Bush and Democratic Leaders Agree on a Secret Trade Deal

Fair trade has been an issue I have written a lot about. However, I have unintentionly ignored the issue the past few weeks while important events have taken place. I am just starting to dive into the details, but plan to write more and more on the issue of free trade and this Secret Trade Deal.

Here's a quick run down of the happenings. Two weeks ago, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charlie Rangel (D-NY), Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT), House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Bush Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, Bush Trade Representative Susan Schwab and members of the New Democrats held a special meeting where they agreed on a Secret Trade deal. Many Democrats were elected in 2006 running on Fair Trade agreements and against trade deals such as NAFTA. This deal leaves these Democrats and the American people out of the loop.

David Sirota wrote...

...House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is apparently taking a position on one of Election 2006’s key issues that potentially puts her at odds with the majority of her own caucus, six months after her caucus used the trade issue to win its majority. Meanwhile, the entire “deal” is a move to set the stage for the White House to try to force Congress to pass “fast track” trade authority - the authority that allows the president to strip all labor, human rights and environmental provisions out of trade deals. And, as if putting an exclamation point on the whole story, the New York Times notes that the press conference to celebrate the deal comes “as the government revealed a significant widening of the U.S. trade deficit.”

Bill Moyers tackled the issue on Friday's episode of Bill Moyer's Journal...

Part 1



Part 2



I will be writing more about trade in the coming weeks.

For more information on trade issues and the Secret Trade Deal visit David Sirota's site.