Discussion for article #236299
Of course Buzzfeed immediately went and found examples of Obama calling Senator Brown by his first name in public…
So much for the contention that he wouldn’t have done it with a male Senator.
Whatever the merits of the argument over this vote (I personally side more with Warren & Brown on this bit), Sherrod Brown was clearly engaging in some very unhelpful and inappropriate escalation of this war of words. Both “sides” in this need to de-escalate and scale back the personal rhetoric in this fight.
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I thought Obama’s response to Warren et.al. was at best ill conceived. I, of course, like it when he’s critical and snarky toward obstructionist and ignorant Republicans, but his attack on Warren, normally an ally, did seem personal and counterproductive. At the least, bad politicking, IMO.
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FFS. Disrespectful?
Welcome to politics Sen Brown.
It might get a little muddy there in the pit.
jw1
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Stop this petty sniping and focus energy on stopping the TPP.
Haven’t seen this type of post in awhile. Flagged.
As for Sherrod, errr, I mean Sen Brown, that is absolutely ridiculous and I think made the whole situation worse. He wants to add his two cents, why not defend FLOTUS from the real nasty attacks from the right.
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He does it for a lot of people (“Angela”, “David” …). This is an unfortunate bad verbal habit of his and it projects disrespect. He also has a bad habit of using the word “folks” – as in, “we tortured some folks”.
Let’s move on. Sen Warren has proven time and again she can take care of herself.
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Sherrod is my man in Ohio and he is leading the charge against TPP authorization as it is now proposed.
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I’m probably engaging in selective memory, but seems to me Obama’s criticized Warren more pointedly than he’s ever done to Republicans who call him a white-people-hating Islamo-socialist fascist who wants to destroy capitalism and kick puppies.
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I don’t know, sometimes it conveys familiarity or affection.
The bigger issue is this: After siding with Republicans against most members of his own party, Obama accuses fellow Democrats of ad hominem attacks, but is he and not them who is making this personal. Warren has made substantive criticisms of the TPP while Obama has been responding by calling her names. It is rude to treat a lady iike that. It is rude to treat anyone like that.
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Please name 1 “substantive” criticism. Please include any/all citations and statements of fact.
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With regard to the TPP itself, Senate Democrats shouldn’t vote for Fast Track. I’m glad that almost all of them voted against Fast Track yesterday.
Fast Track means no filibusters.
Republicans have a majority in the Senate. The worse TPP is for the environment, consumers, and workers, the more Senate Republicans will like it.
The public isn’t allowed to read the TPP. If Senate Democrats pass Fast Track before we’re allowed to read the TPP, it will be too late to stop TPP from passing.
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Sigh. This isn’t helpful.
She has criticized the way the arbitration board would settle disputes.
Sorry, but this just false. The USTR’s website has had published information on the TPP for quite a long time. Congress can ask to view the draft at any time. You might also be surprised to learn that there is a mandatory 6 month period of public debate on the TPP before the final vote.
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The TPP gives corporations powers it gives no one else.
It creates an arbitration system in which foreign corporations which don’t like US environmental laws can turn to arbitrators (whose day jobs are as corporate lobbyists) and demand US tax dollars to compensate them for profits which they would have made if we didn’t have those environmental laws. The arbitration system is called “Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS).”
Environmentalist groups can’t turn to ISDS. Nor can labor groups. Nor can consumer groups.
Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) implies in this Washington Post interview that ISDS is her biggest objection to TPP:
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Fast track eliminates Congress’s constitutional power to amend or even debate trade legislation. Fast track allows only a specified up-or-down vote on this momentous international agreement without any public oversight or ability to amend it or filibuster it.
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A Senator can read the TPP while being watched to make sure he doesn’t make a copy. The public can’t read the TPP because it’s classified.
The “mandatory 6 month period of public debate” won’t help if TPP is bad for consumers, labor, and the environment. Republicans have a Senate majority. Republican Senators want a trade deal which is bad for consumers, labor, and the environment.
f Democrats give up the filibuster by passing “Fast Track,” then Democrats can’t stop the TPP.
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