Earth to Melissa: It's Like NAFTA

    Melissa Bean is feeling fairly anxious, from what I hear. Apparently, she is begging unions to support her, knowing that without labor's strong support she will probably lose re-election in the 8th District in Illinois. But, because of her vote for the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), she's gotten the cold shoulder.

    A well-informed union political operative tells me that Melissa is now claiming that her vote for CAFTA did not violate her promise to unions that she would vote against NAFTA-like agreements. Melissa, with all due respect, that is pretty lame. CAFTA is so bad that only 15 House Democrats voted for it and the deal ignited widespread protests in Central America; in Costa Rica, key politicians are promising to block CAFTA.

    I'd have more respect for her if she said she felt enticed by the support she could get from corporate interests if she sold out the labor movement--at least that would be intellectually, if not morally, honest.

    But, here's a test. Melissa, how will you vote on the pending Peru Free Trade Agreement, which the White House says it will bring before the Congress this year for a vote? As the Citizens Trade Campaign points out, the deal "is yet another example of the harmful model of trade agreements this administration has promoted. In some respects it is even worse than CAFTA."

    As an aside, I've also been told that the Democratic House political machine, lead by Rahm Emanuel (who was Bill Clinton's chief political operative responsible for ramming through NAFTA...can someone mount a primary challenge to this odious politician?), is starting to play the loyalty card with some unions with the message: if Bean is defeated, her loss could end up being the difference between the Democrats taking over the House or not. So, suck it up and support her for the greater good.

    To which I respond: where does one draw the line on accountability? At what point can a "Democrat" vote for virtually anything--an illegal war, the bankruptcy bill or CAFTA--and face no political price? And if the pursuit of power--in this case, control of the House--means that there are no principles that a Democratic Party member adheres to, what exactly does the Democratic Party stand for?