Hightower Lowdown

“I’ll poke you in the eye with a sharp stick, but then I’ll give you a Band-Aid.”
That’s the essence of the deal that Congress and the White House just gave to American workers. At issue was legislation to give the president “fast track” authority to negotiate job-destroying trade scams like NAFTA, then ram them through Congress with practically no debate and no possibility for lawmakers to make amendments. Under this antidemocratic process, Congress surrenders its responsibility to review and improve presidential trade deals.

Why would Congress vote to give up its own authority? Cold cash. Fast-track legislation has long been the top priority of corporate CEOs who don’t want their global deals mucked up with concerns about jobs, sweatshops, worker safety, human rights, and such. They’ve delivered loads of campaign money to members of both parties, greasing the skids for Congress’s capitulation.

Putting the political Band-Aid on this wound, lawmakers also approved a new tax credit to subsidize the purchase of private health insurance. Americans who lose their jobs as a result of new trade scams will be eligible for the credit. Thoughtful, except that few displaced workers will be able to afford to buy insurance since, hey—their jobs are gone!