Obama Road Show Panned in Peoria

By Dennis Byrne
Chicago Daily Observer

In a remarkably inept and embarrassing political stumble, President Barack Obama’s trek to the Caterpillar plant in East Peoria to pitch his stimulus package re-focused the spotlight on the Democratic death-grip on the Colombia free-trade pact.

Passage of the measure would mean for Caterpillar hundreds, perhaps thousands, of new or saved jobs, without costing the taxpayers any money—unlike the wildly extravagant $1.2 trillion (with interest) stimulus package. Yet, Obama opposes the pact and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi stubbornly has refused to allow the agreement to come to the floor for a vote.

Caterpillar, the heavy equipment manufacturer, is one of the nation’s main exporters to Colombia and would be a chief beneficiary of free trade with the South American nation....

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