Repub pundit Lou Dobbs talks more like a Dem than today's Dems

I hear very few Democrats today speaking out on the issue of America's blue collar and middle class jobs being offshored to India and China, but I do see Lou Dobbs, a television commentator who calls himself "a lifelong Republican", talking nonstop on the topic.

Where is the Democratic leadership on the issue of offshoring? Tackling these kinds of bread-and-butter issues is the major reason for the Democratic party to exist in the first place. The Republicans are happier than clams that the Democratic leadership refuses to talk much about offshoring.

frauds as well.

He seems to be one of the few in the media really going after the screwups in our government and talking about middle class issues, evaporating pensions, outsourcing, insourcing wtih illegal aliens, e voting machines, port security and more. No I don't agree with everything he says and wish he would broaden the topics a bit. At least he seems to be doing something which is more than most.

I heard that slogan on his show the other day and wonder why democrat's don't use it!!

I surely do miss those guys.

Don't fall into the trap of getting all nostalgic for "true conservatives".

They don't exist. They can't exist. Its impossible to honestly believe everything conservatives claim all at the same time.

Old-time Republicans are huge corporate apologists.

And many "true conservatives" have done some terrible things in the past...

Does that make them like Democrats? No. But it doesn't make them like the Republican reactionaries who were outraged by Goldwater's loss in '64. Those are the really scary guys. I think even Goldwater would distance himself from them. They are the ones who started the think tanks and publications that have pushed their peculiar view of the world. It is a view that benefits themselves, takes advantage of the American people and allows them to feed on the prosperity of our country that has been generated by the growth of the middle class. When they are done we will be left with a shell of our former prosperity and no real semblance of a democratic republic.

Lou Dobbs does understand the importance of the middle class. I respect him for that. He knows that the extreme ideology that propels this administration's actions and policies eventually will bankrupt this country. We do have some common ground with moderate Republicans, they are still within the greater liberal tradition that believes in less government intrusion and in the importance of the individual and individual rights. Having said that, there are many areas where we disagree.

to boost his ratings.

He has all those BS promos, "Why does it take two incomes", "Why is it hard for the middle class to get by", but he never really does anything about it on his show.

He just scapegoats immigrants and attacks Dems.

you would see that he has held the same opinions and views that he always has. He is the only talking head in amerika that even discusses these issues. He has advocated a "stop the employers and the illegal immigrants will stop coming" solution, one which neither party will even touch.

He has been warning about the decline of the middle-class since at least 1997 (that I know of).

He professes to believe that the government has no business regulating our private lives.

He claims a belief that we must get our own house in order before we go off telling other countries how they should operate.

OTOH, he does hold all the traditional re:puke: views on the majikal "free market" and that business should be left to its own devices. He has stated that business is more efficient than government.

On balance, he is far more representative of the amerikan sheeple than we are.

But he doesn't give the Democrats any kudos, and not everyone here is always happy with the Dems in Congress. Dobbs came back to CNN with his program after George was elected. That is about the same time John Eisenhower resigned from the Republican Party and registered as an Independent. As with Ed Schultz, some Republicans will listen to Dobbs when they won't listen to anyone on the left. That is not a bad thing.

Dobbs is the most consistent advocate of working Americans and the middle class of any commentator on television, regardless of what party he belongs to.

He heavily criticized the passage of the latest bankruptcy bill, as the tax cut giveaways to the rich that are bankrupting our country.

He's also been an opponent of Bush's civil liberty infringements and an advocate of a free press.

He also highly criticized the suspension of Davis-Bacon wage regulations for the New Orleans cleanup.

I don't see how anyone could be a bigger advocate for the American worker and the American middle class than Dobbs is.

Forget what party he belongs to. He's on our side, not Bush's or his Corporatocratic supporters.

unlawflcombatnt

EconomicPopulistCommentary

EconomicPatriotForum

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The economy needs balance between the "means of production" & "means of consumption."

Build walls walls and more walls to keep the immigrants and imports out. Doesn't sound like a liberal Democrat to me.

I am not a corporatist under any definition of the word. Nor am I a conservative or a socialist. I am a liberal. I don't want to see any institution gain too much power, be it a corportation, church, trade union, or the federal government.

Protectionsim is not liberal and it certainly isn't progressive. What Dobbs advocates is economic favoritism for certain industries above others. "What? Mexico can make toys cheaper than us? Well screw that, we'll have the government make Mexican toys unaffordable! Oh and make sure the Mexicans don't come here and make the toys to get around our tariff!"

Just because somebody disagrees with you doesn't mean they are a "corporatist".

you are spouting corporate talking points. Blaming the Great Depression on Smoot-Hawley is a favorite of the RW think-tanks (it beats the hell out of blaming 30 years of supply-side economics, after all).

Labeling free trade as "progressive" is another, albeit newer, RW (and DLC) think-tank preoccupation. Really, you may want to let real progressives, e.g., Kucinich, the Black Caucus, Thom Hartman, David Sirota, etc. know that you (and the DLC/GOP) have now determined that SUPPORT for job-killing free trade agreements is the NEW progressive stance.

You can talk about toys and Mexicans and "nasty" protectionism until you're blue in the face, but the simple truth is that US citizens cannot compete with people willing and able to work for a few dollars a day.

As far as which "institution" is gaining too much power, I'll give you a couple of hints: It sure as hell isn't trade unions (ha ha) and it isn't even the church or the federal government.

I love Dennis Kucinich and I love the CBC but I can't agree with them on this. I can, however, agree with progressives like Ron Wyden, Paul Krugman, and John Kerry before he sold his soul.

David Sirota is a good person and his heart is in the right place but sometimes he ignores the economic arguments that all point towards trade liberalization.

Free trade isn't "job killing" like you say it is. Yes, some industries are hurt by expanded trade. That is why we need universal health care and trade adjustement to help those who are hurt. But at the same time, more people end up winning from the lower price of goods and services and opening up markets for American goods over seas.

I support workers in other countries. I think the US ought to get rid of all of the farm subsidies that destory family farms in developing countries. I also think that workers in other countries deserve the right to make things and sell them to the US without facing a tariff meant to protect American jobs in inefficient industries from competition.

This isn't a left vs right issue. There are protectionists on both ends of the spectrum. But politicians are starting to learn what economists have known for years, the benefits of trade outweight the costs. It's not "corportatism", it's economics.

NAFTA is strictly an investment scam designed to benefit a few at the expense of many. David Ricardo would NEVER call NAFTA a free trade agreement.

but I think you know that.

"Free trade" isn't job killing? Wake up. Every day brings news of more plant closings and cut-backs, we're losing (lost?) our manufacturing base. Anything that isn't nailed down is being off-shored and what they can't ship out they'll ship in (cheap labor).

"Opening up markets for goods overseas"? Hello? Have you seen the trade deficit figures? What IS a bit funny is the corporate talking heads now have to use the fear that other countries "won't help us in the war on terror" if we engage in protectionism (enact common sense legislation) b/c the threat that other counties won't buy our non-existent exports is so lame.

You support workers from other countries? Did you support the farmers, students and workers in Mexico and then central America when they opposed NAFTA, then CAFTA?

The "protectionists" aren't the "ends of the spectrum", we are the majority.

as are all these other fake free trade agreements.

or given to an undocumented worker.

B.) he does not advocate building "walls walls and more walls to keep the immigrants and imports out", never has. He does advocate a "punish the employers plan".

Who cares whether he's labeled as a "liberal" or not? It's just a word with widely varying definitions.

Dobbs definitely takes the side of workers over Corporate America, and has even written a book critiquing "corporate greed."

Dobbs is a populist, and that's exactly the type of policies Democrats need to be emphasizing. He's for the people of the United States, not for the Corporations. There's absolutely no question about that for anyone that's ever watched his show.

unlawflcombatnt

EconomicPopulistCommentary

EconomicPatriotForum

___________
The economy needs balance between the "means of production" & "means of consumption."

giving them some hope for the future.

I don't recall Lou "champion of the working man" Dobbs ever getting into the details of that, and actually taking Republicans to task for screwing over the working and middle class.

He certainly did mention it on his show, and he certainly did express his opposition to an increase being voted down. And he also mentioned the hypocrisy of Congress voting themselves a pay raise around the same time.

It seems the anti-Dobbs crowd has only one real argument against him -- that he supports American workers by opposing guest workers and amnesty for illegal immigrants and the employers who hire them. The rest of the anti-Dobbs rhetoric is just a thinly-veiled disguise to portray him as a right-winger, simply because he thinks American workers should be protected from illegal wage suppression by the illegal hiring of
illegal immigrants.

Sorry, no sale. Dobbs is not a "Right-Winger," no matter how many flimsy arguments the pro-amnesty/open-borders crowd tries to conjure up. Such claims simply defy logic and common sense.

unlawflcombatnt

EconomicPopulistCommentary

EconomicPatriotForum

___________
The economy needs balance between the "means of production" & "means of consumption."

We could use a lot more of that.

workers or any other nation's workers. They have one concern: Profits. The Bush Regime is in the pocket of the Corps. B. Clinton pushed NAFTA through. He still thinks it is a great program.

American citizen first, no matter your party. We are all in this nightmare together, Lou realizes it and has the guts to get to the issues that are important to us all!

he talks about offshoring, he talks about illegal immigration.

Has he done anthing abuot it?


Has he even been willing to hold those responsible accoutable?



NO!


He is all talk.

SOMEbody's got to make the public more aware of what's happening to working class Americans (no) thanks to these ridiculous free-trade agreements. It sure as heck isn't the politicians, including many of our own Democrats.

Your complaint makes absolutely no sense; should newspapers be disbanded because they don't "do anything" on things other than report them?

in addition to talking about it years before anyone else did?

for the failure of the Dubai Port Deal from passing.

He raised a red flag on it, & got attention from his audience & the pols, until it became a big issue. The Bush cabal had planned on the deal going through under the radar.

What have you accomplished, besides moaning behind a keyboard?

http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2005/roll443.xml

Republican: 202 yes, 27 no, 2 not voting = 94% in favor of CAFTA
Democratic: 15 yes, 187 no = 93% against CAFTA

I'd call that a big improvement over the NAFTA vote.

He scapegoats immigrants and uses his show to rant and rave about his own personal obsessions. Why CNN further debases itself by giving him a platform to do his Howard Beale schtick night after night, I don't know.

Actually, I guess I do know - he's good for ratings. But he's useless and, in my view, somewhat dangerous because he gives "aid and comfort" to some of the worst elements in this country.

Yes, he must be a "bigot" because he puts the interests of legal American workers above those of illegal immigrants and the employers who illegally hire them.

Heaven forbid he should advocate enforcing the laws passed by Congress to protect American workers. That definitely makes Dobbs a bigot. Anyone can see that. :sarcasm:

unlawflcombatnt

EconomicPopulistCommentary

EconomicPatriotForum

___________
The economy needs balance between the "means of production" & "means of consumption."

Democrats are the party of the working class. Perhaps we should act like it.