[Jaysun]

Section 8. The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States; but all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States; To borrow money on the credit of the United States; To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes;

Congress has lots of powers. Let them exercise them less or not at all, in some cases. I doubt that Jimmy Madison, or any other founder, was opposed to free trade. You suggested that private control is somehow inferior to government control. I think otherwise.

[nitzy]

I am not opposed to free trade. I am suggesting that when the wealthy and powerful create the trade rules, they will not create a free market. Ask yourself - What are the advantages of a free market? Increased competition, a demand for increased productivity, a drive for technological investment, lower prices, thinner profit margins,......etc. Why in the world would a company that is already at the top of the food chain spend millions of dollars passing an agreement that would force it into that type of scenario? If I were them I would spend millions of dollars creating a market that was tilted in my favor. This would of course be anything but a "Free Market"