Dems Back in Bed With K Street on Trade?

The Wall Street Journal reports that Members of Congress who voted to pass the corporate-written Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) are facing serious pressure back in their districts, especially with new corporate-written deals coming down the pike.

"Tensions are likely to rise as the 2006 congressional elections loom," the paper writes. "Despite the close call on Cafta, the Bush administration will push for a vote soon on a free-trade agreement with Bahrain, and is negotiating several other pacts likely to require votes early next year. An Andean free-trade agreement with Colombia, Peru and Ecuador is in the final stages of negotiation...The White House also is working on free-trade deals with Panama and a number of Middle Eastern countries, including Oman and the United Arab Emirates. And just yesterday, Mr. Bush, appearing with Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, signaled his hope to conclude a U.S.-Thai free-trade agreement 'as quickly as possible.'" The Journal notes that these deals "involve the same labor, agriculture and intellectual-property issues that made the Cafta vote so difficult."

While Democrats relative unity in the House in voting against CAFTA was encouraging, Roll Call today let's us know that such unity was probably fleeting. Under the headline "New Democrats Try to Assuage K Street," the paper notes that House New Democrats are now meeting "privately with high-profile business lobbyists to negotiate the terms" of their support for upcoming corporate-written trade pacts. The story goes on to quote a number of lobbyists and New Democrat House Members playing footsie with each other - and of course no mention about how these trade deals have destroyed jobs and pushed down wages in America.

Perhaps most hilarious is Rep. Artur Davis's comment that "the New Democrats are the most consistent voice in the Democratic Caucus for fair trade policies." He then goes on to brag that New Democrats have had "a long history of supporting small-scale trade agreements, including those with Chile and Singapore, as well as major deals, such as fast-track trade negotiating authority for the president and Permanent Normal Trade Relations status for China." Each of those deals he bragged about were almost scot-free of fair trade labor, human rights and environmental protections.

Keep your eye on these upcoming trade deals, and these Members of Congress who are threatening to sell out American workers.

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