WASHINGTON (AP) – President Bush loses his power Saturday to seal “fast track” trade agreements without intervention from Congress, where Democrats blame recent deals for sending U.S. jobs abroad.
Since 1975, only one other president, Bill Clinton, has been stripped of that trade promotion authority, designed to speed the reduction of trade barriers and open new markets with other countries. Bush won’t get it back again, and the next president might not either.
House Democratic leaders, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and Rep. Charles Rangel of New York, whose Ways and Means Committee handles trade policy, said in a written statement Friday that their legislative priorities “do not include the renewal of fast track authority.”
“Before that debate can even begin, we must expand the benefits of globalization to all Americans,” they said.
In the Senate, Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., said he had other pressing trade issues, such as extending relief to trade-hit American workers. “I have always said that it is more important to get trade promotion authority done right than to get it done fast.”
[…]
Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., argued that “trade agreements have given us the largest trade deficits in human history.” Last year the U.S. trade deficit reached $836 billion.
Paid off the credit card today, but now my car is the shop for brakes. It never ends…
No it never does.
Did the same a few days ago…but the car only needs an oil change and hood latch.
more signs of BushCo’s™
dead duck status.
hard on the heels of the immigration defeat [h/t C&L], comes another loss…and who knows what new news will come out of the kennebunkport konference w/ putin?
chimpy’s feeling a bit besieged now. all now that all his political capital has been squandered and the only thing that’s left is the veto pen.
interesting times indeed.
lTMF’sA
why don’t you try trawling over at Black Commentator, Black Agenda Report or Buzzflash for story ideas?
Hey Girl, I read buzzflash every day. I so enjoy it too!