‘Fast-Track’ Bill’s Defeat
Ross K. Baker (Commentary, Nov. 12) misses the point when he complains that, in voting against giving President Clinton “fast-track” authority, “congressional Democrats have consented to be bound, trussed and gagged by America’s fading labor movement.” Baker never discusses whether or not it is good policy to give the president authority to negotiate without regard to environmental or labor issues.
The fact is that both the leadership and the rank and file of organized labor and the environmental movement convinced the majority of Congress that negotiations without such considerations were bad policy and that failing to consider the impact on wages and the environment when negotiating on trade works to the detriment of the average person on this planet.
MARTIN HITTELMAN
Los Angeles
The coverage that The Times and other media have given the president’s defeat of his fast-track legislation dispels once again the myth of a “liberal” media. Clinton’s “failure” to get the legislation passed seems more important than the fact that some people in Congress actually care more about the environment and workers’ rights than corporate profits. The corporate media seem to believe that other myth that in order for free trade to help some people, it must exploit others.
JERRY GRANTHAM JR.
Hollywood
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