Rising the Tide via Free Trade

Fire of Liberty

With tons and tons of illegal immigrants flooding into our nation weekly in an effort to seek out a better life in America compared to their home country and Hugo Chavez leading his crusade to spread his economic populism throughout Central and Southern America, you'd think that the Democrats in Congress would be all for the passage of a free trade deal with Panama. Aside from the fact that this trade deal would help strengthen the economic, political, and diplomatic relationship between the US and Panama( especially when the US is Panama's largest trading partner in buying some 48% of Panama products and providing them 27% of their imports), this trade deal will also create a situation in which agricultural jobs will continue to keep on going and also create a situation in which new jobs will be created. Therefore if the "animal spirits" are unleashed even further in Panama through free trade, then the people of Panama will have a growing economy which in turn creates an incentive for the folks of Panama to stick around rather than venturing on an illegal journey to the US. Even more both nations can show how free trade and the free market are a far better pathway to a good life than the policies being advocated by Hugo Chavez. Let's just hope that Congress comes to its senses and pushes through this deal rather than falling to the hands of labor unionists and enemies of free trade. It was a time that Democrats believed in JFK's policy that "a rising tide lifts all boats."