Once upon a time, not long ago, the ability to trade with the huge U.S. market place was considered a powerful tool in helping to convince nations to move towards a more democratic society and improve human rights. Today the U.S. has free trade agreements primarily with countries that follow those admirable guidelines.

Every non-democratic country wants the most powerful currency in the world, the U.S. dollar, but usually we have small trade deficits or none at all with them. Our annual trade deficit is nearing $200 billion with the largest communist country in the world...China. The long held theory in the diplomatic world is that nations that trade goods and services reduce the chances for war between them. Ok fine. We do want to prevent war with China and we want to trade with the most populated country on the planet. Trade needs to be thought of differently with China, though.

We are allowing a huge trade deficit with a country strongly under communist rule and offering limited human rights. We are supplying the leaders of China with what they treasure most to continue their nation's booming economic expansion and communist rule, the powerful U.S. dollar, and hundreds of billions of dollars a year at that.

Our trade policy with China should only offer fair and equal trade that requires no trade deficit and requires equal trading opportunities and appropriate currency valuations. We should not continue to assist the communist rulers of China grow and defend their government with our weak free trade policies that they often ignore. We should not continue to view China only as a nation of rice farmers and bicycle riders that need our help to bring them into the 20th century, but as a major economic competitor of ours today for oil supplies, a large military arms exporter, and still a communist ruled country that prefers North Korea, Cuba, and Iran over free nations.

China is rapidly moving out of the 20th century and we should stop providing them with the extra money to compete with us as long as they restrict rights and don't allow free elections. Has the "free traders speak" of NAFTA become so entrenched in Congress and the White House that they ignore their responsibilities to our economy and the withheld freedoms of over 1.5 billion people in China? Has free speech been completely replaced by free trade in our nations diplomatic policies?

I believe in free trade as an enabler to creating and strengthening democracies around the world. I agree that we can help poorer nations employ more people, bring a higher standard of living, save lives, and that we have a limited responsibility as the world's richest nation to do these things.

When President Bush recently said he believes that illegal immigrants do the jobs that Americans won't, we now better understand both the weak policy of enforcement of our southern border, compliance enforcement with businesses, and the weak free trade policy with a communist ruled country. Free trader speak has won in Washington.

We have the power of the ballot this November to take back the meaning of the words "free trade."


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