The Daily Cougar--Opinion Online

A weary House of Representatives passed a version of the "fast track" legislation by a three-member margin at 3:30 a.m. Saturday morning. If approved by the Senate, which is very likely, the bill gives the president the power to negotiate trade deals with foreign nations, with the agreements either approved or knocked down by Congress, with no power to amend.

The legislation was steam-rolled through the House at the end of an interesting week on the hill. Members decided to increase the police state by supporting President George W. Bush's Homeland Security Department and a corporate-responsibility bill that Bush decided to endorse only after advisers read him the
political polls on the bill.

Saturday's early morning decision is the House's last before it breaks for August vacation, and for some re-election campaign scurrying.

But Saturday's early morning vote was also rushed, with Republicans wanting to make the president and the global economy happy before the House
vacation. According to the Public Citizen global trade watch field team's recent e-mail on the subject, most House representatives couldn't have even known
what they voted on Saturday because of last-minute changes made by Rep. Bill Thomas and Sen. Max Baucus on Thursday night.

Rep. Charles Rangel was quoted in the Washington Post as saying most members had not had time to examine the changed bill and were merely taking
Thomas' word for its contents.

"So maybe you can staple him to whatever newsletter you're going to send out to tell people what you've done for the free world and the worker," Rangel
joked.

Until 1994, when a congressional stalemate changed things, Clinton had the same powers this bill provides to Bush. Four presidents before Clinton, the first
of whom was Gerald R. Ford, also enjoyed these powers. So maybe they aren't that bad. Except for now, when they're in the hands of, well, not the smartest
guy, in a time of economic desperation so thick, American accountants and CEOs would lie about numbers to appease their shareholders.

The bill does grant some extra federal-subsidized help to laid-off workers who find their place of employment being moved overseas where labor is cheaper
and more abundant. The help comes in the form of tax credits, which always amuses me because the really rich people never have to pay taxes, always
coming up with new schemes on how to cheat the system, like the health-insurance scam detailed in Sunday's New York Times.

Thank goodness the most frightening part of the bill didn't make it through the House floor. This section was wanted by credit card companies and would
make it harder for Americans to get out of paying those greedy companies, even in light of a bankruptcy filing. Which is good news for college students, who
are more in debt to the power structures of capitalism than ever before. The provision was dumped at the last minute because anti-abortion Republicans
didn't like a clause that said court fines incurred from illegal protesting were exempt from bankruptcy filings as well.

It was a close fight Saturday morning. As the time was 3:30 a.m., it probably seemed like a Congressional bar brawl. Votes fell largely along party lines; 190
Republicans and 25 Democrats voted for the bill while 183 Democrats and 27 Republicans opposed it. Both Independents, one from Vermont and the other
from Virginia, opposed the "fast track" bill. The Democrat majority leader and the Democrat minority leader disagreed on their vote on the bill, a rare
occurrence.

Those who couldn't make up their minds, or who did not wish to jeopardize re-election bids, were five Republicans and two Democrats who abstained from
voting.

Saturday morning's deal will last five more years if not amended by the Senate. It will encourage companies to send more plants over to foreign countries,

boosting their economies and our markets while leaving many Americans unemployed.

Moeller, a senior communication
major, can be reached at brandonmoeller@hotmail.com.