May 1, 2007 3:00 PM

Rubinomics, Bare-Knuckled Politics & The Pressure On Montana's Senior Democrat

The sixth and final entry in a series of live blogs from the international economic summit in Butte, Montana

I'm now just back to Helena after Citigroup executive Bob Rubin's speech to the International Economic Summit in Butte, Montana. Rubin's speech was more of the same "free" trade orthodoxy that this conference's keynoters have presented, though there were two variations. First, Rubin made a few throwaway lines about needing to protect the environment. These lines were said in relation to his love of fly fishing here in Montana. Second, and more troubling, when Rubin was asked about why America is rewarding China's awful human rights record (crushing unions and imprisoning/killing political dissidents, etc.) with free trade policies, Rubin brushed if off by saying "China has a different human rights regime than we do" - as if such "differences" are barely anything to really consider.

Before his speech at a press conference, Rubin expanded on this "human concerns aren't a big deal in trade policy" to me. I asked him whether labor, human rights and environmental standards in trade deals should be considered "protectionist" or "isolationist" since those epithets were being thrown around by most of the keynote speakers? He answered by saying that while we should push for such standards, we should not make trade deals contingent on them, which begs the question: how are we supposed to secure such standards if countries know we won't go to the mat for them? I followed up by asking whether, then, America should go forward with trade deals that do not include intellectual property, patents and copyright protections? He stumbled through an answer to that question. You can listen to the full interchange here in Windows Media format or in MP3 format.

As I've alluded to in my ongoing coverage, this conference at the keynote level was all about having captains of industry and finance come to Montana to provide political cover for Baucus to capitulate on major trade issues coming through the Finance Committee he chairs in the coming months. You may recall that Baucus was planning on supporting President Bush's request to reauthorize fast track trade authority - the authority that allows presidents to eliminate all labor, human rights and environmental standards from trade deals. You may also recall that after the Montana State Senate overwhelmingly passed a resolution demanding Baucus back off that position, and after They Work For Us launched radio ads asking Baucus to respect that resolution, Baucus announced he was backing off his support - a major victory for the progressive movement.

But as I said at the time, K Street and Wall Street do not back off so easily, and this conference shows just that. Keynote speaker after keynote speaker - from Bill Gates to Terry McGraw to Ben Bernanke to Bob Rubin - read the same talking points about how our current "free" trade policy is supposedly working wonders for the average American. And in this midst of all this, when I asked Baucus at his press conference for a response to the Montana State Senate resolution, he categorically refused to answer. Listen to it right here in Windows Media format or in MP3 format - not only does he refuse to address the resolution, he actually refuses to even address the issue of fast track.

Let's be clear - the Economic Summit's breakout sessions were very valuable, as they featured a number of Montana small businesses sharing best practices with each other. But again, at the keynote level, this was all about bare-knuckled politics. This was a sales job of the highest order. You don't get the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, the wealthiest man on the planet, the former Treasury Secretary and the chairman of the Business Roundtable to Butte, Montana unless they are very scared that one of their sacred cows - in this case, lobbyist-written trade policies - are under serious threat by a populist progressive movement. That these people all refused to answer basic, simple questions about why they insist on prioritizing protections for corporate profits over protections for people is only proof of what their real agenda is.

This fight is just beginning. Baucus will go back to Washington believing his keynoters sold Montana on the need to continue a trade policy that is hurting workers, small businesses and farmers. But all the recitations of Tom Friedman slogans in the world can no longer fool people here or in the rest of the country into ignoring the fact that when international economic policy is written to reward only the elite, everyone else suffers. Whether Baucus sides with ordinary people or the elites he brought to keynote this event is anyone's guess - but his refusal to answer basic questions and his need to bring such big wigs in to the state to sell the "free" trade agenda is a sign of where his inclinations lie. That means we must keep up the pressure.