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| DUCKWORTH: A 'no' for Obama policy |
Many
Democrats are making it clear they’re not backing the president on this
measure. And while it is the kind of business-oriented measure that Republicans
usually like to back, I’d wonder how many of the GOP-leaning House members will
let their personal political distaste for Obama guide their votes.
WILL
ANYBODY BE willing to back Obama on the measure that alters the amount of
oversight that Congress would have over foreign trade agreements. Supposedly,
less oversight will boost business interests overseas.
Organized
labor, however, is concerned that less oversight will let those business
interests run amok over the concerns of working people.
Since
many of the Democratic caucus members in Congress give lip service to the idea
of backing “working people” and rely on those labor union political action
committees for their financial support come Election Day, it shouldn’t be a
shock that many are saying they’ll vote “no.”
Rep.
Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., who’s trying to bolster her image so she becomes the
front-runner in the 2016 campaign for the U.S. Senate from Illinois, issued a
statement Thursday saying she’s voting against Obama on this issue.
“TRADE
AGREEMENTS NEED tough, enforceable rules,” she said. “Right now, Congress is
failing to demand standards to hold other countries accountable.
“That’s
especially true for currency manipulation,” said Duckworth.
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| KIRK: He votes 'aye,' she votes 'no' |
She’s
not alone. The Washington Post had a field day on Thursday with a story
pointing out the fact that the congressmen from Chicago can’t stand the idea
either. Rep. Mike Quigley, D-Ill., seems to be the only local congressman willing
to consider voting for the idea, according to a commentary he wrote for the Chicago Tribune.
Even
that is more motivated by the fear of being the lone vote that causes an Obama
desire to fail passage, although he wrote in the Tribune that the president should have this great authority to set trade policy like past presidents have had.
BUT
THOSE OFFICIALS who want to garner future political support for themselves don’t seem as
concerned.
Duckworth’s
opposition to the idea seems predictable, since in her statement she makes a
point of saying that Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., voted for the idea when it came up
for consideration last month by the Senate.
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| OBAMA: Will anybody back him? |
I’m
sure Duckworth thinks anything that makes her different from the man she’s
challenging in next year’s election cycle is a plus for her.
The
idea did pass in the Senate, but mostly with Republican votes. For the record,
Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., voted “no” for the idea, but told the Washington
Post that he did so largely because he felt the measure had enough votes to
pass without his support.
ALTHOUGH
I HAVE always sensed the House of Representatives is more capable of playing
the partisan political game on Capitol Hill. I’m wondering how close we’ll come
to seeing the equivalent of that measure in the Illinois House that failed
without anybody voting “aye” for it.
They
probably won’t want Obama to be able to take credit for an idea they’d rather
have a future Republican president have as part of his legacy.
So
I’m curious about Duckworth’s statement, particularly because she set up her mass
e-mail message to not only make it easy for recipients to send messages to
other Democrats telling them to vote “no,” while also making financial
contributions to her campaign.
Raising
those bucks that allow her to run credibly against Andrea Zopp and any other
Democrat who talks of running for the Senate in ’16 may be her primary purpose –
and for other Democrats who oppose Obama – in voting the way they do.
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