Democrats’ civil war over free trade--Open In-Fighting Ramps Up after Breakthrough on Bill Announced
(This is a well-written article describing all the players, their views and timelines for legislation in the "Fast Track" battle. The opening snips don't show how interesting the whole article is. Well worth the read for all of us Populists, here, particularly as we head toward 2016) 
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Democrats’ civil war over free trade
The open in-fighting ramped up after a breakthrough on the historic bill was announced.
By Adam Behsudi
4/16/15 7:46 PM EDT
Updated 4/17/15 10:52 AM EDT
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The most important trade bill in a decade has pitted Harry Reid against President Barack Obama. Liberal Democrat Rosa DeLauro against moderate Democrat Ron Kind. Labor unions against pro-business Democrats. And Elizabeth Warren against virtually everyone who supports a landmark piece of legislation that would allow the president to close what could be the biggest free-trade deal in history.
The open warring among Democrats over fast-track trade legislation, and the party’s broader existential crisis on free trade, grew more pronounced Thursday as senior lawmakers announced a breakthrough on the trade bill. Many Democrats still feel the burn, 20 years later, of lost manufacturing jobs from the North American Free Trade Agreement — pushed through by former President Bill Clinton — and they fear another Democratic president is on the verge of turning his back on working-class Americans by negotiating a trade deal that would send jobs overseas.
What’s at stake substantively is giving the president streamlined authority to negotiate the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a 12-country free-trade deal that would dwarf NAFTA. But there’s also much more at stake politically for a Democratic Party whose progressive wing is enjoying an upswing thanks to the aggressive populism of Warren and liberals like Sen. Bernie Sanders, who are unabashedly anti-free trade deal. Obama wants to cement a legacy on global free trade, but his work negotiating with Republicans has created several factions within the Democratic Party.
Take Kind and DeLauro. Both Democrats come to the fast-track debate from opposite sides.
Kind, a Wisconsin lawmaker who joined the trade-friendly New Democrat Coalition, has provided solid support for the White House, boosting its message that the TPP, which includes enhanced labor and environment protections, isn’t reminiscent of the trade policy of years past.
DeLauro, from Connecticut, has been a central figure in the fight against the bill, forming a powerful progressive coalition of labor, environment, social justice and religious groups that argue any improvements are window dressing at best.
Continued and Well Worth the Read at:
http://www.politico.com/story/2015/04/democrats-free-trade-bill-117066.html