Trade talks

A mantra of Democratic activists is that George W. Bush -- the irresponsible cowboy gunslinger -- has destroyed America's relationship with the rest of the world.

So how would the Democrats repair these tattered bonds?

Apparently by stabbing our trade partners in the back.

First, we saw Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton traversing Ohio pandering for votes by vowing to undercut the North American Free Trade Agreement.

That raised plenty of concerns in Mexico, Canada and among other U.S. allies, where trade is properly understood as a means to long-term prosperity.

And now we have the spectacle of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-AFL-CIO, vowing to rewrite the House's own rules to avoid a vote on a proposed free-trade deal with Colombia.

Under the Trade Promotion Authority Act, which has since expired but applies to the Colombian deal, the House has 60 legislative days to act on the pact, as is, once the president sends it to Congress. The Senate has 30 days after that.

The "fast-track" power is designed to ensure the credibility of American trade negotiators by preventing Congress from meddling in deals that have been reached in good faith with other governments.

President Bush sent the Colombian agreement to Congress on Monday.

But Ms. Pelosi, acting at the behest of the protectionist union interests who now run the Democratic Party, says she'll take the unprecedented step of holding a procedural vote today to remove the required timetable, shielding her members from having to go on the record opposing a free trade pact with our most reliable South American ally.

Much like the Obama/Clinton showboating on NAFTA, this sends a clear message to other nations -- but not a good one.

What country "would conclude a treaty with the United States knowing that Congress can change the rules of the game after it is negotiated?" asked House Republican leader John Boehner, R-Ohio.

Indeed, this sets an awful precedent "for all future administrations, both Republicans and Democrats," said a White House spokesman, "because countries will not be able to have faith in our word when we're negotiating trade deals."

Democrats claim they don't oppose trade, they just want trade to be "fair" and to protect American workers. But shielding inefficient industries from competition only delays the inevitable -- and undermining the ability of American firms to market and sell their products overseas represents a much more serious threat to U.S. job creation than opening our own borders to foreign goods.

Some nations may indeed be unhappy with our current president's foreign policy. But if Democrats control both the White House and Congress next year, while continuing to appease their union benefactors with anti-trade policies and rhetoric, you can bet many of our allies will soon be yearning for the good old Bush days.