Whatever side of the aisle you call home, chances are that if you've found this blog you have an inordinate interest in things political and you agree that there's plenty at stake in the November 2006 midterms.  Here's one issue that's not getting much airplay: the Bush administration's trade negotiating authority, granted it by Congress as a sort of proxy, will expire in 2007.  Should the Democrats win control of the House and/or Senate, that privilege is not likely to be extended.

I don't find much to admire in our current trade practices.

1999, the year before Bush first assumed office, our trade deficit with China was $69MM ($82MM in 2006 dollars).  I'm not thrilled with that figure, but it was stellar in comparison to subsequent years (in millions):
2000  $   84
2001  $   83
2002  $ 103
2003  $ 124
2004  $ 162
2005  $ 202
2006 (Aug)  $ 143

Source: U.S. Census Bureau Foreign Trade Statstics

Numbers in Mexico are not quite as bad, though still not good:

$94MM in 2006 dollars: $111MM

The European Union:
1999  $    45    ($53MM in 2006 dollars)
2000  $    59
2001  $    65
2002  $    86
2003  $    98
2004  $  109
2005  $  122
2006 (Aug)  $   82

Canadian trade imbalance has increased significantly, as well.  And would you believe our trade with Ecuador jumped from just under $1MM ($1.2MM in 2006 dollars) to just over $3MM between 1999-Aug 2006?  No, seriously.

One thing you'll note is the jump between 2001/2002 figures in China and the EU.  Not coincidentally, 2002 was when Congress assigned the "fast track" power to this President, having withheld it from Clinton beginning with the 1994 Republican Revolution.

Figures available from the Census Bureau's Foreign Trade statistics do not support a fiscally conservative view, and the glaring imbalances negotiated by Bush and his team are an affront and disgrace to our country.  Reuters carried a news article yesterday predicting that a 2006 Democratic Revolution would see the president's trade negotiation powers revert to Congress when they expire in 2007, because Democrats would be eager to take back that power and unwilling to allow Bush to continue his trade policy unchecked.

The headline read: Bush's trade authority renewal: dead on arrival?

From where I sit, that would be a good thing.