Posted on: Sunday, July 28, 2002

EDITORIAL
Bush needs, but may not deserve, 'fast-track'

Presidents of both parties since Gerald Ford have agreed completely on their need for "fast-track" trade authority.

President Bush, like President Clinton before him, is seeking the power to negotiate free-trade agreements that cannot be amended by the Senate. Once such trade pacts have been concluded with another country, the Senate's only role would be to approve them or reject them.

That's crucial, because what happens now is that no country will negotiate seriously with American trade representatives knowing that their agreement may be completely undone by senators.

Senators have, of course, legitimate concerns on the subject of free trade. They see constituents' jobs being exported to lower-paying countries. But they also see, or they should see, the huge success of the U.S. economy, partly driven by replacement of the lost 20th-century jobs with better-paying 21st-century jobs.

When Clinton was stripped of his "fast-track" authority, it was by Senate Republicans bent on punishing him for his liaison with Monica Lewinsky. More recently, it's been Republicans trying to win the authority for Bush who have blamed Democrats for playing politics.

But now a House-Senate compromise bill appears positioned for passage. President Bush made an unscheduled visit to Capitol Hill Friday to try to get the bill to his desk for signature quickly.

We've long advocated — in principle — the need for "fast-track" authority, but unfortunately Bush is doing a poor job of demonstrating that he'd be a responsible steward of it. Clinton earned his free-trade reputation by delivering NAFTA and Chinese membership in the World Trade Organization at considerable political cost.

Bush makes the same claims, but his talk doesn't match his walk. His protective tariffs on imported steel and his acquiescence in a budget-busting farm bill that restores massive subsidies to a broad spectrum of American export crops have made the prospect of trade war quite real.

Bush's free-trade philosophy quickly gave way to these shameless protectionist measures because the steel-producing states and the Farm Belt are key to the next election.

Any president, regardless of party, should have "fast track" authority. But unlike Clinton, Bush so far has failed to show he could use it in a statesmanlike manner.