A profound thanks to those who invoke FDR and the New Dealers

[pampango]

97. Of course. The conservative base does not support the TPP either, though their politicians do.

The Republican Conservatives probably don't want a fast track because they want to make sure it doesn't help the 99% at all. Basically they don't trust Pres Obama.

Liberals of course object to the fast track method because of it's lack of transparency.

I agree that they don't trust (or like) Pres Obama.

Some liberals certainly object to fast track on transparency grounds. Of course, the 'secret' negotiations that have gone on for years have done so without fast track. The transparency may not be related to fast track but to other factors.

Also, liberals and Democrats are the only group that does support fast track.

Here's a Pew poll from last month:

Americans overall are lukewarm about the two major trade deals under negotiation – the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), a free trade agreement between the European Union and the U.S., and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a free trade deal between the U.S., Canada and 10 Asian-Pacific countries. About half (53%) of Americans see TTIP as a good thing and 55% say the same about TPP. Democratic support for both treaties is stronger than that of Republicans: 60% of Democrats see TTIP as a good thing compared with 44% of Republicans, while 59% of Democrats look favorably on TPP compared with 49% of Republicans.

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/11/07/why-cant-we-all-get-along-challenges-ahead-for-bipartisan-cooperation/

While a number of Tea Party Republicans voted in favor of the three Obama-promoted free-trade agreements in 2011, they are viewing the TPP differently because of its magnitude and due to pressure from the Republican base. “Because of its massive size, the TPP has captured a lot more attention from the Right than the Korea pact ever did,” Stamoulis says. “With Republicans’ base much more engaged on the TPP—the Tea Party Nation and others opposing it—I expect to see a lot more Republican opposition this time around, and indeed, we already are seeing that.” The visceral dislike of Obama by many on the Right may add fuel to rightist opposition to the TPP and the fast-track procedure, Stamoulis concedes, but he points out that opposition to corporate-style globalization has been mounting among Republican voters for some time. “Polls showed that Republican voters’ opposition to free-trade agreements existed back during the Bush administration as well,” he notes.

http://truth-out.org/news/item/22547-obamas-pacific-deal-would-deepen-income-divide