President Obama’s weekend radio address built on his trip to Brazil, Chile and El Salvador to make the cause for expanded U.S. trade with Latin America. From the White House transcript:

Latin America is a part of the world where the economy is growing very quickly. And as these markets grow, so does their demand for goods and services. The question is, Where are those goods and services going to come from? As President, I want to make sure these products are made in America. I want to open more markets around the world so that American companies can do more business and hire more of our people.

Here’s a statistic to explain why this is important. Every $1 billion of goods and services we export supports more than 5,000 jobs in the United States. So, the more we sell overseas, the more jobs we create on our shores.

Absent from the President’s remarks is any mention of Colombia and the ever-pending U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement. Colombia boasts the second largest economy in South America, so its omission from the address stood out.

Last month, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) also traveled to Brazil and fittingly included Colombia in his South American journey. From the Finance Committee, Feb. 26, “Baucus Meets with Colombian President, Highlights Need for U.S.-Colombia FTA, Renewing Andean Trade Preferences“:

Washington, DC / Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) today met with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos. (continue reading…)

The Washington Post today leads its front page with a story, “Public Option gains support,” a story based on a Washington Post-ABC News Poll.

Attorney, law professor and talk show host Hugh Hewitt examines the polling methodology and reports the sample:

Only 20 percent of adults identify themselves as Republicans, little changed in recent months, but still the lowest single number in Post-ABC polls since 1983. Political independents continue to make up the largest group, at 42 percent of respondents; 33 percent call themselves Democrats.

ABC News/Washington Post pollsters called just over a thousand people, only found 20% who said they were Republicans, and they think it’s news that Obamacare is now winning the day in American public opinion overwhelmingly. I’m stunned. I think I need to go lie down.

Hewitt notes that Rasmussen reported that at the end of September of this year, the party breakdown in the country was 32.1% Republican, 37.5% Democrat. If all the rest were independents, you’d get 30.4% independent.

It’s always been a matter of principle for mainstream journalists to insist “We don’t make up the news.” But every story based on public opinion surveys blows that claim out of the water.

Here, by the way, is the .pdf text of Senate Finance Committee’s health care bill, released the week after the committee approved the measure.  It’s 1,502 pages.

UPDATE (10:40 a.m.): Kellyanne Conway (president & CEO of the polling company™, inc./WomanTrend) does a deeper analysis of Washington Post poll:

Asking an under-informed public in a poll about “public option” is incomplete. It calls for a response to feel-good phraseology rather than a probing of underlying ideology. “Public option” in health care is not so different from “campaign finance reform,” “Violence Against Women’s Act,” “revenue enhancements” or for that matter, “world peace’ and “no rain this Saturday.”

A statement from Jay Timmons, executive vice president of the National Association of Manufacturers, reacting to the 14-9 vote in the Senate Finance Committee to pass out health care reform legislation this afternoon.

While acknowledging the improvements the Finance Committee version has made — no public option, for example — the NAM objects to major provisions. Excerpt:

[The] NAM remains deeply concerned that the Senate Finance Committee’s bill overall will add costs to the health care system and, by extension, the manufacturing community, on top of the already spiraling costs manufacturers and their employees face today.

Specifically, we believe the excise tax imposed on insurance plans will have a negative economic impact on many manufacturers. And, the Finance Committee’s imposition of industry-specific fees singles out businesses solely to raise revenues – costs that ultimately will be passed onto consumers.

The NAM is also concerned about the proposed tax on employer-provided prescription benefits, limits on Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) and new requirements on corporate information reporting.

Lastly, we are disappointed that the bill does not address the costly issue of “defensive medicine” through medical malpractice reform in any meaningful way.

The Finance Committee’s news release is here, and Sen. Max Baucus’ opening statement is here.

UPDATE (5:15 p.m.): Here’s the vote tally.

UPDATE (5:20 p.m.): A tally of the $507 billion in new taxes and fees.