The Fact Checker and NAFTA

Michael Dobbs' The Fact Checker is a very interesting read. He has covered tonight's debate. It is clear enough that both Obama and Clinton want fair free trade. NAFTA would be all right, they argue, if we enforced its provisions properly. What this means to me is that NAFTA and other 'free trade' pacts require an administration that will actively protect the American worker. I'm not at all sure this will work. The fact is that other countries only have competitive leverage because their employees don't make much money, and the regulations over industry are practically non-existent. The principle they're aiming for is reasonable: negotiate trade pacts that are mutually beneficial. We should continue to encourage free trade while encouraging reform in the countries that we're trading with. Obama and Clinton are both intending to do essentially the same thing on this, it seems to me.