After a long mark-up period, the Senate Finance Committee took its final vote on the trade promotion authority, or "fast track," bill that Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) had negotiated.

As I'm sure you all already know, fast track authority means that Congress hands over any rights to amend a trade deal, giving carte blanche to the president. This is a bad move on the simple ground that trade deals have a strong impact on domestic policy. It is even a worse move when one sees what is being negotiated in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) right now.

The Senate Finance Committee vote was 20 to 6.

7 Democrats and 13 Republicans voted for it.

Who were the 7 Democrats?

Ron Wyden (D-OR)

Maria Cantwell (D-WA)

Bill Nelson (D-FL)

Tom Carper (D-DE)

Ben Cardin (D-MD)

Michael Bennet (D-CO)

Mark Warner (D-VA)

5 Democrats and 1 Republican voted against it.

That lone Republican was Richard Burr (R-NC).

The 5 Democrats were the following:

Chuck Schumer (D-NY)

Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)

Bob Menendez (D-NJ)

Sherrod Brown (D-OH)

Bob Casey (D-PA)

