During his presidential campaign then Senator Barack Obama made sure to emphasize the importance of creating jobs in the American economy. During his campaign the soon-to-be President of the United States talked about doing all that he could to create or save millions of American jobs. Doing this would help stave off a collapse into depression and rebuild the economy.

Unfortunately, since taking office in January 2009 President Obama has not done nearly enough for the American worker.

Republican opposition has sabotaged many of the efforts by the White House, and Democrats in Congress. Republicans are the reason that the public option failed, leaving the American people to deal with an unbridled rise in health care costs. Republicans are the reason that the unemployed are now being cut off from benefits despite the fact that there are no jobs. Republicans are the reason this government has lost $1 trillion to wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

During their tenure in control, during the Bush administration, the Republican Party damaged this country irrevocably. During their time out of power they have been incredibly effective at grinding the political machine to a halt, and stalling any and all progress along with it.

However, not all of the problems this country faces today are the result of Republican mismanagement, malfeasance and neglect. Some of them are the problem of the Democrats, and an increasing number are becoming the fault of President Obama.

A perfect example of this is the administration’s ongoing dedication to the listless goals of “free trade.”

According to Agence France-Presse, the Obama administration has renewed its efforts to advance the South Korea-United States Free Trade Agreement. The Korean FTA had been stalled for months, but free trade agreements never seem to die in Washington.

According to AFP, President Obama sees the Korean FTA as an opportunity to open new markets for U.S. exporters. This in turn, he believes, will spur job creation in the United States and help stem some of our unemployment overflow.

The United States maintains bilateral free trade agreements with 17 separate nations. We carry an annual trade surplus with 12 of these nations. Unfortunately, the five deficits outweigh the 12 surpluses nearly four to one. Signing a new FTA with Korea will not erase the deficits we already must cope with, but it could easily lead to an increase to our deficit with South Korea.

The United States already carries a nearly $13 billion average deficit with South Korea each year. If we were to sign a new agreement with Seoul, that number would likely increase. When the U.S. signs an FTA with a developing nation we finish marginally ahead. When we sign FTAs with developed nations we always finish far behind.

The real problem for this president and his White House is the dogmatic approach it takes to international commerce. The administration is in favor of more free trade and more trade liberalization on the part of the United States, despite the fact that no other nation has ever responded in kind to us.

The government in Seoul for several years held up the Korean FTA because they were not happy with language in the treaty that called for them to reduce their barriers. The U.S. seems ready and willing to open itself up at every turn, hoping that one day someone will reciprocate. All the while every other nation on earth is looking to get ahead at our expense.

The Obama administration talked tough on trade in 2008. It is just another cog in the free trade establishment in 2010.

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