With the New York Times noting that Congress is questioning Attorney General nominee Eric Holder's defense of Chiquita's murderous behavior in Colombia, I can't say I would be totally surprised by news that Obama may start pushing the Colombia Free Trade Agreement - a pact that rewards the Colombian government that allowed Chiquita's and other corporations to crush workers. I would, however, be surprised that his push would come so soon considering the campaign pledges, and the potential for a serious political backlash that could endanger Obama's broader agenda.
Sen. Barack Obama promised to stand firm in his opposition to the Colombia Free Trade Agreement on Wednesday-days after President Bush asked Congress to quickly pass the trade deal-in a speech to rally the union vote at the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO's annual convention.
The Illinois senator said he would oppose the Colombia Free Trade Agreement "because the violence against unions in Colombia would make a mockery of the very labor protections that we have insisted be included in these kinds of agreements."
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President-elect Barack Obama wants to win approval of stalled free trade deals with Colombia, Panama and South Korea, but more work is needed on two of the pacts, Democratic lawmakers said on Wednesday.
"The president-elect wants to work with Republicans and Democrats to get those trade agreements moving," House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel said during an meeting to outline the panel's priorities for the year.
Rangel may not be 100 percent accurate, but he's also not just some uninformed speculator - he's the chairman of the committee the pact would move through, and so it's fair to assume he's had discussions with the administration and therefore that he is passing on some semblance of the truth about the administration's position.
If Obama does take up the Colombia Free Trade Agreement, Democrats would face a very difficult choice: Fulfill the clear campaign promises they made, recreate the successful coalition opposing this deal from the last Congress, and stop it in its tracks; Or, bow down to the Dear Leader and pass the deal "over the dead body" of an American public that knows these trade pacts are selling us out.
I'm still hopeful Obama doesn't move forward because if he can't see the policy reasons to oppose a reward to a murderous right-wing regime, then at least he must be able to see the political reasons beyond merely avoiding a flip-flop on a campaign pledge. As I wrote in an earlier newspaper column, Republicans would like nothing more than Obama pushing the Colombia Free Trade Agreement, because they know it would recreate the Democratic Party-weakening schism that Bill Clinton forged when he joined with Republicans early in his term to pass NAFTA over progressive congressional opposition.
With so many challenges in passing a robust economic stimulus package, universal health care and the Employee Free Choice Act (to name just a few), we don't need that kind of party-weakening triangulation right now.
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