"Take this Job and Ship It!" / Rallying Cry for Dem Populism (Book Review

Take This Job and Ship It:How Corporate Greed and Brain Dead Politics Are Selling Out America

A Rallying Cry for Democratic Populism/
Sen. Byron L. Dorgan
Thomas Dunne Books, 288 pp., $24.95

Review by Jeffrey H. Birnbaum -Washington Post

What would happen if the opposition party actually chose to oppose the one in power? Not just on the margins, but by rejecting outright the majority party's fundamental beliefs on trade and tax policy?

Sen. Byron L. Dorgan (D-N.D.) urges Democrats to take on Republicans in just that way in his new book, "Take This Job and Ship It: How Corporate Greed and Brain Dead Politics Are Selling Out America." He makes a politically compelling -- if economically questionable -- case.

Dorgan, a master of partisan rhetoric, puts his debating skills to good use in spinning out anecdotes that make free trade and corporate tax breaks seem cruel to the average citizen. He clearly hopes to instruct fellow Democrats how to ride a populist wave if one were ever to form.

Democrats are deeply divided, of course, about whether to adopt his advice. Many prefer pro-business, pro-trade positions that distinguish them a little from the GOP, but not a lot. A growing number of others, however, are in Dorgan's radical camp. They think the way to finally win is to just say "No."

Depending on how low President Bush's job-approval ratings go, Dorgan might be on to something. His book is worth reading if only to see in detail how a reenergized Democratic Party might act.

Its first tenet would be to buck the economic consensus about the wisdom and inevitability of globalization. Dorgan disparages the elites' blind faith in markets to produce positive financial results. Instead, he concentrates on the human toll that cheap labor has exacted on low- and middle-income families.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/30/AR2006073000552_pf.html

This phrase suddenly became the first sentence of a thousand speeches from members of BOTH parties about 20 years ago.

Instantaneously. Out of the Blue.

And beginning on that day, I began asking - over and over - "Of course" according to whom? When was that decided? And where? What arguments is that conviction based upon? Who attended this ghostly meeting where the "Of course" was established? Did my invitation get lost in the mail?

I still have no clue. The "Of course" was simply not there one day - and then everywhere the next. Overnight. If you are old enough, think back yourself. Did you ever hear anything debated - or recall a meeting somewhere before "Of course, we must Globalize" simply became the opening statement of a thousand speeches, responses to questions or newspaper editorials?

How did the happen?

of their "influence" in the build up to the ramming through of NAFTA. It was thought of as a way to gain jobs for Americans when the economy was struggling before Clinton was elected. The first I was aware of it was with the hearings on Nafta and there were some well respected folks in the financial area to violently opposed it. But, once it passed it became the property of Clinton administration and no one really saw how bad it was because of all the Right Wing attacks on Clinton that started the minute he took his oath of office and when the Repugs took over congress in '94 followed by the Dot Com Bubble which created lots of jobs and a false prosperity...folks didn't seem to care about the jobs that were leaving because it seemed that new ones were replacing them.

I think there's more we don't know about it's origins but I would put my bet on Think Tank policy that was in the works even before Reagan...probably as far back as Carter. :shrug:

:kick: Lou Dobbs (CNN) is giving this book away for letters he reads on the air.

i just watched Dorgan talking about his book and the globalization issue on Washington Journal on C-Span ...

with only one exception, every caller was incredibly supportive of his message ... it's rare to see such a lopsided level of support from callers from all across the political spectrum ...

even the republicans said things like "i disagree with you on many issues but i strongly support you on this" ...

i wish Dorgan would broaden his message about the corporate stranglehold on our government ... he was somewhat supportive but also a little dismissive of a caller who said the real solution to globalization was publically financed campaigns ... the caller's point was that elected officials are so desperate for money that they give away everything to garner support from multi-national corporations ... i also wish he would add lobby reform to his message ...

overall though, tying globalization to the loss of American jobs, the exporting of jobs where companies are given tax breaks, immigration policy that just voted to bring 4.7 million new immigrants to the US to take American jobs and our inability to domestically build much of our defense infrastructure, Dorgan has a powerful, populist message that would strongly resonate with the American people ...

i've seen many, many posts on DU about how the Democratic Party has "sold out" to the corporate agenda ... these posts are filled with hatred ... the Party has a decision to make right now about whether to place Dorgan's message dead center on the Party's platform or let it just wallow in obscurity ... it's time for the Democratic Party to choose which team they're on ... either they are on the side of workers and realize we are draining away America's economic engine via globalization and we are selling America's soul for greedy shareholder returns or they are on the side of the big corporations ...

if Democrats pick the right team and do it immediately, that just-out-of-reach LANDSLIDE we're all hoping for and working for this November might be a very real possibility ...

Dorgan received a lot of supportive callers, even from Republicans. You're right welshTerrier2. Dorgan's message is what Americans want to hear. Come on Party heads and get on board with Byron.

If they try to use it this cycle it will only serve to reinforce the "not a nickels worth of difference" view.

about on Amazon or the local Library. Kick for Dorgan!

It's a huge populist issue, and the impetus for change has to come from the people. No politician from any party should escape being asked about this often.

The impetus must come from the people, because without it the Corporate-Beholden Dems will NOT take it up.

Witness our hero Big Dog Bill and wanna-be Big...Hill and CAFTA/NAFTA.