Losing speed

This AP story published The Baltimore Sun story revisits the topic of trade promotion authority, or the lack thereof, for President Bush.
From the story:

President Bush loses his power today to seal "fast-track" trade agreements without intervention from Congress, where Democrats blame recent deals for sending U.S. jobs abroad.
Since 1975, only one other president, Bill Clinton, has lost that trade promotion authority, designed to speed the reduction of trade barriers and open new markets with other countries. Bush won't get it back, and the next president might not, either.

Democrats have said flatly that TPA is not on the legislative agenda. But that won't stop the Administration from asking for it. Later in the story:

U.S. Trade Representative Susan C. Schwab wrote to Rangel: "More than 100 bilateral trade negotiations are currently under way among our trading partners. It is important that [the U.S.] not sit on the sidelines as other countries lock in new preferential trading arrangements with our competitors."
Democrats say they support expanded trade if it's fair to U.S. workers and doesn't exploit developing countries.

TK: If President Bush wanted to keep fast track in play, he should have given his negotiators more room to secure an ambitious WTO agreement. As it is, TPA and WTO are dead.

Making the rounds

You may have noticed I've added a couple of wrinkles to the blog this week. One is a walkabout in various produce departments in my shopping area, taking note of prices and promotions. Another is a daily market snapshot at the f.o.b. level. Give me any feedback on those items, if you wish.

I'm anxious to hear United's reaction to House Agriculture chairman Collin Peterson's remarks about providing $685 million in baseline funding for f/v priorities in the chairman's mark of the farm bill. We don't know the breakdown of those funds yet, and that will be revealing. Still, it's a huge step forward. If Peterson has taken an accurate read of the full committee - if he can preserve his language that includes mandatory funding for f/v priorities - that is huge indeed.