Question for Hillary backers: how do *you* feel about the TPP?

[Jim Lane]

173. Your optimism about Obama is misplaced. He's already pushing fast track.

First, as to substance, I predict that the final TPP that emerges from the negotiations, and that Obama will submit to Congress, will be substantially similar to the late-stage drafts that have been leaked. What you call "the preliminary negotiations" have been going on since 2010. It's not realistic to hope that the nefarious work of more than four years will be completely reversed in the final few months.

Second, as to procedure, it's undeniable that Obama is pushing fast track. If Obama gets his way, then, once he presents the TPP to Congress, the whole process of consideration will be artificially compressed into a maximum of 90 days from start to finish. If what he's presenting is in fact a good trade agreement, then why does he need debate curtailed in that fashion?

It would be a logically consistent position for someone to support the TPP and yet oppose fast-track, basing the latter position on a belief in fairness and the democratic process.