A bill that would give the White House expedited authority to enter into a Pacific Rim trade agreement finally appears to be on a path to the president's desk.The bill cleared a major procedural hurdle in the Senate today.It was a do-over after legislation passed in the Senate then failed in the House.As NPR's Ailsa Chang reports, how leaders got this build this far is a story about promises.What is a promise worth on Capitol Hill? That was the question dangling in front of 14 pro-trade Democrats in the Senate today.To secure their votes on the fast-track trade bill,Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, made that group a promise last Thursday.Vote yes like you did last time, and Congress will pass the three other trade bills that you've been pushing for.Assuming that everyone has a little faith and votes the same way they did just a few weeks ago,we'll be able to get all of those bills to the president soon.Trust me. McConnell repeated that refrain yesterday too.With just a little more trust, a little more cooperation and simply voting consistently, we'll get there.Capitol Hill is a place that operates on promises. But the question always is, which promises are credible?Thirteen of the pro-trade Democrats gave McConnell the benefit of the doubt today after house speaker, John Boehner, also promised he'd push through the other Democrats wanted.Here are Democrats Tim Kaine of Virginia, Patty Murray of Washington and Ron Wyden of Oregon.Well, you know, we've been given assurances such as they are. You know, they've...
