Loss of "Fast Track Authority"

David Broder is a columnist for the Washington Post and in today's edition of the paper wrote about the loss of "fast track authority" for the president in signing trade deals with other governments. He brought out the understandable point that sometimes the president needs this authority, but understands that congressmen and senators are feeling the heat at home and that is the reason for the loss of this presidential authority. He stated that this loss was a mistake and that our representatives sometimes should do what is best for the country and not what their constituents force them to do for re-election. I wrote the following to him:

Mr Broder-

I agree with you that sometimes the representatives in the congress and the senate have to do what is best for the country and not always react to the demands of their constituency. But, to me the main cause of the president losing so much of his authority for trade agreements is that the country, and their representatives, have lost faith and trust in the man who sits in the White House.

Too much has gone wrong in the past six years, including the ill advised and questionable invasion of Iraq, the utmost secrecy in the administration, the overuse of politics and favoritism as a basis for filling positions in both Iraq and here in the country, the cost of the war in human lives and money, the loss of civil liberties and rights, the immigration problem, and the utter dislike of Mr. Cheney, Mr. Rove, Mr. Gonzales, Mr. Rumsfeld (gone), Ms. Miers (gone), Mr. Wolfowitz (gone), Chief Justice Roberts, and finally Mr. Bush. That's just too much for the public to swallow, and senators and congressmen know that. Mr. Bush has dug his own grave and "We the People" are tired of paying the price for those arrogant mistakes.