Democrats reject platform proposal opposing trade deal

[StatUS]

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Democrats on Friday voted down an amendment to the party's platform that would have opposed the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, avoiding an awkward scenario that would have put its statement of values at odds with President Barack Obama.

Members of a Democratic National Convention drafting committee defeated a proposal led by Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., that would have added language rejecting the Pacific Rim trade pact, which has been opposed by presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.

The panel, which is developing the party's platform ahead of next month's Philadelphia convention, instead backed a measure that said "there are a diversity of views in the party" on the TPP and reaffirmed that Democrats contend any trade deal "must protect workers and the environment."

Allies of Clinton and Sanders pored over the 15,000-word draft of the platform at a St. Louis hotel. It was the result of late nights and long hours of policy exchanges between the two campaigns and the Democratic National Committee, reflecting both the party's divisions and areas of consensus.

In some cases Clinton's side gave ground to Sanders. The panel approved language calling for the abolition of the death penalty, calling it "a cruel and unusual form of punishment which has no place" in the nation. Clinton said during a debate earlier this year that it should only be used in limited cases involving "heinous crimes," while Sanders said the government should not use capital punishment.

Reflecting Sanders' advocacy, the platform also calls for the expansion of Social Security and says Americans should earn at least a $15 an hour, referring to the current minimum wage of $7.25 an hour as a "starvation wage," a phrase the Vermont senator often uses. Sanders has pushed for a $15-an-hour minimum wage, while Clinton has supported efforts to raise the minimum wage to that level but has said states and cities should raise the bar as high as possible.

Sanders' allies wanted the draft to specify that the $15 minimum wage should be indexed with inflation. But Clinton's side struck down the amendment, noting that the document already included a call to "raise and index the minimum wage."

The committee also adopted language that said it supports a variety of ways to prevent banks from gambling with taxpayers' bank deposits, "including an updated and modernized version of Glass-Steagall." Sanders supports reinstating the Depression-era Glass-Steagall Act, which prohibited commercial banks from engaging in investment banking activities. Clinton does not support reinstating the law but said her proposed financial reforms would cast a wider net by regulating the shadow banking system.

Working into the evening, the panel narrowly rejected amendments offered by environmentalist Bill McKibben, a Sanders supporter, that would have imposed a tax on carbon and imposed a national moratorium on fracking.

A final discussion centered on the Israel-Palestinian conflict. The committee defeated an amendment by Sanders supporter James Zogby that would have called for providing Palestinians with "an end to occupation and illegal settlements" and urged an international effort to rebuild Gaza. Zogby said Sanders helped craft the language.

The draft advocates working toward a "two-state solution of the Israel-Palestinian conflict" that guarantees Israel's security with recognized borders "and provides the Palestinians with independence, sovereignty, and dignity."

The document will be debated and revised before the party's July convention and includes a dozen themes, including sections dealing with the economy, climate change, education, health care, national security and other issues.

On trade, Obama has promoted the TPP despite opposition from rank-and-file Democrats. Members of the panel said it would be wrong to undercut the outgoing president in the platform.

"What I don't want to do is leave this place disregarding the position of the President of the United States," said Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., a Clinton supporter who noted his opposition to trade deals.

But Cornel West, a civil rights leader and Sanders supporter, said it was important for the party to take a stand against the trade deal, which Sanders has opposed because of his concerns about the loss of manufacturing jobs.

Sanders, in a statement, said he was "disappointed and dismayed" that the committee would vote down a measure on trade that both he and Clinton supported but added that he was pleased with the proposals on Glass-Steagall and the death penalty.

Clinton has secured enough delegates to receive the Democratic nomination, but Sanders, her primary rival, has said he hopes to influence the platform to reflect the views of his supporters. The platform is a statement of the party's values and positions on a wide range of issues. While it does not bind the Democratic nominee to stances, it serves as a guidepost for the party moving forward.

Sanders said Friday on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" that he would vote for Clinton. But he has not yet endorsed her or encouraged his supporters to back her campaign. The Vermont senator has said he wants the platform to include many of his positions on income inequality, education and health care.

The convention's full Platform Committee will consider the draft document in Orlando, Florida, next month.

Democrats reject platform proposal opposing trade deal

 

[tru_m.a.c]

I have a host of opinions, but let me post another description of the nights outcome:

Betraying Progressives, DNC Platform Backs Fracking, TPP and Israel Occupation

In a statement, Sanders said he was “disappointed and dismayed” that representatives of Hillary Clinton and DNC chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schulz rejected the proposal on trade put forth by Sanders appointee Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), despite the fact that the presumed nominee has herself come out against the 12-nation deal
.
“Inexplicable” was how Sanders described the move, adding: “It is hard for me to understand why Secretary Clinton’s delegates won’t stand behind Secretary Clinton’s positions in the party’s platform.”

[On Carbon]
“Former U.S. Representative Howard Berman, American Federation of State, County, and Muncipal Employees executive assistant to the president, Paul Booth, former White House Energy and Climate Change Policy director Carol Browner, Ohio State Representative Alicia Reece, former State Department official Wendy Sherman, and Center for American Progress President Neera Tanden all raised their hands to prevent a moratorium from becoming a part of the platform,” notedShadowproof's Kevin Gosztola.

[On agreeing to the platform]
“If we can't say a word about TPP, if we can't talk about Medicare-for-All explicitly, if they greatest prophetic voice dealing with pending ecologically catastrophe can hardly win a vote, and if we can't even acknowledge occupation… it seems there is no way in good conscience I can say, 'Take it to the next stage,'” West declared before the assembly.

“I wasn't raised like that,” he said. “I have to abstain. I have no other moral option, it would be a violation of my own limited sense of moral integrity and spiritual conscience,” adding, “That's how I roll.”
​

And y'all think the fight is with Republicans

 

[CACtain Planet]

:sadHillTron:

 

[StatUS]

I have a host of opinions, but let me post another description of the nights outcome:

Betraying Progressives, DNC Platform Backs Fracking, TPP and Israel Occupation

In a statement, Sanders said he was “disappointed and dismayed” that representatives of Hillary Clinton and DNC chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schulz rejected the proposal on trade put forth by Sanders appointee Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), despite the fact that the presumed nominee has herself come out against the 12-nation deal
.
“Inexplicable” was how Sanders described the move, adding: “It is hard for me to understand why Secretary Clinton’s delegates won’t stand behind Secretary Clinton’s positions in the party’s platform.”

[On Carbon]
“Former U.S. Representative Howard Berman, American Federation of State, County, and Muncipal Employees executive assistant to the president, Paul Booth, former White House Energy and Climate Change Policy director Carol Browner, Ohio State Representative Alicia Reece, former State Department official Wendy Sherman, and Center for American Progress President Neera Tanden all raised their hands to prevent a moratorium from becoming a part of the platform,” notedShadowproof's Kevin Gosztola.

[On agreeing to the platform]
“If we can't say a word about TPP, if we can't talk about Medicare-for-All explicitly, if they greatest prophetic voice dealing with pending ecologically catastrophe can hardly win a vote, and if we can't even acknowledge occupation… it seems there is no way in good conscience I can say, 'Take it to the next stage,'” West declared before the assembly.

“I wasn't raised like that,” he said. “I have to abstain. I have no other moral option, it would be a violation of my own limited sense of moral integrity and spiritual conscience,” adding, “That's how I roll.”
​

And y'all think the fight is with Republicans

Hillary's in a hard place right now. She either opens herself up for attack by supporting the TPP or fights against Obama on it and opens herself up to attack while they campaign together.

I love it

 

[Scoop]

I have a host of opinions, but let me post another description of the nights outcome:

Betraying Progressives, DNC Platform Backs Fracking, TPP and Israel Occupation

In a statement, Sanders said he was “disappointed and dismayed” that representatives of Hillary Clinton and DNC chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schulz rejected the proposal on trade put forth by Sanders appointee Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), despite the fact that the presumed nominee has herself come out against the 12-nation deal
.
“Inexplicable” was how Sanders described the move, adding: “It is hard for me to understand why Secretary Clinton’s delegates won’t stand behind Secretary Clinton’s positions in the party’s platform.”

[On Carbon]
“Former U.S. Representative Howard Berman, American Federation of State, County, and Muncipal Employees executive assistant to the president, Paul Booth, former White House Energy and Climate Change Policy director Carol Browner, Ohio State Representative Alicia Reece, former State Department official Wendy Sherman, and Center for American Progress President Neera Tanden all raised their hands to prevent a moratorium from becoming a part of the platform,” notedShadowproof's Kevin Gosztola.

[On agreeing to the platform]
“If we can't say a word about TPP, if we can't talk about Medicare-for-All explicitly, if they greatest prophetic voice dealing with pending ecologically catastrophe can hardly win a vote, and if we can't even acknowledge occupation… it seems there is no way in good conscience I can say, 'Take it to the next stage,'” West declared before the assembly.

“I wasn't raised like that,” he said. “I have to abstain. I have no other moral option, it would be a violation of my own limited sense of moral integrity and spiritual conscience,” adding, “That's how I roll.”
​

And y'all think the fight is with Republicans

Because it isn't her position.

The Democratic Party is complete joke. Shills of the crony capitalists.

 

[CHL]

Because it isn't her position.

The Democratic Party is complete joke. Shills of the crony capitalists.

True, and yet they clearly aren't even the worst party

 

[SirReginald]

Like I said in the other thread, don't vote for them in November. If you don't support 3rd party or any of the candidates just sit out. Hopefully, this can start a LEGIT 3rd party or make the Green Party bigger.

 

[#StarkSet]

@88m3 no where to be found

 

[Propaganda]

so basically...

 

[ineedsleep212]

This is how you don't get a Bernie endorsement.

 

[ineedsleep212]

 

[CACtain Planet]

@88m3 no where to be found

That bytch @88m3 probably anally dildoing herself to this news

 

[ill]

True, and yet they clearly aren't even the worst party

Only one party rep is openly against TPP.

 

[ill]

Democrats selling out their constituents is nothing new. Next time you wonder why there aren't any good paying jobs, you can look towards the DNC for answers. #fukkTPP

 

[Scoop]

This is how you don't get a Bernie endorsement.

Bernie already said he's voting for her. He gave away his leverage.