Is Free trade really free?  President Obama has been promoting fast track authorization to conclude a pending trade agreement among twelve Pacific nations. In general, Republicans have favored free trade and Democrats have opposed it.

The bill was to move forward as a so-called “clean bill” without amendments or other provisions. Now however, both the Republicans and Democrats have been lining up additional issues to complicate and potentially kill the bill. What is fast track authority? Does the President need fast track authority to complete the trade negotiations? Is it necessary to add other provisions to make this a better bill?