Source: The Oklahoman Editorial
URL: http://newsok.com/raw-deal-obama-ditches-trade-for-health-care/article/3375944

It appears the Obama administration is sacrificing free trade for health care.

The Hill newspaper reports that a free trade agreement with Panama negotiated by the Bush administration is being shelved to facilitate unity among Democrats, especially in the House of Representatives, on health care reform.

Only a few weeks ago the Obama team was pushing the proposed Panama agreement in Congress, trying to clear obstacles erected by the Democratic majority in the waning months of the Bush administration.

New Trade Representative Ron Kirk told the U.S. Chamber of Commerce he was "working furiously” to wrap up the Panama deal and to get final approval on a long-pending agreement with Colombia — both of which would benefit U.S. businesses.

Less than a week later, dozens of House Democrats balked in a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, The Hill reports. Now the administration is backing away, fearing a messy intramural fight over trade could spoil efforts to pass health care by summer’s end.

That’s unfortunate. President Barack Obama had the right idea on free trade but was unwilling to buck Democratic orthodoxy, largely dictated by Big Labor’s view that trade agreements threaten union jobs. American firms are the losers.

Kirk was correct last month when he said it was time for some in Congress to "stop and be a bit more introspective about the battles that we continually wage with one another over the value of trade.” Too bad it fell on deaf ears.