A strong priority of the business community is free-trade agreements with South Korea, Panama, and Colombia, which have bipartisan support in the Senate.
Republicans say these agreements could create from 250,000 to 2 million American jobs without adding to the cost of government. Some liberal Democrats say it could add to the woes of the nation’s industrial heartland, battered by the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
Obama favors passing these agreements, negotiated by the Bush administration, but, in a nod to opposition in Democratic ranks, has also called for some $1 billion in Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) to workers who lose their jobs to foreign competitors. Republicans oppose TAA as a bid to use the free-trade agreement to leverage new stimulus spending that adds to the size and scope of government.
In a rare compromise, Senate majority leader Harry Reid (D) of Nevada and Republican leader Mitch McConnell (R) of Kentucky agreed to move to a vote to ratify the free-trade agreements, provided that the Senate first hold a stand-alone vote on TAA.
