Many Bernie delegates and supporters were very disappointed that Bernie endorsed Hillary last week and announced that he would not be bringing the minority report on the Hightower amendment to the floor. This amendment says very clearly that the Democratic Party opposes the TPP or Trans-Pacific Partnership. I would like to propose that the delegates bring it to the floor in his stead.
Last week at the Platform Committee meeting in Orlando, the Hightower amendment failed to get any support from the Clinton and Wasserman-Schultz appointed members and failed. Even Ben Jealous's amendment to the Saunders amendment, the weak trade amendment they did pass, failed. The Jealous amendment would have added just these few words: "That's why we oppose the TPP."
The excuse by the Clinton people was that this is Obama's deal, and they don't want to embarrass the sitting president. This is at best silly and at worst a lie. When you realize that if the TPP passes, it would make most of the platform planks Bernie was able to get in nearly impossible to implement, embarrassing the president is a small price to pay.
However, I contend that her excuse is false, because her chief strategist Joel Benenson told Lawrence O'Donnell on MSNBC in May that she will not oppose it but will renegotiate it. O'Donnell told his audience that was a lie, and it was a lie when Obama said it about NAFTA when he was running in 2008. These deals cannot be renegotiated. That's why they were done in secret. That's why Obama and the GOP used every trick in the book to get fast track authority last year over the objections of most Democrats. That means the Congress only has an up or down vote on the deal and cannot add any amendments.
In Orlando, Bernie's appointees were able to get minority reports for five of Bernie's platform planks that did not pass, including the Hightower amendment. However, Bernie announced that he would NOT be bringing any of these to the floor for two reasons. One, he said he thought we would lose. Two, he wanted to reserve floor fights for changing the rules of the Party to end or reform the superdelegate system and to eliminate the closed primary. He said we should really concentrate on lobbying the elected officials to vote no on the TPP when Obama puts it forth during the lame duck session.
However the TPP is probably the most important piece of legislation coming down the pike. So I would like to suggest that we the delegates bring up the TPP for a vote on the floor. As I said, if the TPP passes, it would override most labor, consumer and environmental laws due to the Investor State Dispute Settlement provision. You might have read that TransCanada is already suing the US under that provision in NAFTA for denying them the right to build the Keystone XL Pipeline. Further, we can also lobby our elected officials in Philly and beyond.
We do not have to follow Bernie's lead on this. As he always says, the political revolution is not about him or one man but about millions of people rising up to say "Enough is enough. This country belongs to us not a handful of billionaires." His slogan "Not me, us!" shows who is in charge.
So I would like to see how many of you delegates are willing to take a stand on this issue. I have already heard from Rand Wilson, head of Labor for Bernie, that they are working on what he called a "floor demo" for Tuesday. I am seeking clarification on whether he means a vote or just a protest.
In any case, I think we are allowed per the rules to bring it up ourselves. However, they can ignore the rules and turn off our mic. If that should happen, I propose we do an Occupy style mic check from the floor. They cannot turn off 1000 or more voices.
This would serve three purposes. One, it would show that Bernie's supporters cannot be easily controlled. The political revolution is about fighting for the issues not blind loyalty to one man. Two, it will force the media to cover the TPP, which they would otherwise not be inclined to do. Three, it will show the people that Bernie's supporters are united against this NAFTA on steroids and could very well embarrass the Hillary people to go along with us. After all, do they really want Donald Trump to be the one bringing up the TPP on the campaign trail and not our Democratic nominee?
We need to have a conference call this week with anyone who wants to go along with this action. And we need to meet on site either Sunday or Monday to go over the plan. I am working with the group that holds the permits in FDR Park to find a time to do this Sunday or Monday before the convention starts.
Please email me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it if you are in favor of joining this action and whether Wednesday night is good for a conference call.
Lauren Steiner, delegate from California's CD 33, is the lead organizer of Los Angeles for Bernie as well as an activist and organizer who has been fighting the TPP since 2012.
Last week at the Platform Committee meeting in Orlando, the Hightower amendment failed to get any support from the Clinton and Wasserman-Schultz appointed members and failed. Even Ben Jealous's amendment to the Saunders amendment, the weak trade amendment they did pass, failed. The Jealous amendment would have added just these few words: "That's why we oppose the TPP."
The excuse by the Clinton people was that this is Obama's deal, and they don't want to embarrass the sitting president. This is at best silly and at worst a lie. When you realize that if the TPP passes, it would make most of the platform planks Bernie was able to get in nearly impossible to implement, embarrassing the president is a small price to pay.
However, I contend that her excuse is false, because her chief strategist Joel Benenson told Lawrence O'Donnell on MSNBC in May that she will not oppose it but will renegotiate it. O'Donnell told his audience that was a lie, and it was a lie when Obama said it about NAFTA when he was running in 2008. These deals cannot be renegotiated. That's why they were done in secret. That's why Obama and the GOP used every trick in the book to get fast track authority last year over the objections of most Democrats. That means the Congress only has an up or down vote on the deal and cannot add any amendments.
In Orlando, Bernie's appointees were able to get minority reports for five of Bernie's platform planks that did not pass, including the Hightower amendment. However, Bernie announced that he would NOT be bringing any of these to the floor for two reasons. One, he said he thought we would lose. Two, he wanted to reserve floor fights for changing the rules of the Party to end or reform the superdelegate system and to eliminate the closed primary. He said we should really concentrate on lobbying the elected officials to vote no on the TPP when Obama puts it forth during the lame duck session.
However the TPP is probably the most important piece of legislation coming down the pike. So I would like to suggest that we the delegates bring up the TPP for a vote on the floor. As I said, if the TPP passes, it would override most labor, consumer and environmental laws due to the Investor State Dispute Settlement provision. You might have read that TransCanada is already suing the US under that provision in NAFTA for denying them the right to build the Keystone XL Pipeline. Further, we can also lobby our elected officials in Philly and beyond.
We do not have to follow Bernie's lead on this. As he always says, the political revolution is not about him or one man but about millions of people rising up to say "Enough is enough. This country belongs to us not a handful of billionaires." His slogan "Not me, us!" shows who is in charge.
So I would like to see how many of you delegates are willing to take a stand on this issue. I have already heard from Rand Wilson, head of Labor for Bernie, that they are working on what he called a "floor demo" for Tuesday. I am seeking clarification on whether he means a vote or just a protest.
In any case, I think we are allowed per the rules to bring it up ourselves. However, they can ignore the rules and turn off our mic. If that should happen, I propose we do an Occupy style mic check from the floor. They cannot turn off 1000 or more voices.
This would serve three purposes. One, it would show that Bernie's supporters cannot be easily controlled. The political revolution is about fighting for the issues not blind loyalty to one man. Two, it will force the media to cover the TPP, which they would otherwise not be inclined to do. Three, it will show the people that Bernie's supporters are united against this NAFTA on steroids and could very well embarrass the Hillary people to go along with us. After all, do they really want Donald Trump to be the one bringing up the TPP on the campaign trail and not our Democratic nominee?
We need to have a conference call this week with anyone who wants to go along with this action. And we need to meet on site either Sunday or Monday to go over the plan. I am working with the group that holds the permits in FDR Park to find a time to do this Sunday or Monday before the convention starts.
Please email me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it if you are in favor of joining this action and whether Wednesday night is good for a conference call.
Lauren Steiner, delegate from California's CD 33, is the lead organizer of Los Angeles for Bernie as well as an activist and organizer who has been fighting the TPP since 2012.
