U.S. Trade Rep. Rob Portman (R-Corporate America)

President Bush yesterday nominated Rep. Rob Portman (R) to be the new U.S. Trade Representative. At first glance, you might think it is encouraging that he signed up someone from Ohio for such an important position. Ohio, after all, has been ravaged by corporate-backed free trade deals.

But more than nearly any other Member of Congress, Portman is really a corporation. He is supposed to represent the people of Ohio, but he really has been a corporate lobbyist in Congressman’s clothing. He has supported every major piece of free trade legislation that’s come before him, while pocketing hundreds of thousands of dollars from the industries that push these deals. And he has done this as Ohio has hemorrhaged jobs. Worse, he has made statements that insult the public’s intelligence. For instance, he actually claimed "I don't think GM went to Mexico because of NAFTA" He said this even though studies showed that immediately after NAFTA passed, "GM jobs in the United States were cut by 38,000 workers."

But don’t trust me on Portman’s abysmal trade record. Trust the small manufacturers and businesses that have been ravaged by Portman’s free trade orthodoxy. According to the U.S. Business & Industry Council (the trade group that represents America’s family owned Main Street businesses), Portman is the lowest ranked member of the Ohio delegation in helping to create and protect good-paying American jobs.