Here is my first installment on the presidential candidates on the campaign trail.
The burgeoning trade issue ...
I hate to sound like a broken record and I hate to say I told you so but ... the trade and manufacturing issue is building like a runaway freight train and frankly, it is about time. At the dawn of the tenth anniversary of NAFTA, the democratic presidential candidates are now having to face the music over millions of lost manufacturing jobs – especially those candidates who have been brainwashed by the free trade cult.
Did anyone see the AFL-CIO presidential forum on C-SPAN last night? Did you hear the massive cheers for Dennis Kucinich and to a lesser extent, the Rev. Al Sharpton, easily the best candidates for labor? Did you hear the mild polite applause for the other candidates who kept ignoring the fact that bad trade deals - passed by democrats - are the reason the manufacturing sector is hemorrhaging, not the tepid Bush economy?
And then we get these articles, forwarded by readers: [“Jobless in the USA”].
"Eventually, as China and India become fully employed first world economies, wages will be bid up and labor will be paid according to its productivity. By then the U.S. might be a third world country … When jobs move out, skills move with them. At the rate at which the United States is losing software and computer engineering jobs, for example, how much longer will U.S. engineering schools be offering this major? When manufacturing jobs are lost, so are jobs in trucking, warehousing, banking and insurance. There is a chain effect that reduces the overall productivity of the United States as a location of economic activity …"And this piece by the amazing American hero Lori Wallach of Global Trade Watch: ["Turning the Trade Tables"].
"So, the dog has come back to bite the owner. While lawmakers are scambling [sic] and lobbyists are sweating, the FSC [U.S. Foreign Sales Corporation tax break] case illustrates the blatant hypocrisy of the corporate-managed trade lobby that has dominated U.S. trade policy and attacked labor, consumer and environmental critics. U.S.-based multinationals embrace the WTO when it attacks public interest regulatory policies they view as impeding their "free trade." But if the WTO strikes at a corporate welfare provisions of the tax code, talking heads on business news shows and the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal howl about the WTO's infringement on democracy."And then Kerry gets nailed at Manchester’s "Fresh Air Forum" this afternoon … but you will have to wait to read my article on it.
