Free Trade

There is a cruel economic hoax being played on millions of American workers, a hoax that unfortunately is being promoted by too many Democrats. The hoax is this: that workers who lose their jobs to so-called "free trade" can simply be retrained to do something else that will be a...

As we are opening our country up to more imports made without any regard to product safety standards, we are weakening our domestic systems that are supposed to protect us against hazardous products and chemicals (this is the subject of my upcoming nationally syndicated weekly newspaper column).

Beyond the...

The Financial Times headline this morning says it all: "Edwards' Attack on Peru Deal Shifts Debate." The story summarizes John Edwards (D) announcement that he is opposing not only the Peru Free Trade Agreement, but the entire package of White House-backed deals...

Aside from the Iraq war, nothing is more important in this election than where the next president will stand on how the rules will be set in the economy, particularly when it comes to trade. There is no greater threat to average Americans--a greater threat than the budget deficit,...

In an American political culture dominated by mindless free-trade and free-market fundamentalism, we have all heard the arguments against economic populism. Conservatives tell us that any effort to force corporations to behave properly is "anti-business" and will result in harm to our economy. Traditional, old-school liberals often avoid power-challenging policies...

Within 24 hours this week, two different consumer watchdog groups gave the American public completely contradictory information about home lead test kits.

President George W. Bush's Consumer Product Safety Commission told us to throw away those untrustworthy kits, sit on our hands and blindly trust the government to...

On the soundtrack of the documentary Life and Debt, about the impact of the World Bank and the IMF in Jamaica, there's a song by Jamaican dub poet Mutabaruka that contains this line: "American farmers get the upper hand/while our farmers [are] going one to one." Watch the movie,...

Note: If you are tired of major issues like this getting no coverage in the face of a media blackout and thus you would like to see my nationally syndicated column in your local paper, see the bottom of this post on what to do to make that happen. -...

What's worse than a "do-nothing" Democratic Congress?

A Democratic Congress that can't deliver a timetable for Iraq withdrawal for its anti-war base, but wants to deliver a corporate trade deal for Wall Street.

Some Democratic leaders are trying to pass a trade agreement with Peru that would...

Let's be very clear. A vicious and premeditated class warfare is being waged today against the American middle class. Poverty is increasing and tens of millions are working longer hours for lower wages. Meanwhile, the richest people have not had it so good since the 1920s, and the gap between...

The Wall Street Journal has an interview today with George Bush that gives great insight into the disinformation, lies and, charitably, cognitive dissonance that underpins the Administration's economic policy.

"We have lost sight of what it means to be a nation willing to be aggressive in the world,...

[originally published in Washington Post, Outlook section Sunday, October 7, 2007; Page B03]

In the global economy, today's winners can become tomorrow's losers in a twinkling, and vice versa. Not so long ago, American pundits and economic analysts were snidely touting U.S. economic superiority to the...

The 2006 Congressional elections were a turning point for U.S. trade policy. One issue that helped Democrats retake the Congress was a renewed sense of distrust among the electorate of our government's trade policy, which is commonly mislabeled as "free trade." President Bush has lost his "fast track" authority to...

Following his announcement yesterday that he will be supporting Wall Street's push to expand NAFTA into Peru, Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) has embarked on a campaign of misdirection - ironically (or perhaps, predictably) similar to the original campaign of deception that marked the original debate over NAFTA.

Here is...

Hot off the presses from MSNBC:

"Obama said he would vote for a Peruvian trade agreement next week, in response to a question from a man in Londonderry, NH who called NAFTA and CAFTA a disaster for American workers. He said he supported the trade agreement with Peru because...

Back in 2005, our Congress trampled the majority of Americans who opposed the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) and passed the pact with the strong backing of K Street lobbyists. This was a victory of the Money Party over the People Party - of buypartisanship over...

This is huge: Republican voters are now overwhelmingly opposed to so-called "free trade." Not surprising but really a potential goldmine for Democrats--if they have the foresight and courage to seize it. We are talking about a possible major realignment based on economic issues.

Let me talk first about the...