are you tired of continually having to bend over while getting that large shaft from the effects of globalization?
Well, we can't claim to make globalization go away but at least the globalization grease might easy that pain!

I have tried to float the argument that the people who benefit from globalization ought to - at least in part - compensate those who are hurt by it. People to my political right keep chanting "free trade .. free trade" like the religious mantra that it is, while people to the left change the subject "less bread, more condoms."

Now, I am all for condoms. And I occasionally am led to believe that thw world really would be better off if they were more available. But occasionally I like to take a break and eat.

I agree that there will be a point when the vast majority of people in the bottom 80% of the income brackets will wake up and realize that the country was sold a bill of goods with globalization.

I happen to believe that it could have been much less bad than it has turned out to be had several things been profoundly different. The first we already alluded to - protections for those hurt by the policies. Differential taxes on returns to certain kinds of overseas investments might have played a roll. And taxes on imported goods made under unfavorable worker conditions. Revenues from these taxes could then have been used to support outsourced workers and to develop competitive industries. America seems to be the only country in the world where the only local industry that gets any preferential treatment is the Arms industry. And ironically, if one had to choose an industry with the lowest internal rate of return, to society, it would be hard to choose one that is worse.

I also agree that the issue is a basic fairness issue and as such it is an issue that naturally belongs to progressives. It is so incredibly phoney to argue that doing the right thing here will make America uncompetitive. France does it; and they have the highest GNP per person-hour worked. To the extent that the US per capita income is higher it is because Americans work more hours. Nor does pointing to unemployment help. France may have an unemployment rate of 10% but America's unemployment rate far exceeds the official 5%. A recent NYT article suggests that when one counts all the middle-aged white males who have simply given up, the rate is more like 12.7%.

Americans have sold everything they value - democracy, jobs, financial security - for 25% lower prices on stuff they will be trying to get rid of at the next garage sale. Its funny, its pathetic, and it makes me very angry.

I'd lean heavily on Pat Buchanan and Lou Dobbs for my immigration/border control plan. The two main issues I disagree with a lot of so called liberals and Democrats on is our crazy border and exodus of illegals into our country, and public education, which I don't support either.