May 11, 2015

Washington Post: Elizabeth Warren fires back at Obama: Here's what they're really fighting about

In an interview with Yahoo News that ran over the weekend, President Obama intensified his push-back against Elizabeth Warren and other critics of the massive Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, flatly declaring that Warren is "absolutely wrong." That came after a speech Obama delivered at Nike headquarters, in which he continued making an expansive case for the deal as a plus for American workers - and not the massive giveaway to huge international corporations that critics fear.

This week, the Senate will vote on whether to grant Obama "fast track" authority to negotiate the TPP agreement, which involves a dozen countries around the Pacific and could impact 40 percent of U.S. trade.

If the "fast track" framework passes, Congress would hold only an up-or-down vote on the TPP once it is finalized, without amendments. But Congress could also repeal that fast track authority if the TPP is not to its liking, and try to push changes to it, before any final vote.

Warren has previously claimed that the TPP's controversial Investor-State Dispute Settlement provision, or ISDS, could undermine or chill public interest regulations in the U.S. and other participating countries, and could even undercut Dodd Frank financial reform, one of Obama's signature achievements. The ISDS is designed to create a neutral international arbitration mechanism that creates a stable legal environment, facilitating investments in countries where investors might fear unfair legal treatment by foreign governments. Obama has strongly rejected Warren's arguments in the interview with Yahoo and elsewhere.

I spoke with Senator Warren about their disagreements.

Read the full article here.