An anti-Obamatrade group is having a bit of fun with some House Republicans’ apparent eagerness to give President Obama Congressional authority over U.S. trade policy.
The group, Fight for The Future, on Tuesday morning delivered letters to each of the 246 Republican House members. The missives pretended to come from President Obama, and request that each member rubber stamp the president’s highly secretive trade deal as the final vote nears.
The mock letters read:
Dear Representative,
Please rubberstamp my secret trade agenda. I have included a stamp for your convenience.
Sincerely, Barack Obama.
With the letters, they included rubber stamps that provide, alongside a photo of the president, the words: “I approve President Obama’s secret trade deal.”
The group took the letters to each GOP member’s office and shot video of many of the deliveries, mockingly saying to the front-desk staff in some that they were delivering a package from the White House.
The trade deal remains secret from Americans. But even many lawmakers, who’ve had the opportunity to review it, haven’t bothered to do so.
Just this week, staffers for freshman GOP Congresswoman Rep. Mimi Walters (R-CA) confirmed that she still hasn’t read the bill, although she has been publicly advocating it in television appearances.
This makes Walters the third member of House GOP leadership, along with House Rules Committee chairman Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) and Majority Whip Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA), to confirm they are pushing Obamatrade even though each member has not yet been in the room below the Capitol where the full text of the trade deals are being kept under wraps.
In addition to the letter and Obama-stamp for Obamatrade, each envelope also contained a “facts to ignore” sheet.
Topics in that include: that Obamatrade faces widespread opposition from Americans, that it infringes on states, that it could “censor the Internet,” and that it gives up U.S. sovereignty, among other points against Obamatrade.