Even with few details released, the one thing that has come out of the announcement of the trade deal between Dem leadership and Bush is an admission by US corporate leadership that US law does not meet minimum international human rights standards, as embodied by the International Labor Organization (ILO):

The US Chamber of Commerce welcomed the bipartisan deal, saying it would secure support for Congressional approval of the four pending bilateral trade agreements... [Said Tom Donohue, president and chief executive of the world's largest business federation.] "we are encouraged by assurances that the labor provisions cannot be read to require compliance with ILO Conventions."

It's almost nice to see the business elite admitting that the US is an international law violator, but pathetic that the Democratic leadership have signed onto a deal that doesn't even require the US to meet the minimum international rules for protecting labor rights.

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The Wall Street Journal today highlighted potentially the most important story of 2008-- namely an infusion of millions of new Latino voters from a massive citizenship drive led by Univision:

If the citizenship campaign culminates in two million to three million new Hispanic voters, "that could turn the tide in several states," including Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada, says Sergio Bendixen, a pollster who specializes in ethnic markets. In 2004, Republicans won by a small margin in those states.

Given that there are eight million green card holders, a massive disruption of turnout assumptions from new citizens is moving forward-- and Univision appears to have the clout to make a difference:

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The dirty secret of the Democratic takeover of Congress is that they still haven't passed any significant legislation. Bush hasn't even had to use his veto pen on anything other than the recent Iraq bill. Most initiatives are still going to their grave in the US Senate.

Yet progressives are winning serious victories on health care, on clean energy, on voting rights, on gay rights and other issues across the country; a number of state legislators have already finished their 2007 sessions (they're quicker) and Progressive States has highlighted important victories this year here and here. Just a few highlights from states like Washington, Iowa, New Mexico, Maryland and even partially-Republican states like Indiana:

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More evidence of how states are driving health care reform is the massive expansion of health care coverage of children in the states. It received little fanfare, but the New York legislature approved a budget in April that includes health care for essentially all children. SCHIP coverage was extended to children of families within income up to 400% of poverty (roughly $80,000 per year for a family of four) and allows richer families to buy into SCHIP coverage.

This follows a wave of states, highlighted by a new Georgetown University report, working to expand access to health care for children in 2007. 29 states have enacted or are working on proposals to improve kids' coverage.

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