The New York Times' Jonathan Weisman (2/9/15) reports that President Barack Obama's chances of getting "fast track" authority to negotiate trade agreements are shrinking as "the political fringes expand on each end."
Later on, he notes that while some conservative groups support giving Obama fast track–the ability to sign a treaty that Congress cannot amend, but only vote up or down–this is opposed by "groups more on the fringe."
Weisman also reports that "administration officials say the voices on the left and right may be loud, but they are still a small fringe."
Toward the end of the article, Weisman writes that 150 out of 188 Democrats in Congress signed a letter opposing fast track. He notes that House Speaker John Boehner in the last Congress said he would need 50 Democratic votes to pass fast track, which would imply that there were about 72 anti-fast track Republicans. (Weisman suggests that that number may be bigger now.)
A hundred and fifty plus 72 is 222 congressmembers, or 51 percent of the House of Representatives. That's a pretty big "fringe."
