Growing up in the late 1960s and 1970s in North
Dakota, I came to appreciate the need
for markets far away from my hometown in order for the local farmers to make a
go of it — whether those markets were in Bismarck or Bogota.
The simple fact is that our local farm economies
wouldn't survive without access to other markets.
Unfortunately, free trade agreements with South
Korea, Panama and Colombia have
been sitting idle as politicians sort out the political calculus and possible
impact of these three agreements on 2012 reelection chances.
In my mind, elections should be the product of
decisionmaking, not its purpose — especially when the future of local farmers
and the nation's economy are at stake.
As the United
States and global economies struggle
to recover from the 2008 financial collapse, and as too many people across the
globe remain jobless and hungry, it is irresponsible to accept the status quo
on trade. Read more here.
