After the Peru Deal

Well, the House passed the Peru deal. About half the Democrats voted for the measure and most of the Republicans. But this is the last one that's going to pass for awhile. The South Korea deal which is on deck is much bigger and a tougher vote for Democrats. The AFL-CIO took a pass on the deal which has more labor and environmental standards than previous agreements. But the Teamsters were adamantly against this. The idea of getting a Free Trade Agreement of the Americas passed , which has been kicked around since 1994, is still a dream.

It'll be interesting to see how Hillary Clinton votes on the deal. (My spouse works on her campaign, FYI.) She hasn't taken a stand yet while Obama opposes the measure and Edwards is opposed. I suspect she'll be with Nancy Pelosi and Charlie Rangel and vote for it. By the way, those who thought Rangel would be a total obstructionist should note that he just gave Bush his biggest foreign policy/domestic policy victory in a longtime. Of course, Senate ratification awaits but that seems a formality.