I am shocked by The Sun's reckless recommendation that Congress abandon its constitutional responsibility for regulating commerce with foreign nations. Granting President Obama fast-track authority to negotiate a Trans-Pacific Trade Partnership would be dangerous folly ("Give Obama 'fast track' authority," April 17).
Given the ill effects of NAFTA and subsequent "trade is good" deals, nobody should be so eager to jump on this shadowy bandwagon.
The likely benefits to this country are questionable. Moreover, those who have seen leaked portions of this suspiciously secretive deal have noted that a great deal of it has to do with other matters that go beyond trade, interfering with national sovereignty and local self-government, and introducing extralegal processes of arbitration that bear a remarkable resemblance to those ugly binding arbitration clauses in credit card "agreements."
People close to the negotiations have reportedly said that the reason for the secrecy is that if people knew what was in the deal they would reject it. That is precisely why Congress should take the responsibility for doing its job, go over the entire deal thoroughly, and reject it if it is unacceptable.
Katharine W. Rylaarsdam