Bill Daley: It's time for the Democrats to embrace CAFTA

William M. Daley the Midwest chairman of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co comes out in favor of CAFTA in Sunday editorial in the Chicago Tribune.

I encourage my fellow Democrats--as hard as it may be--to support CAFTA, while at the same time holding President Bush and congressional leaders accountable to deal with the impact of this agreement realistically and without resorting to political games. And I ask both parties to take a leadership role in making America competitive for the next generation.

Who is William M. Daley? The brother of Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, former Secretary of Commerce under President Clinton and chairman of former Vice President Al Gore Presidential campaign, who was in charge of choosing the vice presidential nominee on the Democratic ticket.

Should we take William Daley seriously in this call for Democrats to embrace CAFTA?

Most Republicans and the business community extol the virtues of trade, depicting it as an engine of economic progress, while most Democrats and unions attack the exportation of American jobs, claiming that trade agreements are destroying our economy.

Washington is gearing up for another fight about global trade and it's looking like a movie we've seen before. Every trade agreement has triggered the same debate, yet all of them eventually passed. This time, however, the outcome could be different. Democrats are more united in opposition, and Republicans more divided, than ever before. The business community, seeing little in the way of serious economic benefit, is not pressing for approval of the Central America Free Trade Agreement the way it has done for previous agreements.

CAFTA's failure would be a tragic result. But it would largely be a product of the poison--and the paralysis--that infects our national politics today.

No. If he wanted to be taking seriously, he should have not started off this editorial by repeating a typical GOP talking point, which I pointed out in the bold quote above.

Next, William M. Daley should not give President Bush bipartisanship cover on any issue.

One glimmer of bipartisanship Thursday came and went with little notice in the midafternoon, when Bush spoke at a gathering at the White House complex to promote the Central American Free Trade Agreement, a pact that is facing uncertain prospects in Congress.

Among those in the audience was William M. Daley, who was Commerce secretary under President Clinton and served as chairman of Democrat Al Gore's 2000 presidential campaign.

Nice, First this brother undercuts the senior senator in this home state, then you undercut Democrats again with your bipartisan support of CAFTA.

Well, William M. Delay you might want to run in a for Governor in Democratic primary in Illinois, but by the actions of you and your brother, you might want to reconsider. It is time for the Delays to leave political offices.