LZ: Robert Lighthizer, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be the next U.S. trade representative, has a reputation as a tough negotiator with a skeptical view of open-ended free trade deals.
In short, exactly the kind of person whose views align with a Democratic Party base that traditionally has been hostile to those very same trade pacts.
Why, then, are Senate Democrats holding up Lighthizer’s nomination? The 12 members of the Senate Finance Committee reportedly are using the fact that Lighthizer needs a congressional waiver, because he has represented foreign governments in the past, as leverage to win concessions on an unrelated issue involving pension and health care benefits for coal miners.
It might be a hard position to defend.
“If Democrats who claim to be the champions of the working class hold up Mr. Lighthizer’s confirmation one moment longer, they deserve to go into the off-shorers hall of fame,” economic policy analyst Alan Tonelson noted.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) has scheduled a confirmation hearing for Tuesday — 10 weeks after Lighthizer’s nomination— but without the waver, it is unclear when he could be confirmed. more here
The Dems want to help COAL MINERS???
” Democrats who claim to be the champions of the working class”
That’s the old Democrap party. The new one want the state to distribute everyones money evenly. Along with the same sized TV, and the same Green Energy Car.
One of the base assumptions of the Left is that People are stupid and will forget their actions come next election.
I think the last four election cycles differ