Cruz Switches Vote on TPA, but Measure Passes After Obama Twists Democrat Arms
Jeff Sessions: They Won the Vote, But Lost America

Breaking News: You're their voters, but you're not their constituency.

Jeff Sessions has a must-read statement at the Weekly Standard.

Americans increasingly believe that their country isn't serving its own citizens. They need look no further than a bipartisan vote of Congress that will transfer congressional power to the Executive Branch and, in turn, to a transnational Pacific Union and the global interests who will help write its rules.

The same routine plays out over and again. We are told a massive bill must be passed, all the business lobbyists and leaders tell how grand it will be, but that it must be rushed through before the voters spoil the plan. As with Obamacare and the Gang of Eight, the politicians meet with the consultants to craft the talking points--not based on what the bill actually does, but what they hope people will believe it does. And when ordinary Americans who never asked for the plan, who don't want the plan, who want no part of the plan, resist, they are scorned, mocked, and heaped with condescension.

Washington broke arms and heads to get that 60th vote--not one to spare--to impose on the American people a plan which imperils their jobs, wages, and control over their own affairs. It is remarkable that so much energy has been expended on advancing the things Americans oppose, and preventing the things Americans want.

For instance: thousands of loyal Americans have been laid off and forced to train the foreign workers brought in to fill their jobs--at Disney, at Southern California Edison, across the country. Does Washington rush to their defense? No, the politicians and the lobbyists rush to move legislation that would double or triple the very program responsible for replacing them.

This 'econometarian' ideology holds that if a company can increase its bottom line --whether by insourcing foreign workers or outsourcing production--then it's always a win, never a downside.

President Obama, and allies in Congress, have won this fast-track vote. But, in exchange, they may find that they are losing something far greater: the trust of the American people. Americans have a fundamental, decent, and just demand: that the people they elect defend their interests. And every issue to come before us in the coming months will have to pass this test: does this strengthen, or weaken, the position of the everyday, loyal American citizen?

Mike Flynn, who needs your vote and needs your support, came out against the bill two weeks ago:

This trade deal, which would impact at least 40 percent of the U.S. economy, may in fact be good for our future prosperity. At the very least, a deal of this size warrants a vigorous public debate. The secrecy around its provisions, however, does not instill great confidence.

In the early 90s, the debate over granting the president "fast-track" authority to negotiate the NAFTA trade agreement occupied political discussion for months. Billionaire Ross Perot even made opposition to the deal a center piece of his independent run for the White House. The public didn't just debate the "fast-track" provision, but had a robust discussion of the underlying trade deal itself.

No matter what one feels about the outcome of the NAFTA debate, there was at least a full public debate of the merits of the proposed trade deal. The political discourse of the country was much improved by the months-long back and forth.

In politics today, sadly, we don't debate issues as much as the theater around those issues. Giving Obama expanded powers to negotiate a deal virtually no one has read is not the same as supporting free trade. Having real concerns about a mammoth agreement binding 12 nations to a sweeping rewrite of international law that is negotiated in the dark doesn't make one a protectionist.

Whether Obamacare or Dodd-Frank, the U.S. is already reeling from the unforeseen consequences of thousand-page legislation rushed through Congress with little scrutiny of exact legislative language.

As a party, Republicans ran three national campaigns against the idea of passing sweeping legislation no one had read and checking Obama's tendency to grant himself powers beyond the Constitutional limits. The House GOP even sued Obama over his expanded use of executive powers.

And yet, the House GOP is now leading the legislative push to grant Obama an entirely new set of executive powers. Just this year, Republicans were rightly criticizing Obama for conducting negotiations over Iran's nuclear program in secret.

The drama this week surrounding the TPP isn't about Republicans and Democrats as much as it is about Washington and the rest of the country. The political and ruling class in Washington wants to be left alone to govern the country as it sees fit, without the hassle of engaging the public in the discussion.

This is what it's all about. We're not just talking about losing a vote -- we are talking about losing the idea of America itself, where the public actually gets to weigh in on major measures allegedly passed in its name.

This is why I think Mike Flynn could be a game-changer. He gets it. Not many do. Sure, some do. The guys in the Freedom Caucus -- and Flynn has the endorsements of Rep. Louie Gohmert and Rep. Steve King. (And Steven Moore, and Dave Bossie of Citizens United, and more.)

But they are small in number and they are, distressingly, easily demagogued.

They need allies, and they need a voice.

This is why I mentioned that Flynn was a genius. Not to brag on him. But because I think we are at a critical moment when our voices are barely heard at all, and thus we need an especially clever voice to help those few in Congress fighting this fight.

You think you're getting any help from Obama's Transportation Secretary's son?

What's frustrating is that we have another David Brat situation here -- another real, committed philosophical conservative, opposed to another statist Establishment crash test dummy.

And once again, just as in Brat's case, the people you'd expect to maybe say something are being quiet again.

Brat pulled that out, by some miracle.

I don't know if we as a movement can just Hope for Miracles. I think, maybe, at some point, we actually have to do something to help ourselves, too.

Mike's new video is here.

posted by Ace at 05:01 PM

| Access Comments