902f880-f8bb-11e4-9030-b4732caefe81_story.html" title="www.washingtonpost.com" style="color: purple;" class=""><span style="color: rgb(46, 109, 157);" class="">Obama’s disparagement of opponents</span></a> of the trade bill as emotional, illogical and dishonest.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.25in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.6pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: Georgia, serif; color: rgb(17, 17, 17);" class="">“The president is making some fairly nasty remarks about people on the other side, that they don’t understand we’re in the 21st century,” <a href="http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/nobel-winning-economist-comes-to-elizabeth-warren-s-defense-on-trade-20150512" title="www.nationaljournal.com" style="color: purple;" class=""><span style="color: rgb(46, 109, 157);" class="">Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel laureate in economics, said</span></a> at the Roosevelt Institute gathering, at the National Press Club. “Actually we do. I don’t think he understands.”<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.25in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.6pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: Georgia, serif; color: rgb(17, 17, 17);" class="">Warren, at the same event, took a shot at those Democrats who have “floated along with the idea that economic growth is in direct opposition to strengthening the wellbeing of America’s working families… That claim is flatly wrong.”<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.25in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.6pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: Georgia, serif; color: rgb(17, 17, 17);" class="">Tuesday’s 44-to-1 vote against Obama’s position confirms that Warren’s populists now dominate the Democratic Party – and if Obama wants to retain a semblance of relevance, he’ll join them.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div class=""><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: Georgia, serif; color: rgb(17, 17, 17);" class=""><br class=""></span></div></body></html>