The War On The Middle Class-by Lou Dobbs

In the 1970's Milton Friedman transformed economics by proving mathematically that Democrats should not interfere with capitalism. He did this by publishing "A Monetary History of The United States." And yet we still have Democrats and Lou Dobbs because, it would seem, intelligence simply does not affect them. One can imagine no other ontogenisis for the strange impenetrability of people like Mr. Dobbs. In traditional terms Dobbs might be called an anti-American, anti-Capitalist Marxist. In modern terms he might be called a Democrat. Yes it's true Democrats are anti-American. A recent Rasmussen poll showed that 77% of Republicans think America is a noble country while only 44% of Democrats do. Perhaps Democrats believe we should have supported Hitler and Saddam rather than killing them? In any case, in Dobbs Democratic dreamland, America is evil, corporations are evil, capitalism itself is evil, and all are opposed to the interests of the middle class which, he generously says, makes up 93% of America.

Dobbs, for starters, is against big CEO paychecks but fails to point out that even if you confiscated those paychecks no significant revenue would be collected and doing so might destroy American business and the entire middle class which he purports to so enthusiastically champion. When Henry Clay Ford recently hired the guy from Boeing to save Ford Motor Co. and its 500,000 middle class jobs he said there were only 2-3 guys in America who might qualify for the job and want it. Would Dobbs really steal some or all of this guy's salary and risk 500,000 jobs and one of America's biggest businesses? Would he belittle people like Bill Gates as undeserving so they then might be inclined to raise their children to become gov't workers rather than ultra capitalist CEOs who earn huge salaries and invent new products that improve the entire world's standard of living? Dobbs is a socialist, collectivist, Marxist - a Democrat, although perhaps he doesn't know it, who is against the very things that make the American economy work so miraculously well. If salaries really are too high wouldn't that make a firm's products too expensive relative to the competition? Should Castro and Dobbs make wild guesses about where to set salary and price levels, or should the individual choices of free consumers in a free market set those levels at a place consistent with improving their standard of living?

Then, he opposes free trade because it forces American workers to compete world wide with workers who often earn far lower wages. He fails to mention that with unemployment at 4.4% Americans are mysteriously competing very very well indeed, that free trade results in enriching Walmart prices for everyone, that the middle class can now afford 70 million Ipods, 100 million cell phones, 10 million plasma TVs, more cars than registered drivers, and 3000 square foot homes, all of which they couldn't buy before free trade or globalization really kicked into gear 10 years ago.

Moreover, he utterly fails to point out how nearly impossible it is for Chinese workers to compete against American workers who are highly educated, highly competitive, highly productive, and have a highly supportive infrastructure and gov't behind them. On balance, American workers do about 20 times better in terms of real wage results. But somehow it is Americans who can't compete against them? Who would want to be a worker in China competing against Americans