Trade Is A Two Way Street

Mark Penn is a public relations guy working in the Clinton Campaign. He also does PR work for Colombia. And guess what? The Colombians are not happy.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Colombian government said Saturday it has fired Mark Penn's public relations firm after the chief campaign strategist for Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton apologized for meeting with Colombian officials pushing a trade deal with the U.S.

Colombian officials said they terminated their contract with lobbying and public relations giant Burson-Marsteller in response to a statement released Friday by Penn, the firm's chief executive, calling the meeting an "error in judgment." Clinton opposes the trade deal.

"The Colombian government considers this a lack of respect to Colombians, and finds this response unacceptable," government officials said in a news release. The government will continue its push for a free trade agreement with the United States, they added.

The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that Penn had met with the Colombian ambassador March 31.

Clinton advisers said the meeting was not connected to the campaign, but made clear the candidate was not happy to learn it. Penn later issued a statement expressing regrets.

"The meeting was an error in judgment that will not be repeated and I am sorry for it," he said. "The senator's well-known opposition to this trade deal is clear and was not discussed."

The Colombian government is trying to secure congressional passage of the agreement signed in 2006 by Colombian President Alvaro Uribe and the Bush administration.

Heh.

I just did a bit on what America has to do to improve its competitive position in the world. The direction the Democrats want to take us in is not the way to go. If we are going to sell we have to be willing to buy.

Trade is a two way street.

The essence of business is buy low and sell high. How can we buy low if we can't buy from the lowest cost producers? Protectionism slowly strangles economies. Why would we want to do that to ourselves just to support some politically connected businesses?

We are Americans. We can compete.

Cross Posted at Classical Values