I just got this from a source. Apparently Sirota's right that there's immense strife in the caucus around this trade deal. The other side tends to tell me that they got the Republicans to cave on big demands, and that labor shouldn't be complaining that much. The problem is that labor got pushed out of the room when the deal was negotiated, as did Fair Trade Democrats, and the New Dem Democrats don't have such a great record on trade.
It's becoming pretty clear that the politics here are too screwed up to move forward. There's also the lobbying reform issue to tackle, and the budget. Lots and lots of sticky stuff.
And a hot breakfast. They really want people at this meeting.
Update [2007-5-16 18:20:42 by Matt Stoller]: Rep Brad Miller calls me out in the comments.
There's a joint caucus and whip organization meeting every Thursday morning at 9:00 in HC-5, and a hot breakfast is always served. There may be ultimately be strife in the caucus about the trade deal, but that's kinda thin evidence of intra-caucus warfare.
I'll take Miller's word on this. Note to self: don't blog while hungry and thinking about breakfast. It's my favorite meal of the day by far.
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