MORE GOOLSBEEISM, PLEASE:

One step forward … (Chicago Tribune, 12/30/10)

We're heartened by the news that President Barack Obama has cut a deal with South Korea on a long-stalled free trade pact.

The pact with Korea was signed in 2007 by President George W. Bush, but never ratified by Congress because of persistent opposition from organized labor. Obama will send to Congress a revised agreement, though the guts of the original deal remain in place. The pact will still pry open South Korea's market for U.S. exports: cars, trucks, agricultural goods, and services.

When he campaigned in 2008, Obama talked like a free-marketer. But free trade has not been a high priority for the administration. We hope the president's action on the Korea pact signals a welcome, if belated, acknowledgement that opening other countries' markets to U.S. manufactured exports is a solid way to create jobs here. It's key to achieving the president's goal, stated a year ago, of doubling U.S. exports over five years.

So what about pending U.S. agreements with Colombia and Panama?