A Significant Step

(Graphic from cato.org)

Republicans may finally help Barack Obama achieve passage of a major bill, one that is sure to have long-lasting effects [bold added]:

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) would link 11 economies of the Pacific rim—including Japan and Singapore—with America. These 12 countries together account for 40% of world GDP and one-third of trade. As well as dismantling tariff barriers, the TPP is meant to tackle tough issues such as intellectual property, labour and environmental standards. American trade negotiators predict that by 2025 the TPP will make the world $220 billion a year richer.

While the TPP is supported by majorities in both parties, it has encountered opposition from both the left and the right. Some Democrats say that more American jobs will be lost to cheap-labor countries that have lax worker and environmental protections, while some Republicans worry that controls over immigration will be greatly loosened:

The TPP....allows for the free migration of labor among the signatory nations...it would override national immigration restrictions in the name of facilitating the free flow of labor.

More troublesome is the secrecy that has surrounded the negotiations ("secrecy may now be so strict that it ends up irritating everyone"). Republicans still rankle at the lack of transparency in the passage of Obamacare (Speaker Pelosi: "we have to pass the health care bill so that you can find out what is in it"), the IRS' selective scrutiny* of Obama opponents, and other matters foreign and domestic. Republicans will need to take a leap of faith to believe Administration assurances about the TPP's provisions.

None of these concerns appear to be insurmountable, however, and it's likely that free trade will take a significant step forward this year.

[*Update - 4/26, Glenn Reynolds: "With so Many Red Flags, Why Isn’t the IRS Auditing the Clinton Foundation? Probably the same reason they’re giving Al Sharpton — and, apparently, the entire on-air staff of MSNBC — a pass."]