The Case of the Man in the Middle

By the Economy Team

You know how it is when you can’t get a song out of your head? Well it was like that when I went to meet my sister-in-law Iris at the airport. Iris is a freelance writer and blogger. My brother is away on tour with the band for one of their reunion gigs. Dodging in and out of traffic, the music on the radio is Stealers Wheel song Stuck in the Middle with You. The tune becomes like background music in my head while I go in the airport bar to meet Iris, “Clowns to the left of me! Jokers to the right! Here I am stuck in the middle with you…”

Then I spot her sitting on a barstool, lost in her Irish coffee. She had her blonde hair pulled back in twist. Approaching her from the back I could see a double strand of pearls and matching earrings adorning her red cashmere sweater. I knew she’d been traveling incognito. I’d never known Iris to wear red.
“So where’ve you been?” I asked as I kissed her on the cheek and sat beside her at the bar. “ Davos ” she whispered. That explained the sweater and pearls. Iris always tried to blend with the crowd when she was working on a story.

“Did you see Arianna Huffington ? I saw she was live blogging from there.”
“Oh sure, she was there rubbing elbows with the global money people.”
“It must have been some trip for you. Is it jet lag or has something else got you in such a funk?” (Song lyrics still going in my head from the car …Here I am stuck in the middle with you...)

I order a pint and sit next to her, deciding she’s not in any hurry to get home, my brother being away and all.

“It’s not so much a funk as feeling blocked with my story. I mean there I am in this place where you turn to your left and there’s a king. You turn to your right and there’s a gazillionaire. Sharon Stone wasn’t there this year, but there were still plenty of glitterati. All the experts in every field in one little town in Switzerland were there. Did you know a slew of WTO ministers were there meeting with the high priests of finance to try and get their talks going again? They’ve been stuck on working out their trade issues. With all those people I just kept feeling like someone was missing.”

“They’re worried they can’t get all their trade deals in place before Bush's fast track authority runs out this summer,” I tell her. “The president went to New York to give his state of the economy speech in the financial capital of the world. He made a surprise visit to Wall Street. He talked about wanting his fast track authority extended by congress.” Iris looked a little puzzled.

I go on to explain to her how when Bush came into office, he got the Republican congress to give him Fast Track Authority to make free trade deals with other countries. The founders intended for congress to regulate foreign commerce, but presidents find that cumbersome and have gotten the power to make these deals and then have congress with a simple majority a make up or down votes. Congress pretty much abdicated the power to the executive, like ability to make war in Iraq. It’s a lot of power concentrated in one place. By removing the ability of congress to debate these trade issues, the real power moves to trans-national corporations and away from US towns, farms and factories. The Democrats in congress had real concerns about this in 2001, when Bush got his fast track authority.

Charlie Rangel had plenty to say about it at the time. He was concerned about congress abdicating their authority and selling out the working people in this country. He also worried about the environment and workers in foreign countries not being treated fairly. The issue for him wasn’t so much free trade as fair trade. The rich get richer at the expense of everybody else. Countries permit the transnationals to operate there without taking the precautions to protect the environment required in the United States.

Iris thought about what I was telling her. I could see the wheels turning in her head.
“So, the guy missing in Davos was Charlie Rangel?” She asked.
“Why else would George Bush go to New York to give his state of the economy speech? Rangel is now the Chairman of the Ways and Means committee,“ I respond. “ They’re the ones who are focused on if fast track authority should be extended. Various people like Bob Rubin are testifying before his committee to push for extending the authority. Citi has deals all over the world. They don’t want congress taking the time to debate trade issues. They want globalization going full speed ahead, without the checks and balances the founders intended.”

She nodded her head. “The new members of congress got elected in the red states, because the people in their districts are worried about their farms and jobs.”

“Bingo!” I tell her. “The guy who stuck in the middle between the interests of the all powerful wealthy represented by Wall Street and the average American is Charlie Rangel.”

The song goes on in my head "…Well you started off with nothing and you’re proud that you’re a self made man…and your friends they all come crawling slap you on the back and say, “Please! Please!"

I help her gather up her things as we head out to my car. “So, the focus of my story isn’t so much Davos and the global money people as it is Charlie Rangel, protector of the average worker and environment around the world. He’s got to balance their interests off the tidal wave of power he must be feeling from the power elite. Wow! I sure wouldn’t want to be Charlie.” Iris exclaimed.
“Don’t worry too much about Charlie,” I tell her,” he may be the man in the middle, but he’s also the man of the hour. He loves it. And there's your story.”

Links and Sources
Davos; World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2007 - Update 2007: The Global Economy | Google Video
Arianna Huffington, Davos Notes | Huffington Post
WTO powers fail to agree on trade talks; USA Today 1/27/07 AP
Bush's fast track authority; Bush: Mind CEO pay, change how Sarbanes-Oxley works | CCNmoney.com | By Jeanne Sahadi, CNNMoney.com senior writer; January 31 2007
Fast Track Authority - Wikipedia
The Wrong Approach to Trade
Republican attempts to exclude environmental and labour standards from a Fast Track bill are misguided, says Charles Rangel | Nov. 15, 2001 | Op-Eds; Charles Rangel
Dems want trade talks to include protections | By David J. Lynch, USA TODAY | 1/31/07
Financial Times | Ex-Clinton aide urges free trade deal; By Eoin Callan in Washington | Published: January 30 2007 22:12 | Last updated: January 30 2007 22:12