Why not ask free trade politicians to put some skin in the game?

The Post has another "protectionist" debate article today and this issue has me a bit worked up today. It's too easy for politicians to preach the benefits but for many outsiders, it appears to be more of a future employment sales pitch. Think about Reagan who did a speaking tour of Japan for millions shortly after leaving the White House. At the time, Japan was the future and ravaging US business. His speaking tour seemed treasonous to many as he cashed in on his popularity though he did little to help US workers during the fight for their future.

Even Bill Clinton flogged the free trade story and as we're now discovering, has made millions speaking and consulting for other countries who want to do business with the US. For the politicians, it's much too easy to preach the benefits without walking in the shoes of others who are left behind. How do people like Clinton expect Americans to feel about free trade as he sits on $100 million made over eight years?

Trade is good and I'm the last person to be against global trade but the system as it stands today needs work. Despite what some are suggesting, it's not just emerging today because of the recession. It's been at a low simmer for years because it's been avoided by political leaders around the world. We need politicians to back off of the easy money to do lobbying until they provide something more for average Americans (or Europeans or ...) who are left behind in this transition. To the untrained eye it looks like padding the resume for future employment rather than sound policy for working families.

If they wonder why people react so poorly and demand protection, they need to look in a mirror and ask themselves what they're doing to feed this fury. It's easy to become cynical about the benefits when the only benefits you see are for big business and big name politicians. It seems fair that if they're going to sell the painful idea of free trade, they ought to follow it up with doing real work to help with that transition instead of lining their pockets lobbying for foreign governments who want to sell into the US. How about helping sell American overseas since there are so many long term benefits?