President Barack Obama signs the United States-Korea Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act
in the Oval Office, Oct. 21, 2011.
"The President has not signed one new free trade agreement in the past four years. I will reverse that failure."
—Mitt Romney, Oct. 8, 2012
Just so you don't have to squint, here's a close-up. To get agreements with South Korea, Columbia and Panama signed, Obama struggled with many members of his own party who opposed the pacts. He was also vigorously criticized by "fair trade" foes of "free trade" pacts, who argue that the claims for benefits from such agreements don't match the reality and favor the elites but not the workers of the nations involved. They also decried the
human rights records of Panama and, especially, Colombia, where union organizers and members have been routinely murdered.
It wouldn't take Romney's speechwriters more than three minutes on the Google to learn this. But then, they and their boss knew their claim was bogus when he made it.