Topic: NAFTA

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What can Congress do to create jobs? Five Republican proposals.

Amid worries that the economy may be tipping toward a second recession, both Republicans and Democrats say creating jobs is their top priority. But the two parties are far apart on their approaches. Here are the Republicans' top five priorities.
Gallery: House Democrats retiring in 2010

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As tide of illegal immigrants goes home, will US economy suffer?

The illegal immigrant boom has fizzled; and as Mexican migrants go home, the question is whether it will drain the labor pool and hurt the US economy.
Go easy on free trade as top security concern

Obama and Romney see trade as the main issue in foreign policy, which helps explain why three free-trade pacts just passed Congress. But trade isn't always a matter of security. Its main purpose is creating wealth and expanding the economic pie.
Why Congress is now ready to OK three long-stalled trade agreements

The House and Senate are poised Wednesday to approve three trade agreements, crafted during the Bush administration, with South Korea, Panama, and Colombia. They'll be the first big trade pacts since NAFTA in 1993.
Congress finally gets it: Free trade is good for America

Despite negative public opinion about open trade, Congress is poised to approve delayed free trade agreements with South Korea, Panama, and Colombia. The deals will help the US economy by increasing exports and supporting and creating tens of thousands of jobs.
Stalled free trade deals now on a fast track, White House says

Three free trade deals – with South Korea, Panama, and Colombia – will be signed, sealed, and delivered by the middle of next week, predicts White House Chief of Staff William Daley. For Washington, that would be fast work.
What can Congress do to create jobs? Five Republican proposals.

Amid worries that the economy may be tipping toward a second recession, both Republicans and Democrats say creating jobs is their top priority. But the two parties are far apart on their approaches. Here are the Republicans' top five priorities.
Latin America Monitor
The Open Government Partnership – a new direction for US foreign policy?

The new US- and Brazil-led initiative to encourage government transparency could provide the US another means to promote democracy and free trade.
US and Mexico resolve trucking dispute, but how will it affect US roads?

Security experts differ on whether tractor-trailer truck safety breaches within Mexico will mean the problem will spill over into the United States.
Landmark US-Mexico trucking agreement resolves 15-year conflict

After years of wrangling, US and Mexican officials signed an agreement Wednesday that allows trucks from each nation to travel on the other country’s highways – a key provision of NAFTA.
Cost of US 'free' trade: collapse of two centuries of broadly shared prosperity

A reckless free-trade policy is destroying America's jobs machine. We must return to a policy of strategic, not unconditional, economic openness.
Former Secretary of State Warren Christopher passes at 85

Christopher served as Secretary of State during Bill Clinton's first term and was an architect of the 1995 Bosnian peace accords.
Mexican trucks to ply US highways? Obama is ready to roll.

President Obama on Thursday laid out a plan to allow trucks from Mexico to carry goods into America. Concern about safety of Mexican trucks have nixed such transport for decades.
Obama to US companies: Time to hire and invest is now

Obama's speech Monday to US Chamber of Commerce outlined plans to encourage innovation and business investment. But he also urged US companies to get off sidelines and 'invest in America.'
Obama's full-court press to make up with business community

Obama has named economist Gene Sperling as head of the National Economic Council. The president has made other moves to patch up relations with the business community.
Border deaths for illegal immigrants hit record high in Arizona sector

The number of bodies recovered in the Tucson sector hit a record high in fiscal 2010, even as the number of illegal immigrants crossing the border declined.
Will Obama's rift with the left matter?

The left is hopping mad, not just that Obama cut a tax-cut deal with Republicans, but that he didn't put up much of a fight. But the breach may help him woo back independent voters in time for the 2012 election.
South Korea trade pact: US beachhead for pacts with Japan, China

Congress should approve the tentative trade agreement with South Korea. It's a model for what the US should get from China and Japan.
Can Obama, Lee sell lawmakers on US-South Korea free trade deal?

Just as hopes were fading for the US-South Korea Free Trade Agreement, negotiators came to terms on prying open the South Korean motor vehicle market to placate angry US carmakers and labor unions.
Will tea party allies in Congress balk at international trade pacts?

As Obama presses for on a free-trade deal with Korea, where does the tea party stand? Polls say tea partyers do not favor trade pacts, but for many of their allies in Congress, it's a new issue.
Obama's Asia trip: the free trade conundrum

Obama will press for countries at the G20 summit to adopt measures for addressing trade imbalances. Also, the Obama administration recently stepped up talks with South Korea on modifying the free trade agreement with the US.
Obama's Asia visit: Do free trade deals really boost economies?

President Obama hopes to ink a US-South Korea free trade agreement Thursday. Trade deals among Asian countries are all the rage, but some say they may not have much impact.
Will GOP really take on Big Government -- and Obama's straw-man attacks?

The problem for Republicans after Tuesday’s election is that Americans are opposed to Big Government, but only at a high level of abstraction. Translating that general sentiment into specific program cuts that are popular, or even tolerated, is the hard part.
US jobs: In China trade fight, does protectionism help, or hurt?

Congress is considering legislation that would punish China for devaluing its currency, a policy the Obama administration regards as hindering US jobs growth. But some say protectionism is even more costly.
The most important governor's race? Why top politicians are flocking to Ohio.

The party that controls the Ohio governor's mansion can have an impact on presidential elections, so the race is seeing a jolt of high-profile endorsements as the candidates try to place blame over the state's job losses.
Dan Rostenkowski: a Washington giant, a casualty of scandal

Dan Rostenkowski, once called one of the nation's most power politicians, died Wednesday. His lengthy political career in Washington began in 1958 and ended amid scandal in 1994.