The 'Other' ObamaTrade Problem -Critical Issue Divides Conservatives

Garth Kant / WND

WASHINGTON – All the controversy over Obamatrade in the establishment media currently swirls around a provision that provides unemployment insurance for workers who lose their jobs to foreign trade. Many Democrats want to expand the welfare program to include public sector workers, while many conservatives want to kill it.

But there is another huge Obamatrade controversy that has almost slipped back under the radar, one that divides conservatives and could have much greater, and longer-lasting, impact on the American economy.

The issue is: Whether giving President Obama increased power to make massive trade deals would also give him more power to massively increase immigration.

The staunchly anti-amnesty Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, believes he has come up with a solution to keep Obama from doing just that.

On June 10, King announced he had reached an agreement on an amendment to Obamatrade with House Ways and Means committee chairman Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and stated, “My language tells the executive branch that they cannot negotiate changes in our immigration laws or use visa programs as a negotiating tool.”

“Further, my language keeps immigration out of all future trade agreements negotiated under TPA (Trade Promotion Authority.) I am confident this has improved TPA and it gets me to a yes on the final bill.”

As always, the devil may be in the details, so WND asked King’s office to explain how the amendment is supposed to work in practice.

Of particular concern is a huge trade deal called The Trade in Services Agreement, or TiSA, currently under negotiation. If the Trade Promotion Authority, or TPA, bill is approved by Congress, it would give Obama virtually unlimited power to negotiate the details of such deals as TiSA with no congressional input until a final “yes or no” vote. And a recent leak suggested TiSA would require the U.S. to change laws and practices that could significantly increase immigration.

Given all of that, WND asked King’s office: What guarantee is there, if TPA passes, that TiSA won’t somehow override King’s amendment?

Or that Obama would not just ignore it, as often has been practice when he disagrees with Congress, especially on matter of immigration?

Read more at WND:

http://www.wnd.com/2015/06/the-other-obamatrade-problem/