Huffington Post: Charles Rangel, Don't Make Bad Deals on "Free Trade"

[OhioChick]

Wily and experienced negotiator that he is, I have to think that Charlie Rangel believes that sometimes no deal is better than a bad deal. I hope he keeps that mind as he plunges into talks over a compromise over so-called "free trade" agreements. Charlie, there is no deal to be made here, within the framework being discussed.

And this issue is one of the most crucial issues for the future of the Democratic Party.

I have argued here numerous times that there is no such thing as "free trade." It is simply a marketing phrase, and, admittedly, one that has stuck within the minds of the mainstream media--reporters and editorial page editors, who learned in Economics 101 in college about the virtues of "free trade." The truth is that what the public is sold as "free trade" is nothing more than a set of rules that is primarily, if not entirely, about protecting capital and investment. There is nothing free about these deals. I've actually read them--they are a bore but try it sometime: all you will read are essentially page after page of standards and exceptions and protections for corporate trading.

Which brings us to the current debate. As The New York Times reports today:


When the Democrats swept to victory last fall, after a campaign fueled partly by attacks on President Bush's trade policies, trade deals promoted by the administration seemed doomed in the new Congress. But that was then.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jonathan-tasini/charles-rangel-dont-mak_b_42741.html