April 3, 2008

Lou Dobbs and Susan Schwab: Clear Winner

CNN has posted the transcript of Lou Dobbs Tonight from Wednesday featuring Dobbs' interview with U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab, urging enactment of the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement. An illuminating exchange, both as to the facts of the agreement and to Dobbs' rhetorical tricks.

You look at the strongest, most positive point in the U.S. economy today, it's U.S. exports. 40 percent of our economic growth last year was attributable to the increase in exports. So, here you got this deal with Colombia we negotiated and you can throw a lot of aggregate numbers about jobs and trade, we put this together one deal at a time and this deal even Lou Dobbs should like.

Right now, Colombia gets almost unlimited access to the U.S. market. 92 percent of what Colombia produces has been coming in here duty-free since 1991. This free trade agreement opens Colombia's market to our exports. And that means Caterpillar Tractors. It means John Deer equipment in Illinois. It means Sony televisions.

DOBBS: Coca-cola.

SCHWAB: Sony televisions out of Pennsylvania, apples, poultry, rice.

DOBBS: Sony televisions out of Pennsylvania?

SCHWAB: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania shipped to Colombia. We have today 8,000 small and medium sized businesses that ship to Columbia. Right now, they face tariffs up to 35 percent. Here's the key. If we're going to be competitive vis-a-vis China, for example, those 8,000 small, medium-sized companies are competing with the Chinese for the Colombian market. If this free trade agreement goes through, we have the edge. We are more competitive.

Etc. The case wins on its merits. Which means that Dobbs then switches the debate to generalities.

DOBBS: What I don't agree is the overall policy of free trade that has been pursued by this administration and previous administration and point of fact since 1976 is in the interests of the United States. We've run 32 consecutive years of trade deficits. We need to get a handle on what is a sensible trade policy.

This nonsense, as this administration has advanced it even before you were trade representative, I would say that Mr. Market is, you know, Mr. Market's happy, we're all happy. That is such utter nonsense in international trade, in international finance, in our domestic economy.

We are going to be paying for those misjudgments for years and future generations for years if we don't come to terms with it. Why can we not have a rational, balanced mutual reciprocal trade policy?

Populist generalities.

And would Dobbs prefer a Mr. Market that's not happy? A dour, glum market that retreats into itself?

P.S. As always, thanks to CNN for posting its transcripts. CNN does a fine job in speedy, accurate posting of its programs' transcripts, a service that certainly brings this reader back to its pages. The other cable news networks could learn from its example.

Posted by Carter Wood at 8:26 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

April 2, 2008

Lou Dobbs, What a Class Act

Lou Dobbs had U.S. Trade Representative Susan C. Schwab on his program tonight to talk about the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement. His opening gambit:

Free trade. It sucks and I have been saying that for years.

We'll have more once CNN posts the transcript.

Posted by Carter Wood at 11:02 PM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

January 24, 2008

Dobbs Roots for Recession

Because populism thrives on pain. From his CNN commentary.

And let's be honest and straightforward, as I hope our president and the candidates for president will be: This stimulus will not prevent a recession. It may ease the pain for millions of Americans, but a recession we will have. The question is how deep, how prolonged and how painful will it be. Unfortunately, we're about to find out how committed and capable our national leaders are at mitigating that pain and producing realistic policy decisions for this nation that now stands at the brink.

Why not go for full-blown depression, Lou? That would really prove you right.

Meanwhile, the Lou Dobbs for President movement continues to generate delusions, self- and otherwise. William Lemke would approve.

Posted by Carter Wood at 7:24 AM | 2 comments; click here to read them or submit your own! | Send to a Friend

December 14, 2007

Lou "Shermanesque" Dobbs in Detroit

Michael Barone says Lou Dobbs might run for President? So reports Newsbusters.org. You know he just wants the attention.

We note that Detroit Free Press business columnist Carol Cain interviewed the CNN personality during his recent trip to Michigan. So what about that presidential buzz? Dobbs:

"I'm an advocacy journalist," he said. "I cannot imagine being a candidate for any office and certainly not president..."

Phew. Thanks, Lou, for finally dispelling all that political blather (no offense, Mr. Barone), which appeared to be nothing more than reporters stroking an uncontrolled ego.

But, wait, Dobbs had something else to add? "I would be the candidate of last resort."

Aww, ick. He's still autostroking.

Elsewhere, more keen political insight from the CNN pundit:

On Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm: "I think she is terrific and is one of the most engaged and capable chief executives of any state in the union. She's facing more challenges than any other governor in this country. I give her high marks in a difficult job."

From the New York Times political blog back in October:

Unemployment in Michigan is 7.4 percent, the highest in the country, where the average is 4.6 percent. And the size of the labor force keeps shrinking.

Out of desperation, Jennifer Granholm, Michigan’s Democratic recently signed an increase of 11.5 percent in the income tax and expanded the state’s 6 percent sales tax to include some business services.

Engaged...capable...desperate.

Posted by Carter Wood at 4:03 PM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

November 27, 2007

David Brooks: Lou Dobbs is Winning

"Follow the Fundamentals," Brooks writes in today's New York Times.

So it’s worth pointing out now more than ever that Dobbsianism is fundamentally wrong. It plays on legitimate anxieties, but it rests at heart on a more existential fear — the fear that America is under assault and is fundamentally fragile. It rests on fears that the America we once knew is bleeding away.

And that’s just not true.

Brooks cites the World Economic Forum's recent report that ranked the United States as the most globally competitive country in the world, saying the foundation's of U.S. prosperity are strong.

P.S. Good thing the Times dropped its subscription wall putting Brooks and his editorial page colleagues off-limits to general readers. Hurry up, Wall Street Journal!

Posted by Carter Wood at 3:11 PM | 3 comments; click here to read them or submit your own! | Send to a Friend

November 7, 2007

Third Way: Making the Case for Trade, II

Third Way has now posted its news release and report, "Why Lou Dobbs is Winning," released at a Capitol Hill news conference today. It's a very helpful contribution to the public debate, especially for those who understand the economic and empirical arguments about trade's value, but who also recognize the powerful political, activist and media forces (e.g. Dobbs) aligned against the openness and opportunity that trade represents. Politicians respond to those forces, so trade advocates have to make compelling counterarguments.

The report identifies three reasons for the failings of trade supporters:

A failure of vision. Free trade has succeeded when it has been linked to compelling causes, such as winning the Cold War. Today, the overall goal of US engagement in the world is far less clear.

Values trump data. Opponents of free trade appeal to values like “fairness” and “justice,” while proponents rely on data and opaque economic theory.

An anxious middle-class. Trade proponents have not offered policies that help restore confidence to a middle-class that has been profoundly shaken by the negative impacts of globalization.

In many ways, the report reads like a good campaign or marketing document: We have a strong case and a great product, now let's help the consumer appreciate the value. There are many, many manufacturing workers in America earning very good livings right now thanks to U.S. exports. We need to tell their stories with more vigor and frequency.

In addition, Third Way calls for policies that address the economic anxieties that give rise to anti-trade sentiment. We can debate the particulars -- although the emphasis on education, investment and innovation is definitely well-placed -- but the need to engage is beyond doubt.

So good work and good timing, as Congress gets ready to act on the free trade agreements with Peru and then Colombia and Panama (and eventually Korea).

Posted by Carter Wood at 4:07 PM | 1 comment; click here to read it or submit your own! | Send to a Friend

The Third Way: Making the Case for Trade

From The Politico:

“Today free trade is in free fall,” writes the centrist Democrat group Third Way in a report entitled “Why Lou Dobbs Is Winning,” to be released Wednesday.

The report’s authors target Dobbs, CNN’s resident populist anchor and commentator, as typical of a growing backlash against trade. And they fault the free trade community for allowing public perception of their efforts to become so negative.

“Our policies and arguments in defense of trade have stayed static in the last few decades — even as the world around us has changed dramatically,” write Anne Kim, John Lageson and Jim Kessler of Third Way.

Now, we like to mock Lou Dobbs as much as the next blog. (Obviously. We have a blog category, "Dobbs Watch.") Dobbs IS a classic blowhard and populist bully, and on free trade he's wrong. And yes, he has a big megaphone. But we also worry about lending him too much influence. He's not why free trade is suffering as an issue.

The rise of anti-trade sentiment is a complex one, but certainly electoral politics play a key role. Organized labor's place in the economy has slipped dramatically as membership numbers fall (7.4 percent of private sector workforce is unionized) and global competition and technology place a premium on flexibility and adaptability -- not labor's strengths. But labor still wields tremendous political influence through organization and its millions of dollars in campaign spending. With many Democrats frustrated at being out of power in Congress for a decade, the organizational and financial support of labor (as well as anti-war "netroots" and leftwing activists) became irresistable. And labor has just a few demands.

How are cool economic arguments about the benefits of trade, no matter how persuasive AND empirical, supposed to overcome that bald political self-interest?

Chicken/egg, we know. Which came first, the unpopularity of trade or the rising political influence of anti-trade forces? After reading economist Bryan Caplan's "Myth of the Rational Voter: Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies" we're inclined to think the former -- that with an anti-market, anti-foreign bias, voters tend to oppose trade. It takes hard work by advocates and political leaders to overcome that bias, to win the arguments on behalf of prosperity and trade. And when the leaders bail out because of electoral self-interest, the work becomes even harder.

More about Third Way later.

Posted by Carter Wood at 9:58 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

October 19, 2007

CEA's Shapiro to Dobbs on Trade: Let's Debate!

All hail Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association, for challenging protectionism and its most prominent agent in the media world, Lou Dobbs. The CEA's news release this week speaks for itself, and in a pretty hard-hitting fashion, too:

CEA TACKLES FEAR MONGERING ON TRADE
CEA’s Gary Shapiro Challenges Protectionist Cable News Personality to Free Trade Debate

Calling international trade a vital component of the nation’s economy, Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)® President and CEO Gary Shapiro today announced a campaign to challenge protectionism. Shapiro also decried the unbalanced support of protectionism expounded by certain opponents of international trade, such as CNN’s Lou Dobbs, and challenged the CNN anchor to a live debate on his show.

In an October 2007 poll of more than 10,000 Americans conducted by Zogby International for CEA:

Seventy-eight percent believe a television news anchor who speaks out against international trade while his network promotes his program overseas and garners foreign advertising revenue can be labeled a “hypocrite”; and

Among those who had an opinion, a 2:1 ratio of respondents say criticizing international trade sends the wrong message that the U.S isn’t good enough to compete globally, and that it fears foreign competition.

“The facts are indisputable—without international trade, our nation would not have the greatest economy in the world,” said Shapiro. “If we accept messages of fear without acknowledging the facts, we will adopt a defeatist approach that will only hurt our economy and the innovative businesses and talented workers that would otherwise bring more jobs and opportunities to Americans than ever before.”

Shapiro issued a direct challenge to Dobbs to present his viewers with a balanced view of international trade. “I am prepared to debate Lou Dobbs live on his CNN show,” Shapiro said. “His anti-trade comments on his cable show and his refusal to grant equal time to opposing viewpoints are inconsistent with CNN’s great legacy as a pioneering news network. We are hopeful that CNN will wish to retain its credibility and allow equal time for pro-free trade viewpoints.

Really, don't see how Dobbs and CNN can refuse Shapiro's challenge without appearing....unfair and lacking confidence. That's a polite way of saying it.

Thanks a lot to Sean Garrett at The 463: Inside Tech Policy blog for bringing the CEA's challenge to our attention. He has a fun post with videos, background and more on Dobbs' many anti-trade blusteries. The 463 even resurrects a 2005 NAM blog post with a photo-caption contest over Dobbs' appearance in a clean room. For a caption, Sean suggests: ""Sorry, Mr. Dobbs, that life-saving medical device can't be used. It was created in Japan."

And good luck, Mr. Shapiro. We'll be rooting for you.

Posted by Carter Wood at 12:19 PM | 1 comment; click here to read it or submit your own! | Send to a Friend

October 1, 2007

Some Call Him the Space Cowboy

James Wolcott at Vanity Fair profiles Lou Dobbs. Hard to tell, but we think it's a positive review.

If Lou Dobbs were any more full of himself, the tub would overflow. In the autumn resplendence of his telecasting career, Dobbs's self-regard, never meek or slender, has ripened into the pompatus of love. I am Lou, hear me moo, in numbers too big to eschew. It isn't just that the ratings for CNN's starship enterprise Lou Dobbs Tonight have been climbing while those of other cable news shows are being intubated, but that his force of personality and power of persuasion have elevated him to the status of a major public-opinion shaper—a heavy-lumber political slugger. If he were a Robert Ludlum hero, this chapter of his life could be called "The Dobbs Supremacy."

Hat tip: James Taranto, OpinionJournal.com, who cites the piece for his "metaphor alert" feature.

Posted by Carter Wood at 3:03 PM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

June 27, 2007

Lou Dobbs, the Sports Metaphor

The NBA draft is tomorrow evening, and ESPN's Bill Simmons and Chad Ford run their mock draft in this entertaining piece. Simmons trashes Yi Jianlian, the 7 foot Chinese small forward, provoking this response from Ford:

Chad: Has there ever been an international player you did like, Bill? You're the Lou Dobbs of NBA sportswriters. I'm waiting for your new book "War on American Hoops."

Too bad they can't build a wall around every NBA arena.

Bill: I'm very xenophobic when it comes to the NBA draft -- too many foreign guys have bombed miserably, everyone underestimates the cultural adjustment. For every Nowitzki, there's been four Darkos. For every Tony Parker, there's been four Beno Udrihs. We overrate the younger foreigners, even though they're playing against crappy competition, and we underrate the older foreigners (like Oberto, Hermann, Garbajosa and others), even though they're tough and know how to play the game. I don't get it. What a screwed-up league.

Which is why we stick to supporting H-1B basketball visas. For the most skilled.

But anyway, how interesting to see Dobbs emerge as a cultural point of reference. Not since Father Coughlin (who was really foul prone)...

Posted by Carter Wood at 5:30 PM | 3 comments; click here to read them or submit your own! | Send to a Friend

June 18, 2007

Lou Dobbs and Bobby Hill: Separated at Birth?

Sometimes humor is the most effective weapon against demagoguery and nobody is better at it than Gene Weingarten, who writes a weekly humor column for The Washington Post Magazine. For his June 17 column, Weingarten chose a most appropriate target – Lou Dobbs.

Weingarten acknowledges that once upon a time, Dobbs was "an actual newsman," but then he realized he could get a lot more attention by ranting and raving. "Like a pigeon in a box who gets rewarded with a corn kernel every time he flaps a designated wing, Lou was soon just one big madly flapping right wing."

Weingarten has a lot of fun with Lou’s penchant for nonsense and rigged polls, but my description of the column doesn’t do it justice. Go take a look for yourself.

Posted by Hank Cox at 10:26 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

May 30, 2007

Lou Dobbs Caught in the Act of Deceit

There is a wonderful and long overdue expose of Lou Dobbs in today’s New York Times by David Leonhardt. It begins with Lou’s preposterous claim, that he defended in an interview with Leslie Stahl on the CBS program “Sixty Minutes,” that there had been 7,000 cases of leprosy reported in the U.S. in the last three years. When Stahl challenged him, Lou said, “If we reported it, it’s a fact.” In reality, there have been 7,000 cases of leprosy reported in the last 30 years, not three. Leonhardt also cited Dobbs’ claim that a third of the inmates in the federal prison system are illegal immigrants. Actually, illegal immigrants comprise 6 percent of the federal prison population.

But then, it would take a lot of space to document all of the bogus claims aired by Lou Dobbs. Or as Leonhardt put it, “Mr. Dobbs has a somewhat flexible relationship with reality.” Man does he ever.

Posted by Hank Cox at 1:57 PM | 3 comments; click here to read them or submit your own! | Send to a Friend

May 8, 2007

Dobbs Watch: Facts? Who Needs Facts?

Those of you who caught our buddy Lou's interview on "60 Minutes" last Sunday heard more than a few whoppers. In the course of a long profile/interview with Leslie Stahl, Dobbs calls himself an "advocacy journalist," whatever the hell that means.

But the best part of the interview for non-fans like us who regularly point out Lou's non-obsession with the facts, was an exchange with Stahl where she notes that in the course of a story on illegal immigrant carrying diseases into the US, Dobbs minion Christine Romans says there were 7,000 cases of leprosy in the US in the past 3 years. Says Stahl, "60 Minutes checked that and found a report issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, saying that 7,000 is the number of leprosy cases over the last 30 years, not the past three. The report also says that nobody knows how many of those cases involve illegal immigrants." (Emphasis ours). This exchange then ensues:

"We went to try and check that number, 7,000. We can't...," Stahl says.

"Well, I can tell you this. If we reported it, it's a fact," Dobbs replies.

"You can't tell me that. You did report it," Stahl says.

"I just did," Dobbs says.

"How can you guarantee that to me?" Stahl asks.

Says Dobbs, "Because I'm the managing editor. And that's the way we do business. We don't make up numbers, Lesley."

Wow. Let's let the arrogance linger in the air just a bit, shall we...?

But that's not all. In the end of the interview, there's this back and forth on whether Lou is a journalist, which of course everyone knows he's not. Imagine an interview with a guy claiming he's Elvis. Same-same:

STAHL: I'm sitting here saying to myself, `This man runs a news show?'

Mr. DOBBS: Hmm. I do.

STAHL: And you can just tell me you don't like the president. Whoo.

Mr. DOBBS: I, matter of fact, insist that the audience know where I come from.

STAHL: What about fair and balanced?

Mr. DOBBS: I've never, Lesley, found the truth to be fair and balanced. I found it to be...

STAHL: But that's--but wait, what's the definition of "journalism?" That that's in there.

Mr. DOBBS: I...

STAHL: That has to be part of what a journalist is, is fair and balanced.

Mr. DOBBS: I truly believe there's a nonpartisian, independent reality. But more of the same...

STAHL: But it's your reality.

Mr. DOBBS: It is my reality.

STAHL: But it's not the reality.

Mr. DOBBS: Well, how so?

We've been tracking Lou's many foibles for nigh on two years now. He plays fast and loose with the facts, is johnny-one-note and at least as far as trade is concerned is just flat wrong on so many fronts. That hasn't stopped him -- far from it -- and it hasn't stopped CNN from giving him a platform for his ill-informed point of view. Hopefully exposure of the kind he got on Sunday from "60 Minutes" will further reinforce in the public's mind how far he'll go for ratings -- far beyond the truth.

Who needs facts, indeed?

Posted by at 7:47 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

May 6, 2007

Running for President on the Fist-Pounding Ticket

Lou Dobbs for president, eh? Well, there's always room for an angry populist to stoke the fires of protectionism and the class struggle.

True, most of the celebrities like Dobbs who talk about running for office are more interested in gratifying huge egos and boosting sales of whatever they're selling at the moment. Remember Warren Beatty's run? Donald Trump, a CEO for the Oval Office? Jesse Ventura?

At least a Dobbs' candidacy would invite some scrutiny, accountability, for the contradictions and economic illiteracy he spouts. And surely it would pose at least a minor political conundrum to Democrats who share his views, folks like Senators Byron Dorgan or Sherrod Brown, for example: Support the cause or the party?

Although, why go for a copy when the original is available? Eugene V. Debs for President!

(Hat tip: Glenn Reynolds.)

Posted by Carter Wood at 1:19 PM | 7 comments; click here to read them or submit your own! | Send to a Friend

April 24, 2007

Dobbs Watch: Half the Story

Thanks to our blog buddy Kevin Meyer for passing along this post from the Skeptical Optimist blog entitled, "Destroying jobs, and creating them," pointing out that Lou Dobbs is consistent in telling about half the story. The entry talks about the "creative destruction" that is the American economy, still the envy of the world. We have pointed this out frequently, but this is a slightly different take. Every year we lose and create jobs in this country. The trick is to create more than we lose, and we have pretty consistently done that.

There are also some good charts in this post that show the job creation that has taken place. So while it's popular to believe that jobs are being shipped offshore, the truth -- as with so much "conventional wisdom" these days -- is quite the opposite. Jobs are being lost and created right here in the US of A.

Posted by at 7:40 AM | 1 comment; click here to read it or submit your own! | Send to a Friend

March 28, 2007

On Capitol Hill Today: Demagogue-O-Rama

"The problem with this city," former Sen. Bob Dole once cracked, "Is that the second demagogue doesn't stand a chance." Today, the demagogues will converge on Capitol Hill, represented by their spiritual leader -- and our pal -- Lou Dobbs.

That's right, TV personality and demagogue Lou Dobbs is testifiying on Capitol Hill. "On what topic?" you might ask. Demagoguery? How to turn good news into bad news? How to twist data to fit your own ends? How to ignore years of economics training at Harvard in shameless pursuit of ratings?

Nope. Lou is coming to testify before the House Foreign Affairs Committee's Subcommittee on -- get this -- Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade. Guess they didn't have one on demagoguery. The topic is, "Trade, Foreign Policy and the American Worker," vaguely fitting under the expansive jurisdiction of this committee. Funny, we thought the Ways and Means Committee handled trade. Truth is, Charlie Rangel is too smart to allow his committee to be used as a platform for a commentator with an ax to grind.

We'll keep you posted on what Lou says, but just as a wild guess, we're figuring he'll continue to weave his yarn about the war on the middle class and continue to blame trade agreements for our trade deficit. He's mostly wrong on the first point and flat wrong on the second (just check out this chart, if you don't believe us), but as we always say, never let the facts get in the way of a good story -- or your ratings.

Posted by at 8:07 AM | 5 comments; click here to read them or submit your own! | Send to a Friend

February 22, 2007

Globalization About to Hit Alabama or Louisiana

ThyssenKrupp, the $61 billion (US) German company, announced yesterday that it has narrowed its search for a new US plant site to Louisiana and Alabama. They are looking to build a $2.9 billion state-of-the-art steel and stainless steel manufacturing and processing facility in one of those two states. This would be the second-largest investment in a new industrial project in the US since 2002.

In the US alone, ThyssenKrupp employs about 25,000 employees, with annual sales of $9.7 billion. This plant will eventually employ about 2,700 people, but the construction phase will require almost 30,000 jobs. According to this company fact sheet, "the new U.S. plant will be a cornerstone of the company's NAFTA strategy." (Emphasis ours)

We will keep you posted on their eventual decision, but while the Dobbs-ians rail about "globalization", they always seem to forget that the door of investment swings both ways. They also forget that NAFTA opened markets for US-made goods and attracted foreign investment, as here. The challenge is to continue to create a climate in this country that attracts manufacturing. We do that by addressing the 32% cost disadvantage we have with our global competitors.

We've written in this space before about the positive impact of globalization on Indiana -- twice -- South Carolina, Georgia and the US at large. The planned ThyssenKrupp project is yet another reminder of the benefits of free and open trade.

Bring it on.

Posted by at 7:48 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

February 9, 2007

'Lou Dobbs is Wrong: America's Manufacturing Revival'

This morning at the Progressive Policy Institute there will be a panel by the above title, featuring a paper -- also by the same title -- by the PPI's Ed Gresser. According to the promotional flyer, here is the thrust of Gresser's thesis:

"'Populist' worries blend empathy for American workers and their families with broader fears that trade with China and other low-income rivals is 'deindustrializing' America as factories either close or move to low-wage havens. A new paper by PPI's Ed Gresser, entitled, 'Lou Dobbs is Wrong: America's Manufacturing Revival,' argues that the empathy is justified, but the fear is mainly myth. America's factories are in far better shape, he says, than most realize. Low-wage competition or not, the U.S. share of world manufacturing is stable, exports are soaring, and factories produce more than ever before."

Our own economist, Chi Nguyen, will be attending and will give us a full report. We'll fill you in as soon as we get the details, but it sounds like they're on the right track.

Posted by at 7:38 AM | 4 comments; click here to read them or submit your own! | Send to a Friend

January 17, 2007

'Wanted: A Pro-Capitalist Media'

Here's a link to a great piece by the above title by our friend and fellow blogger Pejman Yousefzadeh over on RedState.com about our buddy Lou Dobbs. Says Pejman, "Lou Dobbs needs some competition in the realm of ideas. And the rest of us would benefit from seeing his ideas challenged and beaten back."

Hey, Pej, we'd like to think we're the competition. But then, we don't have a satellite.Yet.

Posted by at 7:23 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

January 5, 2007

'An Open Letter to Lou Dobbs'

Only got about 100 e-mails on this today and no, we didn't miss it -- thanks.

Here's "An Open Letter to Lou Dobbs" from Don Boudreaux, Chairman of the Economics Department at George Mason University, posted over at the Cafe Hayek blog and reprinted in the Christian Science Monitor. Says Boudreaux:

"Every night on CNN...You thunder that imports destroy American jobs, reduce wages, and make the economy perilously 'unbalanced.' But you are mistaken."

He goes on to enumerate some stunning and persuasive statistics on Dobbs' oft-lamented middle class, proving that things ain't all that bad. On trade, there's this:

"[Adam] Smith correctly understood that with free trade, the economy becomes larger than any one nation - a fact that brings more human creativity, more savings, more capital, more specialization, more opportunity, more competition, and a higher standard of living to all those who can freely trade."

Yeah, we knew that. All in all, a good read. We'd recommend it. Looks like George Mason trumps a Harvard grad on basic economics.

Posted by at 8:03 AM | 4 comments; click here to read them or submit your own! | Send to a Friend

December 20, 2006

'Lou Dobbs Issues Warning to Santa'

It's come to this.

Here's a very funny tongue-in-cheek piece from Newsweek's Andy Borowitz on our favorite demagogue, Lou, wagging a finger at Santa, warning him not to cross the border on Christmas Eve. "To our knowledge, Santa Claus is a resident of the North Pole and therefore is doing business in the United States as an undocumented worker," says Borowitz-as-Dobbs.

He goes on: "Dobbs also pressed Congress to open a "Full investigation' into the country of origin of the gift items in Santa Claus' sack. 'We have reason to believe that Santa's sack is full of cheap gift items manufactured in China, only adding to America's already burgeoning trade deficit,' the CNN anchor said."

Click here to read the full article. Thanks to Steve Peterson of Obiter Dicta for sending along.

Bah humbug!

Posted by at 7:16 AM | 4 comments; click here to read them or submit your own! | Send to a Friend

December 19, 2006

Dobbs Thin-Skinned?

As you may know, our buddy Lou Dobbs drifted down to sunny Tampa last week for one of his infamous whip-'em-up town hall meetings. And so local commentator, pundit -- and blogger -- Eric Deggans who writes "The Feed" for TampaBay.com decided to get a phone interview with Lou.

Unfortunately for Deggans, it turned out poorly. Seems he had the temerity to ask Lou a few tough questions about the Ken Auletta profile we noted here a week or so ago. (A profile, incidentally which seems to have "borrowed" our transcript of the Tom Friedman on Lou Dobbs comment -- without attribution. Tsk!). In any event, Deggans asked Lou about that article and apparently Dobbs took great umbrage and began insulting Deggans.

In response to comments on Deggans' blog, he reports that Lou said things to him like, "I thought you were a better journalist than that." or "Ask me a question that makes some sense." Or "That's just dishonest...you're absolutely being dishonest." Funny, these are all the questions that rational minds have had for Lou since he went from being a business reporter to populist jihadist.

Could it be that Lou can dish it out but can't take it? Gosh, we hope not. That would be terrible for his ratings.

Posted by at 7:49 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

December 17, 2006

Opinion Makers Muster Contra Dobbs

Interesting. Seems like the tides of opinion-making have turned against Lou Dobbs.

The past month or so has seen numerous articles and columns that take on the populist pronouncements of the CNN personality, pieces in newspapers and magazines that span the political spectrum. (See Shopfloor.org covererage here.)

The latest to weigh in is Rich Lowry, editor of The National Review, in an article that focuses on the political context of Dobbs' fulminating (as opposed to the media-criticism angle): The Apocalyptic Centrism of Lou Dobbs.

There are various ways to tap into public disgust with partisan politics as usual. One is with a tonal centrism. That is what is offered by Barack Obama, a liberal who presents himself with a tone of sweet reason. Then there is a technocratic centrism: the bland, policy-oriented politics of the sort former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner would have offered Democrats had he run for president. Finally, there's an apocalyptic centrism, spiced up with paranoia and economic ignorance, and warning of the end of America as we know it. Think Ross Perot.

Dobbs is in the Perot tradition. He has taken Dennis Kucinich, Pat Buchanan, and a dash of John Bolton, thrown them into a blender and come up with a worldview that is nationalist and populist, while giving both of those things a bad name.

Boy, that's a lot of dissing in a couple of paragraphs.

Lowry goes on to refute Dobbs' usual erroneus facts and dark pronouncements. Lowry's article also prompts some on-point e-mail commentary in The Corner here and here.

No grand conclusion being drawn here, other than to observe that perhaps Dobbs has simply gained enough prominence that his anti-capitalist schtick is earning the scrutiny it always warranted. (And, ahem, was provided early and often here from the Blogger-in-Chief.)

Posted by Carter Wood at 7:54 AM | 10 comments; click here to read them or submit your own! | Send to a Friend

December 10, 2006

Dobbs Watch Update

Two more articles about Lou to report, sent to us of late by some of his, uh, non-fans. The first is by Daniel Henninger, deputy editor of the Wall Street Journal, who says:

"Old admirers [of Lou] are aghast. It's as if whatever made Linda Blair's head spin around in 'The Exorcist' had invaded the body of Lou Dobbs and left him with the brain of Dennis Kucinich. No public figure has moved so far left so fast since the transfiguration of Arianna Huffington."

The piece is subtitled, "The good thing about his demagoguery: It can't be taken seriously," and notes as we have in this space many times that Lou -- a Harvard-trained economist -- is an entertainer, in it for the ratings. Bully for him.

The other piece is from Barron's, and is written by Gene Epstein. He points out some statistical legerdemain in Lou's book, twisting some numbers to draw a conclusion more in line with his dogma. Says Epstein, "It's time to call Dobbs' economic demagogy what it is."

Posted by at 8:49 AM | 2 comments; click here to read them or submit your own! | Send to a Friend

December 9, 2006

Lou Dobbs, On a Xenophobic High

We had nodded off apparently when Lou called us out on his show on Wednesday night. Thanks to the folks over at the Business and Media Institute for calling our attention to it.

Lou said that an "NAM spokesman" (we're not sure who yet) "Admits American manufacturers have a lot of problems. Then seemingly says, Don't worry." Not sure we've ever said that. We've said we should worry plenty about the self-imposed costs we are putting on ourselves, giving us a 33% cost disadvantage with our competitors. Then Lou went on to rant, "NAM wouldn't mind if foreign manufacturers owned 98 percent of the American market, so long as it is expanding. That's precisely the kind of mindless, faith-based free trade nonsense that's landed the country in the mess we're in."

Good God, get a grip, man!

What we've said -- from the data (anybody care about the data?) -- is that the Bureau of Labor Statistics says that about 42,000 jobs (out of a workforce of about 150 million) have been "offshored." By comparison, we know from the Organization for International Investment that over 5 million jobs have been created by so-called "foreign" companies doing business in the US.

Furthermore, 70 percent of U.S. "multinational" company production is right here in the U.S. Only 27 percent takes place overseas -- for foreign consumption- - and only 3 percent is produced overseas for shipment back to the U.S. Kinda blows a hole in the xenophobic view that it's all gone to China to be manufactured and shipped back here, doesn't it?

In any event, we're always glad when Lou brings a little more attention to our great organization. We've long since given up on any hope that he'd be limited by the facts. But we are happy to be -- especially when they're so heavily weighted on our side, as here.

Posted by at 8:21 AM | 4 comments; click here to read them or submit your own! | Send to a Friend

December 2, 2006

Lou Dobbs on Manufacturing

Kitty Pilgrim, sitting on for Lou Dobbs, had a pretty gloomy piece on manufacturing last night. In fairness, they did correctly note that they invited our Chairman on the program and correctly noted that he couldn't do it because of a scheduling conflict (hard to get CEO's on very short notice, as everyone knows), but the piece was factually wrong in several respects. There were a few lefty commentators on there, however, who made points with which we would agree. Among them:

Robert Scott of the union-backed Economic Policy Institute said, "So if we want to create goods jobs in this country, keeping the manufacturing sector vital is key to doing that." He's right about that.

Bob Baugh of the AFL-CIO's Industrial Union Council, said, "Most people have thought of what's going on here for the last number of years as ... oh, it's just those people with those low- end factory jobs. It's not. It's very skilled workers in our manufacturing facilities." He's also correct .

Alan Tonelson of the US Business and Industry Council, credible to Lou and few others, is chronically wrong in his "trade is bad" comments throughout. Kitty Pilgrim closed the segment by saying, "The value of the dollar has fallen sharply against other currencies this week, particularly against the euro and the yen... The major reason for the trade deficit is the commitment of successive administrations to so-called free trade policies. Those policies have allowed imports from cheap, overseas labor markets to flood into the country." This is not correct.

The truth is that the weaker dollar actually makes US goods cheaper overseas, so US-manufactured products are cheaper for folks to buy in Europe and Asia. Them's just the facts, so the Dobbsians have it exactly backwards. Trade agreements open markets to our goods and the lower dollar makes them cheaper to buy. Hard for some to get their brains around apparently, but it's true.

We'll say it again: If Lou Dobbs really wants to talk about what's bedeviling US manufacturers, he need look no further than the 33% cost disadvantage vs. our competitors in areas like legal costs, tax burdens, energy and regulatory costs. We hope Lou will dedicate a show or two to those topics if he really wants to get to the root of the problem.

Posted by at 7:56 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

November 30, 2006

'Fair Trade' Foolishness

Good piece by wise man Bob Samuelson in today's WaPo by the above title, rightfully fretting about the new growing hostile climate toward free trade. Says Samuelson:

"Just last week Democratic congressional leaders signaled that they may oppose new trade agreements with Colombia and Peru. Who, if anyone, would benefit is unclear. As The Post reported, the agreements' darkened prospects have already led to layoffs in Colombia. In the United States, manufacturers believe the agreements would expand their exports. Peru's tariffs average about 10 percent, Colombia's about 11 percent, says Frank Vargo of the National Association of Manufacturers. Most of these would go to zero under the agreements."

We've made this point here repeatedly: Trade agreement lower barriers to entry of US-made goods. That's good for US manufacturers. It's a multilateral world out there. As Samuelson points out. If we don't negotiate trade agreements with these countries, other countries will. "If we take ourselves out of the trade negotiation game," says one trade expert, "U.S. exporters will be the losers." Those "US exporters" are our members, American manufacturers large and small.

In conclusion, Samuelson says, "The next Congress must decide whether it embraces the symbolism or the reality of trade. If it chooses symbolism, it will perversely harm many of the workers it's trying to help."

Lou Dobbs, are you listening....?

Posted by at 8:51 AM | 1 comment; click here to read it or submit your own! | Send to a Friend

November 29, 2006

Still More on Lou....

Sheez! Lou seems to be quite the subject of lengthy magazine profiles these days. The latest comes from American.com, an article written by Luke Mullins. We were tipped off to it by MediaBistro-NY, with a title that grabbed our attention: "Lou Dobbs Once Tossed a Live Chicken Off a Balcony During a Movie." If that's not a grabber, we don't know what is. Maybe we need to make our headlines a little punchier.

In any event, it's similar to the last piece we linked to in that it's a fairly exhaustive review of Lou's upbringing and his life at CNN, the latter which has not always been met with zeal by his co-workers. Says Mullins, "CNN employees say that Dobbs has become increasingly controversial inside the network. His power is resented, and his extreme positions are mocked. His face on network monitors inevitably provokes jokes and eye-rolling from CNN staffers. 'We all start banging our heads against the wall,' one of them says."

All we can say to these beleaguered CNN staffers is, "We understand."

We understand.

Posted by at 7:13 AM | 1 comment; click here to read it or submit your own! | Send to a Friend

November 28, 2006

More on Lou

Here's a lengthy piece from the New Yorker by Ken Auletta on our favorite non-journalist, Lou Dobbs entitled, "Mad As Hell - Lou Dobbs's populist crusade." He used the Tom Friedman bit (didn't credit the blog, maybe he was at Yale for the lecture), and quotes Wall Street Journal deputy editor Daniel Henninger as saying of Lou's career conversion, "Old admirers are aghast. It's as if whatever made Linda Blair's head spin around in 'The Exorcist' had invaded the body of Lou Dobbs and left him with the brain of Dennis Kucinich."

In any event, an interesting read, with some background on Lou and some thoughts on CNN's turn away from news toward entertainment.

Posted by at 7:21 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

November 27, 2006

Dobbs Watch: 'The Lou Dobbs Factor'

A good article by that title in New York magazine by Kurt Andersen. Says Andersen, "What I hadn't realized until I recently started watching his show night after night was how completely and seamlessly he mingles actual news with opinion and straight-out tirade," calling Dobbs' show, a "Daily Show without jokes or irony." We agree.

As Andersen notes in conclusion, "Populist anti-Establishment anger is now a major part of the CNN brand." How sad. We wish CNN had a brighter line between news and opinion, and wish further that they'd make sure their opinions were informed and not just rabble-rousers like Lou.

Posted by at 7:20 AM | 1 comment; click here to read it or submit your own! | Send to a Friend

November 21, 2006

Dobbs, Lou Dobbs

WNYC's weekly On the Media is one of the better NPR shows. Rather than pretending its public radio biases didn't exist, the program embraces its smug liberalness with a joie de vivre and pretty smart interviewing. And knowing smugness, co-host Bob Garfield was the perfect interviewer last week to take on Lou Dobbs, who is comfortable in his own fame, brilliance and intuitive understanding of Middle America.

BOB GARFIELD: Now, [CNN] network president, Jonathan Klein, has said to The New York Times that, in essence, that the Dobbs approach will only be on the Dobbs show. And presumably he means that it would never fly on Wolf Blitzer's show or Paula Zahn's show.

LOU DOBBS: Well, they're quite different people than I am, as you know.

BOB GARFIELD: I understand. But why should you have a different set of journalistic standards applying to you?

LOU DOBBS: Well, immodestly, let me say one of the reasons would be my experience, my education, my analysis of the issues and the empirical evidence, and a demonstrated record of, frankly, of knowing what I'm talking about.

Uh, huh. "Immodestly." More of the same follows, with Garfield trying to figure just what value is of the on-line polls Dobbs conducts, and whether he's a modern-day Father Coughlin inflaming the masses on immigration and other matters. Useful insight into an immodest host.

Also useful is the follow-up interview Garfield conducts with Andrea Batista Schlesinger of the left-wing Drum Major Institute. Ms. Batista Schlesinger is surely more hip to the reality of TV blow-hard shows than she lets on, right?

ANDREA BATISTA SCHLESINGER: So when I got on the show, he introduced me right from the start as a leading critic of his border control policy, and essentially the show went downhill from there.

The first question, and I don't know if this is typical of journalists, but the first question was something to the effect of what's wrong with, or doesn't it make sense that? And that was basically, you know, the tenor of the interview, that he has the monopoly on what makes sense.

I mean, he was not interested in actually hearing what I had to say. He was interested in explaining what he had to say as if it were the most commonsense thing that everybody would agree upon.

I thought I was going on that show to have a serious conversation that, you know, weighed the pros and the cons of immigration policies that are on the table. Instead, I was a foil for a lecture on the difference between a Hispanic and an immigrant, which, as a Hispanic and the daughter of an immigrant, I found very enlightening. It wasn't a conversation. I had about 30 seconds to make my case.

Well, that's why you have a blog, Andrea. You know, like Rocky Balboa.

Posted by Carter Wood at 8:26 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

November 1, 2006

Dobbs Watch: Lou Outsources His Cynicism To Middle America

Thanks to a blog reader for sending us this article by C.J. Janovy about Lou's trek to Kansas City -- Middle America -- in mid-October to hawk his new book. (As you know, for the record, we think it's cheezy to hawk your own book in the course of your own gig.) Some real insights in this article:

"[I]f Dobbs' sympathetic platitudes that night were any indication of the answers in War on the Middle Class, hardworking folks might as well save their money for this winter's heating bill.

Backstage after the show, Dobbs [said] that his message resonated with people because 'we're reporting on illegal immigration, on failing public schools, on the high cost of free trade, on the role of corporate America and the outrageous cost of health care -- all the American challenges.... We focus on the issues I think are critical, not on the so-called wedge issues...'" (Emphasis ours)

"Not on the wedge issues?!?" Crikey, this guy is a one-man flying wedge!

One of the many points Dobbs missed, had he decided to talk more about Kansas City than about himself, is that Kansas City is one of the first sites for the "Dream It, Do It" campaign. According to fellow blogger Bill Canis, Dream It, Do It, "Is a workforce and economic development program created by NAM and The Manufacturing Institute to help manufacturers find the skilled workers they need for expansion and to replace retiring baby boomers. In its pilot in the greater Kansas City region, Dream It, Do It advertising and community alliances increased applications to the local technical college by 35 percent. This successful initiative is now being launched in other cities around the country."

Wonder how this bit of good news could elude Lou and his army of reporters? Truth is, if you only go looking for bad news, the great likelihood is that's all you'll find. It's why every time Lou goes looking for America, he only finds more cynicism.

Posted by at 7:06 AM | 3 comments; click here to read them or submit your own! | Send to a Friend

October 25, 2006

Lou Dobbs' America

Here's a link to a great piece by syndicated columnist Ruben Navarette, Jr. on our favorite guy, Lou Dobbs. The opening says it all:

"We really are two Americas...There are those who believe that what works against some folks are not the bad breaks, but bad choices such as dropping out of high school or ambling through life without ambition. And there are others who believe that human beings are at the mercy of sinister forces beyond their control. If you fall into the first category, you're part of my America. If you're in the second, you're part of Lou Dobbs' America."

Lou is still stirring the pot with his "War on the Middle Class" schtick. It's all about ratings and opportunism, pure and simple. He knows better.

Posted by at 7:25 AM | 3 comments; click here to read them or submit your own! | Send to a Friend

October 20, 2006

Dobbs Watch: Lou, Your Partisanship is Showing....

As if Lou Dobbs' partisanship wasn't clear by now, he cemented his street cred with the Democrats in his latest salvo, his "War on the Middle Class" special earlier this week. (This also happens to be the title of his new pre-election book. For the record, we think it's highly inappropriate and tacky to use your gig to shamelessly plug your own book.) Remember he did his level best to help failed Presidential candidate John Kerry with his steady drumbeat about outsourcing in those days, an issue that vanished once the election passed and Kerry went back to, uh, running for President.

In any event, Lou's at it again, took some weird gratuitous shot at us along the way. (Doesn't make a lot of sense from the transcript, but then he seldom does), but seemed to be making the point that we represent big business or something. Lou, fire your fact checker! Better still, hire one. Two-thirds of our members are small or medium manufacturers. And y'know what? They export their stuff all over the world, or they sell to someone who does. Not to ruin your day, Lou but know something else? Trade agreements open markets to their goods, too. Sorry to wreck your buzz. Hate to ruin a good story.

In any event, the non-partisan Business and Media Institute have documented some of his more blatant and partisan errors here and here. They only have so much time and space, can't document 'em all. Expect to see Lou in ever-higher dudgeon between now and Election Day.

Posted by at 7:52 AM | 2 comments; click here to read them or submit your own! | Send to a Friend

October 16, 2006

Behold the 'Multinationals'

In the discussions surrounding modern manufacturing in the US today, there are few terms as meaningless as "multinational." Typically it is used by the black helicopter, Trilateral Commission crowd to conjure up images of a large faceless international corporation, frenetically packing up its jobs like so many widgets and shipping them all to China. If you Google "Lou Dobbs" and "Multinationals" for example, you'll see tens of thousands of results. It is part of his lexicon, part of the imagined rift between classes that lie at the heart of his ratings.

Regular blog readers know we've written about this before, especially about how it is a term without meaning. When we think of multinationals, a few members come instantly to mind. We think of Sandy Westlund-Deenihan of tiny Quality Float Works outside Chicago. She exports now to some 10 countries, including China. Kendig Kneen of Al-jon makes big stuff like car crushers, sends them all over the world. No, wait -- "multinational" only means that they have plants overseas, maybe. OK, makes us think of Stephanie Harkness of Pacific Plastics, a small manufacturer and one of the newest members of the President's Advisory Committee on Trade Policy and Negotiation, who recently opened a plant in Bangalore. And we think of Tony Raimondo of Behlen Manufacturing in Columbus, Nebraska. He incurred the wrath of no less an expert on multinationals than John Kerry himself for opening a plant in China. Fact is, more people are employed in Columbus, Nebraska today -- and the company is far healthier -- because they decided to get in the global game.

But no, the Dobbsians say, "multinationals" are great big US companies who dare to do business globally -- big multi-billion dollar businesses who have thousands of people and operations all over the world. Hmmmm.... Like Boeing, maybe? How about Case New Holland (CNH), the huge agricultural equipment manufacturer? Now they'd most certainly be "multinationals" of the sort that draw the ire of the Dobbsians, right?

And so we took a look at these two companies. Who is CNH, for example? Here's a little PDF file to get you started. It lists some 1500 suppliers -- mostly small and medium manufacturers -- around the United States that supply them with parts for the equipment they make all over the world. They even have a website dedicated to telling their story about how trade benefits all manufacturers -- and all CNH employees.

And what about Boeing? With almost 150,000 employees and about $55 billion in revenue, is there a bigger company worthier of the "multinational" title? But look at this fact sheet -- for anyone interested in the facts. They export 70% of what they make. US suppliers (read: manufacturers) account for almost 80% of all their commercial airplane purchases. In 2005 alone, they paid over $27 billion to over 26,000 domestic suppliers in all 50 states.

Our boss -- NAM President John Engler -- is fond of saying that the line of demarcation here is not large vs. small, as we've seen over and over again. The only meaningful distinction is between those companies engaged in international trade and those who are not. At the end of the day big manufacturers are just a bunch of small manufacturers making stuff here in the good ol' US of A and shipping it all over the world. And there are enough small manufacturers in the global game directly. We are proud to count all these manufacturers, large and small, in our membership, multinationals all.

Posted by at 8:02 AM | 2 comments; click here to read them or submit your own! | Send to a Friend

August 14, 2006

Dobbs Watch: Contrarian Views on Immigration and Outsourcing

We saw two stories over the past few days that likely would give our friend Lou Dobbs an embolism. The first ran in the WaPo last Friday, mimicked by dozens across the country that all touted the same theme, based on the findings of a new Pew study. Said the WaPo headline of the Kim Hart story, "Study Finds Immigrants Don't Hurt U.S. Jobs." That's right. As counter-intuitive as this sounds, it happens to be true. We've also posted on it here on several occasions. "High levels of immigration in the past 15 years, " says the WaPo story, "do not appear to have hurt employment opportunities for American workers, according to a new report." This basically captures the first line of the study itself, i.e, "Rapid increases in the foreign-born population at the state level are not associated with negative effects on the employment of native-born workers." Like we said, counterintuitive (especially if you watch Lou Dobbs) but true.

If that story doesn't give Lou stroke-like symptoms, this one from yesterday's New York Times by Daniel Gross most certainly will. Entitled, "Why 'Outsourcing' May Lose Its Power as a Scare Word," it has some great nuggets therein. "Thanks to the forces of creative destruction," it says, "more jobs are created and lost in a few months than will be outsourced in a year." We've also been saying this all along as well. We wondered if they've been reading the blog when we read on:

"There is evidence that within sectors, lower-paying jobs are being outsourced while the more skilled ones are being kept here. In a 2005 study, Catherine L. Mann, senior fellow at the Institute for International Economics, found that from 1999 to 2003, when outsourcing was picking up pace, the United States lost 125,000 programming jobs but added 425,000 jobs for higher-skilled software engineers and analysts.

Economists also point out that jobs and services that are tradable won't necessarily move to lower-cost places. Ms. Farrell of McKinsey said that despite their huge populations, China and India lack enough university graduates with the specific skills and experience to meet the staffing needs of Fortune 500 companies.

In addition, labor costs are only one of many factors that companies consider. Executives have to worry about reliable power supplies and the proximity of vendors and customers. Here, again, the United States has significant advantages over countries like India and China. As a result, only a small portion of the jobs that could be outsourced will be outsourced."

We can't count how may times we've made the point here that we compete on this country not on wages but on innovation. We've also said numerous times that companies locate not because of wages but to be close to reliable energy and customers. Now, even the Grey Lady agrees with us. You don't think they've been reading the blog, do you....?

No matter, we wanted to provide links to these two important stories that cut against the grain of hysterical media as embodied in opinionators like Lou Dobbs.

Posted by at 7:07 AM | 5 comments; click here to read them or submit your own! | Send to a Friend

July 26, 2006

Dobbs Watch: Who's a Protectionist?

Thanks to our friends over at the Business and Media Center for passing this one along. Protectionist Lou Dobbs was interviewing Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND), who's just written a book entitled, "Take This Job and Ship It,", so you can kinda guess where that one's going.

In any event, Lou, not wanting to look too much like the fix was in (he's lost all semblance of balance, not sure why he'd care) felt obliged to say about Sen. Dorgan, "Senator Byron Dorgan is no protectionist. In point of fact, he is calling for expanded markets for U.S. exports..." It struck us as the trade equivalent of Junior Samples interviewing Reuben Studdard about his new diet book saying, "Reuben is not obese..."

Well, we went and checked Sen. Dorgan's report card and in fact he has a NAM Vote Rating for this Congress of just 38%. He has opposed trade promotion authority, opposed Chile, Singapore & Australia, Oman and Central America Free Trade Agreements -- even though they all opened markets for American manufacturers. Not sure how one would define "protectionist," but the good Senator is certainly not voting like a free trader.

And Lou's probably not a very good litmus on this one.

Posted by at 7:23 AM | 2 comments; click here to read them or submit your own! | Send to a Friend

July 19, 2006

Lou Dobbs Watch: So, What's On Your Show Tonight?

We realized we haven't picked on Lou in awhile, so special thanks to Carter Wood for finding this little gem on the web. Its a funny cartoon about Lou reporting on the end of the world, but somehow, despite bigger news, he goes back to his favorite song and dance. Click here to view the cartoon.

Posted by Blogger's Apprentice at 2:32 PM | 1 comment; click here to read it or submit your own! | Send to a Friend

June 1, 2006

Lou Dobbs: Still Wrong on Trade

We've been a little busy on global warming and other energy-related issues these days and Lou Dobbs has been busy ranting like a lunatic about immigration, having long ago left behind any patina of objectivity.

But a sharp-eyed blog reader dropped us a note last night to let us know that Lou is still ranting about the "war on the middle class" and is still very wrong. Last night was more hysteria about jobs fleeing the country to low-wage countries. He got his Amen Chorus, the ever- reliable Flat Earther Alan Tonelson, to agree with him (again). Hey -- wait -- is Lou in re-runs? We think we saw this one....

In any event, the truth still is that most companies locate in a particular area to be close to the customer. The truth is that we don't compete in this country on the basis of wages, never have. As our trade VP Frank Vargo likes to say, if wages were the determining factor, Haiti would be an economic powerhouse. Sadly, it is not. There are many elements to a nation's competitiveness. Wages are but one.

The truth is that we attract billions of dollars in foreign investment (and millions of jobs) in every state in this country every year -- and we should be attracting more. The idea is to create a climate that will lure investment. We don't do that by having the highest tort costs in the world -- by a mile -- the highest natural gas prices in the world, the highest environmental compliance costs in the world, the highest corporate tax burden in the world. Taken together, it adds up to a 22% cost disadvantage vs. our trading partners, dwarfing any wage disparity.

If Lou would stop demagoguing long enough and dust off his Harvard textbooks, he might do a show on some of the real problems facing manufacturers in this country -- problems with solutions that are within our control.

Posted by at 7:45 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

April 2, 2006

'Bile Across the Border'

Interesting piece on our buddy Lou Dobbs by the above title in yesterday's LA Times by Tim Rutten. Not exactly flattering. Click here to read it.

Posted by at 7:40 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

March 31, 2006

Michael Kinsley on Lou Dobbs

From today's WaPo, an op-ed by Michael Kinsley entitled, "The Twilight of Objectivity" that opens thusly:

"CNN"s Lou Dobbs...has turned into a raving populist xenophobe."

Posted by at 6:53 AM | 2 comments; click here to read them or submit your own! | Send to a Friend

Michael Kinsley on Lou Dobbs

From today's WaPo, an op-ed by Michael Kinsley entitled, "The Twilight of Objectivity" that opens thusly:

"CNN"s Lou Dobbs...has turned into a raving populist xenophobe."

Posted by at 6:53 AM | 2 comments; click here to read them or submit your own! | Send to a Friend

March 29, 2006

Lou Dobbs Stirs the (Melting) Pot

For Lou Dobbs, this is the rapture. The Senate is debating the immigration bill, a bill that might legalize -- gulp -- more immigrants, and President Bush is off to Lou's least-favorite country, Mexico, for an economic summit with his NAFTA partners. For a guy who spends night after night after night hammering away on the issue of immigration, this is like the Super Bowl, World Series, Daytona 500 and Pamplona all rolled into one. The Mexican-American War of 2006. "Put me in, coach", says Lou, "I'm ready to play."

To make matters worse, Lou is headed to Mexico himself where he will broadcast live, the anti-ambassador of good will, the piñata pundit twisting over the heads of those he so detests. Indeed, it seems this week at times that CNN has become the voice of the angry white guy, with Dobbs -- looking pretty shiny at times -- ranting for seemingly hours on end about the evils of immigration. Every now and then he'd have to stop his divisive rhetoric long enough to clarify that it was "illegal" immigration he opposed, as it was never entirely clear from his comments that he drew any such distinction. He would also occasionally inject the obligatory platitude about immigrants -- if they came here legally, of course. Almost sounded like, "Some of my best friends are immigrants". Right. He probably waves to them as they mow his lawn. Loves 'em.

So stay tuned to Lou this week. For him, it is harmonic convergence, it is the rapture. In Mexico, he'll be blasting away at Mexican Presidente Fox, at President Bush and maybe at Canadian Prime Minister Harper, for all we know. And during the lulls in the summit, he will be lobbing rhetorical grenades at the Senate and its immigration debate. He is in his element, he was born for this moment.

And he just might blow.

Posted by at 7:33 AM | 15 comments; click here to read them or submit your own! | Send to a Friend

March 26, 2006

Stossel on Dobbs, v. 3

Sure enough, the blogosphere has worked its magic once again. One (or the other) of our sharp-eyed blog readers posted a comment on our piece below on John Stossel and outsourcing. In fact, they did find the video on the ABC News site and sent us this link.

What's great about it is you get to see Lou Dobbs on somebody else's turf, namely Stossel's. You realize why he doesn't do much of this, because he really does come off looking -- as one of our other readers commented last week -- "like a raving idiot." Our reader's words, not ours. But we'd agree. At one point Dobbs says that "outsourcing is stupid and being stupid is un-American." Hard to argue with that, we guess. Not really.

So thanks to both our faithful readers for coming through once again. The video really does bring to life the bland and sanitized transcript as the reader who sent us the transcript said it did.

This episode proves once again that we have the smartest damned blog readers on the plant. Enjoy the 5-minute video.

Posted by at 8:45 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

March 24, 2006

Caterpillar's Jim Owens on Globalization: Lou, Are You Listening....?

By all accounts, those who were in attendance at National Manufacturing Week outside Chicago this week said Caterpillar CEO Jim Owens hit it out of the park in his speech on Wednesday. We weren't there, but we have a copy of the speech for you. It makes a great read for anyone interested in manufacturing or in the issue of globalization. Somebody oughta send it up to Lou, not that he'd read it, or that it would make sense to him.

Some excerpts:

On becoming a net exporter and on growing Cat's presence near their international customers:

"You know Caterpillar as one of America's major manufacturers. Over the years, we've leveraged our U.S. manufacturing base to become a leading net exporter and major contributor to the health and strength of the U.S economy. Last year alone we exported more than $9 billion in products from the United States. At the same time, we've also become a major British manufacturer, a major Brazilian manufacturer, and a major Chinese manufacturer -- just to name a few of the 40 countries in which we have a presence."

A la Tom Friedman's observation on globalization and India, Owens' thought on the effect on US employment of their global presence:

"In fact, wherever Caterpillar invests, we find that our U.S. exports to these countries increase as well. Take China, for example. Over the last few years, we have more than doubled our Chinese workforce and significantly expanded our sales there. At the same time, we have increased our U.S. exports to China by 40 percent -- helping to create some 5,000 new production jobs here in the United States."

On the dangers of the protectionist mindset:

"I can think of no faster path to a worldwide recession than for the twin engines of the global economy -- the United States and China -- to turn against one another. And if some misguided piece of legislation like the Schumer bill gets through Congress, the chances of that happening are high...But in our globa