It has been amusing and instructive to watch the Obama administration tack to the right after jamming through its unpopular, expensive, and most incomprehensible overhaul of the health-insurance system. The idea, presumably, is to pick up the independent voters who have themselves tacked sharply right, tea cups in hand. (The left wing, in this calculation, has nowhere else to go.)
The latest such maneuver has been to signal that the long-delayed trade pact with Colombia is getting a second look. The canary in the free trade coal mine is Defense Secretary Robert Gates (first appointed by President Bush, hence dispensable if anything goes wrong): "I discussed this earlier this week with National Security Advisor Jim Jones," he said. "And I would hope that we would be in a position to make a renewed effort to get ratification of the free trade agreement. It's a good deal for Colombia. It's also a very good deal for the United States."
It is indeed a good deal, but that cuts no ice with Mr. Obama's allies on the left, especially in the labor unions. What a long road it has been, from abrazos with Hugo Chavez to talking nice about free trade with Columbia! Blue skies! -- Dan Ford
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment