Click for larger bloggy goodnessThe GOP, and by proxy, John McCain are pointing to the wealthiest county in all of the U.S. as a means to prove our economy is just fucking ducky and NAFTA works. David Sirota's "Trade Report" for OurFuture.org has some simply friggin amazing stuff in it. From the linkage above:
The New York Times Magazine this week publishes an article by David Leonhardt attempting to explain Barack Obama’s fundamental economic ideology. To echo Philip Seymour Hoffman in Almost Famous, “it’s a think-piece about a mid-level band struggling with their own limitations in the harsh face of stardom.” And, indeed, many of its passages should make Wall Streeters wet themselves. Within the first nine paragraphs, for instance, Leonhardt bills Citigroup Chairman Bob Rubin the “center,” despite his deregulatory and pro-NAFTA policies lying far outside the center of American public opinion. That said, the article provides some interesting insights into what Obama will – and will not – do as president.
Another gem, The Roanoke Times has an article up that explores how Obama is stumping in one of the worst hit cities with regard to NAFTA in VA, and how the Rethugs are taunting him to come talk about the horrors of NAFTA in, of all places, Fairfax County.
I lived in Fairfax county. It IS the top rated city for rich folks, believe me. With it's close proximity to DC, just over the river, Fairfax residents, for the most part, LOVE the shit out of NAFTA. Rethug Tommy Davis is retiring but lobbed out this tidbit with regard to Fairfax county and NAFTA:
"What would be courageous is to come to Fairfax County, where you have 362 foreign-owned companies and tens of thousands of employees with foreign-owned firms ... and take the same stand up here," said Davis, who is retiring from Congress. (emphasis mine)
The operative word there is 'foreign-owned'. Not American-owned..fucking foreign. Evidently that irony escapes the Republicans..as Sirota notes:
Besides the tone deafness of holding up foreign-owned firms as proof of a solid domestic economy, Davis forgot to mention that according to Forbes magazine, Fairfax County has long been the wealthiest county in the United States - a place where the median (the median!) household income is over $100,000 a year. The county is home to many of the millionaire corporate lobbyists that have been instrumental in the passage of rigged trade deals. Davis citing Fairfax County today as proof that trade policies are working for the vast majority of the country would be like FDR citing the Rockefeller family during the Great Depression as proof that the economy was working for most Americans.
Love it, especially the last line. ;) The next part is sure to jack some jaws. Obama is ass-kissing some of the worst of the worst on Wall Street, namely the same captains of industry that oppose changing NAFTA one iota. From Sirota again:
As reported last week, Obama's campaign is quietly courting the same CEOs that oppose trade policy reform. While there are certainly huge differences on trade between Obama and McCain's stated positions, the two campaigns are both being advised by top executives from UBS, one of the largest investment banks in the world. Indeed, the McCain campaign continues to solicit advice from UBS vice-chairman Phil Gramm, while the Obama campaign has long been shaped by Gramm's UBS boss, Robert Wolf. That kind of Wall Street influence will likely make a fair trade agenda much more difficult in 2009.
Make it difficult? Hell, it will make change impossible dude. The final subject tackled by Sirota in his piece is the much-hated (by me anyway) DLC and their bullshit express:
Ripping a page straight out of George W. Bush's playbook, the Democratic Leadership Council this week attempted to justify its corporate sponsors' trade agenda by writing a Wall Street Journal op-ed insisting that NAFTA-style trade deals fight Islamic terrorism. Yes - you read that right, and the DLC wasn't joking. They really want America to believe that passing trade deals that are unpopular both here and abroad is the way to stop Al Qaeda.
In fact, the BBC's landmark 2008 poll undercuts the DLC's fact-free rhetoric with hard data. The survey of international opinion shows widespread unease with the United States' trade and globalization policies - and that unease is particularly acute in the Middle East, where the DLC claims that NAFTA-style policies will stop terrorism.
As I have said before and I will scream it again...the DLC is not our friend. Never has been and never will be people. To say NAFTA will stop terrorism is fucking outrageous and yes, George Bush-league material. One only needs to look at the economy in Mexico to see that NAFTA hasn't done squat for the common man and woman there. Oh, but the drug cartels are flourishing.
Tags: NAFTA, David Sirota, DLC,
