Why is it that Lou Dobbs only talks about his criticisms of corporations when he goes on C-SPAN or HBO? His CNN show is just an anti-immigrant drumbeat. It just goes to show that a liberal talk show is not allowed on main cable news stations or the main networks. The closest thing to a liberal show on any of the news channels is Olberman's Anti-O'Reilly Rant. Very little of what Olberman says is leftist (similar to Krugman). It's as if the American opposition is mainly calling for a more responsible and competent right wing. No wonder we don't win elections.

First off, Lou Dobbs is an idiot who cherry picks information and doesn't present rationale arguments. He panders to the basest of xenophobic fears. Second, the biggest threat to democracy is people who don't vote, not corporations. Corporations are acting in their own interest - you can't fault them. What, you expect them to not act in their self interest? If you want to blame anyone, blame people who don't vote and aren't politically active.

Corporations should have no right to participate in the political process. A corporation is not a person and should not be considered a person. There is a good discussion of the issue here.

I sure can blame corporations for "acting in their own interests"--individual people have a right to be heard and petition their government, corporations shouldn't have any such right. And yet corporations are able to develop interests of their own that are even contrary to the workers, executives, and even shareholders within them, and pursue these interests quite effectively. That's perverse.

Every American citizen should vote. But if that happened it wouldn't necessarily break the power of corporations on our democracy. They still control the means of communication, much of the funding for campaigns, and can bend governments to their will by withdrawing investment. The modern corporation has been an incredible vehicle for wealth creation, but it has a seriously dark and anti-democratic side. Corporate leaders in this country once seriously plotted to assassinate a president (FDR). You can also see how pro-democratic the international bankers are by the fact that they pump many times more investment dollars into a dictatorship like China than they do into relatively democratic countries such as India and Indonesia.

More importantly, corporations shape our society and profit mightily off the debased consumerist culture in which many many Americans are immersed.

Nicely said dende, yours is a more nuanced view than my "fuck corporations"

Just look at the damage corporations have caused to national discourse in this country. One example is the damage done to the FCC. Why do you think that all radio stations play is the same homogenous crap on every station you turn to. Where is are the independent voices? Most the radio stations I listen to don't even bother to cover local events.

Deregulation in the media has been a terrible disaster for freemdom of the press. Just like the government corporations control the news to their advantage. If a corporation dumps industrial waste in an inapproiate area and children start getting sick who is going to cover it on the news? When the news is owned by the very same criminals doing the dumping?

Corporations aren't interested in the general welfare of the people, their interested in making a profit. The two come into conflict more than many realize. That is why corporations have should have no business in poltics.

tlfleming, the reason bland stations succeed is b/c more people listen to it than stations like NPR. I only listen to NPR, but if their ratings were high, then you'd better believe more stations would be like them. 2nd, it is possible to fund a candidate without corp. money - look at Howard Dean. His campaign was mostly funded by people contributing small amounts. But no one voted for Dean..instead, people voted for the corp. funded John Kerry, who then lost to the even more heavily corp. funded George Bush. Fact is, mostly people will read this on their Dell PCs, think about it for a few minutes, then go out with their Abercrombie clothes, with their iPod player, down to the local Starbucks/Coffee Bean to buy a latte, and then not bother to vote in the next election. That is the problem.

Theodore Roosevelt's philosophy on Immigrants and being an AMERICAN in 1907.

     "In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and  assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American...There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag... We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language... and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people." 
                            Theodore Roosevelt 1907

OPEN LETTER TO LOU DOBB AT CNN

Dear Lou Dobbs:

In the past, I have watched your program regarding exporting American jobs. Despite all your efforts, this is just not stopping - or even slowing down.

As I write this, a company in the Tampa Bay area is forcing early retirement and laying off of tech workers in preparation of sending all these jobs to India. Since this company is Verizon, I, personally, am angry. We have our phone service with them (local and long distance), cell phone, and internet service (DSL).

The management feels fine with taking all the money out of this area. How would they feel if all their customers knew about this and we all went to another service, or services, which would probably be necessary to have our services provided by American workers. And I might add that this is what many of us want.

The tech employees still working there and facing the axe are afraid to say anything because this no doubt would make them NEXT.

It is not right to layoff or retire a tech person who has been loyal for 29 years and send that job to another country to build an economy there. I am sure that people in other countries are capable of building an economy, and there are many ways that they can obtain funds to help them on their way. Additionally, it is not likely that Verizon or any other company is really interested in the building of an economy for another country, they are just wanting to take advantage of cheap labor. Once these countries have a flourishing economy, the cost of hiring workers there will rise just as it did in our own economy.

I know people in other states who have been out of work for years. This action by Verizon is insignificant when you take a look at how many other companies have done the exact same thing to their workers and our economy. It started with the elimination of people working on production lines in factories and now it has moved up as far as the tech workers. This is a monumental problem. What is wrong with the heads of companies, are they blind?

How in the world did people so stupid get to be heads of companies and in high government positions? You just don't tear down the house that you built!!

If these "smarter than we are" people would take a look around they would realize what bad shape this country is actually in. Just a trip to the Walmart will tell them. All the goods are from China and many of the young women who work there are already missing front teeth - the building blocks of health! All the signs of deterioration are everywhere you look, but apparently the decision makers are so blinded by power that they cannot see them.

How do we get back to being the strong economy that we once were where everybody had a job and took pride in goods that we produced. I am origionally from North Carolina and we used to produce tons of textiles and furniture. And I might add, these were quality goods, the like of which I do not see now. I can remember crisp, smooth sheets. What in the hell is with Egyptian cotton anyway? I personally hate wrinkles, and I am sure not going to start ironing bed clothes now.

I am sick and tired of things that fall apart - both soft goods and hard goods. Even Maytag has lost its quality. My new 4 month old Maytag washer has already had two new parts. On the internet, I found that there had already been a class action suit against Maytag for their leaky front-loaders. Their great reputation is gone! The way things are going with the washer that I just bought leads me to believe that I may have to participate in the next class action against them.

In the last 15 years, we have needed to buy 3 water softeners, 3 ovens, 4 vacuum cleaners, 5 carpet cleaners, 2 washing machines, 3 dishwashers, 3 in-sink disposals, 2 toasters, 3 coffee makers, 3 TVs, and heaven only knows the things that I no longer remember replacing. I am all for repairs, and have spent a lot of money on repairs, but at some point you realize that spending more money on a dying product is just not sensible. Since there are only two people in my household, our belongings are not being over used and they should not be wearing out time and time again. Is American destined to become the country with the biggest trash heap?

I would start making my own clothes, but I would probably have to replace or repair my sewing machine as soon as I got started sewing. Additionally, I doubt that I could find any American made fabrics.

If everybody who consumes products made elsewhere, which are most goods, would cease to buy anything for a few months, maybe the heads of companies would be so shocked by the bottom line that they would take a look at what they are doing to our country.

If anyone knows how to start a movement to make the changes necessary to get us back to where we once were, before the big giveaway by executives and government officials, please tell us. I will be happy to do my part - or more than my part.

And Lou, thanks for reading my rant. However, I am a very stubborn person, so this will not stop here!

Sincerely,

Nell Liquorman P.O. Box 944 Crystal Beach, FL 34681 USA www.keepFleasOff.com

OFFSHORE THIS!

If you are sick of the offshoring of jobs that has de-industrialized the USA, it is time to take a stand. An excellent way to start is with MADE IN CHINA goods. Don’t keep sending your hard earned dollars offshore. The Government of China is not your friend. Your money is being used to finance a communist regime, while the Chinese people are enslaved for pennies a day to make the goods being consumed by the buying public in the USA.

If you consider the fact that our country does not trade with Cuba because it is a communist country, you should want to find out why we have so many communist made goods from China. This cannot possibly be a fair trade situation. The word greed comes to mind. Huge profits are being had by offshoring the entire manufacturing segment of the economy of the USA.

But, by using some common sense and a few creative ideas, you can greatly decrease the profits now being made by the offshorers of American jobs and by the Chinese Government at your expense.

Although as Americans, many of us are used to living in the land of plenty where consuming is just what we do, most of us will be willing to do our part to help stop the offshoring of jobs even if it means changing our buying habits.

To stop buying MADE IN CHINA goods will certainly be a challenge, but it is not an impossible feat. When you shop, you should read every label before you get attached to the goods. Once you decide that you like something, it will be harder to decide not to buy it.

Since there are many of us with houses full of goods that we seldom use or no longer need, let’s try trading or sharing them with our relatives, friends, neighbors, or just anyone who needs them.

If you must buy new, wait for sales and markdowns. This will keep money in the economy because you will be spending, Once the retailer has ordered goods for his inventory, the Chinese manufacturer has already made a profit, so that cannot be stopped at this point. However, the retailer depends upon profits from the sale of existing goods in order to be able to bring in new inventory. Once the retailer sees that the goods from China do not sell at a good enough profit margin, the retailer will start trying to find goods from another manufacturer. When you only buy sale items the retailer’s profits get smaller, which will mean smaller orders for the manufacturer, so eventually the Chinese manufacturer will start to lose money.

Purchase goods from outlet type stores such as Ross or Marshall Fields. In some cases, these are goods that the Chinese manufacturer had trouble selling or over produced and sold to the outlet retailer at deep discounts – this means that the manufacturer made a smaller profit or maybe just recovered the cost of production. Possibly some of these goods come from stores or importers who could not sell them and they were sold to outlets at greatly reduced rates. In this case the manufacturer has already made a profit, but the store or importer is just trying to recover as much of the cost of the goods as possible and will not make a profit. Outlet stores work on a small profit margin, so you will not be aiding the Chinese government or promoting offshoring further by purchasing at outlet prices, as no one is going to run out and reorder these goods due to hot sales.

When it comes to hard goods, such as furniture – recover and restore. Make things look good again and don’t buy cheap goods from Asia that are going to end up in our landfills. Furniture in resell shops may very well have been made in the USA and will be worth the money that you spend to refinish them. Additionally, your purchases of resell items will not offshore your dollars.

It would be better to spend a thousand dollars in your community having someone Re-upholster existing furniture than to buy new at any price if the furniture is made offshore. Except for the cost of materials (usually imports), the money that you spend on the recovering/restoration will stay in your own area, and be good for your economy. The same goes for refinishing wood furniture, and often some of you can do the refinishing yourself.

If you can find a craftsman or artisan who can make an item that you need, this is an even better way to go. If enough people did this, they could affect the renewal of industries that have been lost to China.

Consumers have the power to affect change. We can stop the buying of MADE in CHINA goods, we can stop the offshoring of jobs, and we can stop unfair trade practices. We can do it by withholding our dollars, and the challenge can be very satisfying.

If most of us could go at least a week with out purchasing Chinese goods, just think what a strong statement we would be making. Try going the rest of the year without buying anything that is made in China. Maybe you will buy a more expensive item now and then, or just deny yourself something, but you might just get your government and the CEO’s of some companies to realize that we no longer want cheap goods from China because this practice has de-industrialed our nation. And make it a point to tell them that what we really want is the best quality goods possible, made by the some of the best workers in the world – AMERICAN WORKERS.

The same logic applies to the purchase of oil/gas products from Venezuela. Every time you make a purchase from Citgo, you help to finance Hugo Chavez’s government. He is not our friend either. He does so little for his own poor that they will never be in a position to oppose anything that he says or does. When he gives away oil in Harlem, he is not unlike the stranger who stands on the street corner and offers small children candy to get them to go with him.

There are many ways to avoid using gasoline. Most of the oil producing countries are not our friends. If they were, we would not have so many gas price hikes or an oil crisis time after time. There are at least a few ways to use less gasoline.

You can drive a car that gets good gas mileage, and keep it in good working order with tires at the proper air pressure.

Try keeping a running list of things that you need to pick up, or buy, etc. Then once a week, go out and take care of all these things, traveling in a loop. You should be able to shop for groceries last, as every neighborhood usually has a grocery store. Then don’t run out for the odd item, use a substitute

Buy in large quantities when it is reasonable – such as paper goods that you need on an everyday basis. Then you won’t have to worry about running out of necessary items.

Consider buying so that you have an extra on hand, such as olive oil or catsup.

Enjoy events close to home.

Consider car pooling when you are able, or ask a neighbor to ride along on a weekly trip to the grocery store, so that one of you can save some gasoline.

Adjust your thermostat to use less fuel oil (or even electric power).

If you are a faithful Citgo customer or the Citgo dealer is your friend, try to persuade him to become another brand station, so you can continue to do business with him.

Gather some of the pioneering spirit of our forefathers and do your part to stop the offshoring of American dollars. Don’t do business with companies that are offshoring American jobs. Stop buying goods made in countries that don’t really like Americans. No matter what they are saying, actions speak louder than words. Write to your leaders and tell them how you feel. Write to news media and tell them as well. Even one voice will be heard is it is loud enough!

By Nell Liquorman www.KeepFleasOff.com P.O. Box 944 Crystal Beach, FL 34681 USA

  Telephone:  727 787-3426