SECRET TRADE DEAL: Report Shows Bush/Dem Pact Designed to Let Big Business Evade U.S. Taxes

As Congress reconvenes this week, K Street and a handful of Democratic congressional leaders are gearing up to pass lobbyist-written trade pacts with Peru, Panama, South Korea and Columbia - the group of pacts known as The Secret Trade Deal of 2007, originally announced on May 10, 2007. Over the summer, the Bush White House led "campaign-style" events to pressure more Democrats to support the deals, despite Democrats' 2006 campaign promises to oppose these job-killing pacts. That lobbying campaign is now being backed up by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce - and the pressure seems to be working.