Not so fast, fellow Democrats!

[yallerdawg]

For those who still trust our Democratic president when he says we should all look at the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement before we condemn it, we need to understand 3 out of 4 trade bills just passed Congress. The 'infamous' TAA and the passed but 'apocalyptic' TPA are part of the same Senate package bill, so they both have to be passed together to go to the president's desk for signature. TPA is done -- next week TAA may be reconsidered and voted on.

What next?

...because the trade adjustment assistance provision was an indispensable part of the Senate-passed package, Obama's trade agenda appeared to be dead. Without trade adjustment assistance, there would be no vote on a "fast-track" trade promotion authority. And without fast-track, there would likely be no Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Game. Set ... What now?

Like Hulk Hogan in a headlock, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, quickly pulled off a bold, high-stakes legislative maneuver. His chief lieutenant, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., called for an immediate vote on "fast track" even without the job training sweetener intended to gain Democratic votes. It passed, 219-211.

That vote kept the trade package alive, but it still needs some form of trade adjustment assistance in order to win Senate support. Practically speaking, that needs to come next week, or it probably won't come at all. But when the congressional leadership and the president agree that when something must pass, it usually does — even if some arms are broken in the process.

Pelosi suggested one path out of the tangle: Tying passage of the trade deal to a job-creating highway bill that Democrats would support.

Could Nancy Pelosi have an endgame where President Obama remains vital and she gets us a job's bill for needed infrastructure?

We'll see...
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2015/06/12/first-take-obama-trade-deal/71133464/