By By JOHN EBY / Dowagiac Daily News
BENTON HARBOR - It's time for truth. It's time to lift partisan veils from eyes, Lou Dobbs told The Economic Club of Southwestern Michigan College Sunday afternoon at Lake Michigan College's Mendel Center.
As a CNN anchorman, &#8221I have no commitment to being ‘fair and balanced,' “; Dobbs said in a jab at the Fox News Channel slogan. &#8221The truth is seldom fair. It is seldom balanced. I am committed to only one side of the story, and that's the truth. Facts are often difficult to get,“; making some journalists resort to &#8221he said, she said“; reports.
Dobbs ripped bankrupt Delphi Corp. for suggesting executives be paid more while &#8221ripping the guts“; out of worker pay by as much as 63 percent.
But if Republicans and Democrats alike do not &#8221awake“; to the dangers &#8221corporate supremacists“; and special interests pose, &#8221This democracy is in trouble. You won't like free markets without democracy.“;
For example, Dobbs pointed out, the pharmaceutical industry employs two lobbyists for every member of Congress. &#8221I don't know how Congress gets any work done.“; Lobbyists have larger staffs while they &#8221move forward an agenda that is in the interest of U.S. multi-nationals“; - not Americans.
In 2004, 99 percent of congressional incumbents were returned to office.
Dobbs assured a woman who sought office unsuccessfully in Berrien County as a Democrat and urged him to run, &#8221I don't have the temperament“; or the &#8221patience for politics.“;
America doesn't need a new paradigm, just a return to participatory democracy and traditional values after losing the war on drugs and discipline in the schools.
The truth is, Dobbs said, America's middle class remains in decline, with prices rising an average 5 percent while wages have been stagnant for 25 years. Ten million people are unemployed. &#8221And the answer is to get an education and be efficient, say free traders.“;
Corporate America stresses global productivity, which translates into ever cheaper labor. &#8221If this is such a bright approach, why is Delphi bankrupt? … We have no vision for how to maintain quality of life while continuing to assault the middle class,“; the &#8221backbone of this country.“;
Dobbs also assailed political correctness. &#8221As you as Republicans talk about charter schools and vouchers or you as Democrats talk about magnet schools and special programs, understand that you both are undermining public education, which is the greatest treasure of American society.“;
Dobbs criticized runaway political correctness and the reluctance to discuss race when half of Hispanics and African Americans are dropping out of high school.
Dobbs said today's &#8221corporate supremacists“; take concepts considered good business 100 years ago, like Henry Ford paying assembly line workers enough so they could afford to buy cars, &#8221and stood them on their head … ignore non-partisan reality of what's happened to you. I hope you awaken before it's too late.“; He remains &#8221bullish“; on America's prospects, however.
Congress members returning to Washington from their districts have heard from constituents that the number-one issue is illegal immigration because of the burden it's putting on schools and social services systems, Dobbs said.
Dobbs called it an &#8221extraordinary time“; beset by challenges for the world's largest, most complex and most important political economy.
While it's commonly held that the Cold War referred to an ideological struggle between democracy and communism, historians and political leader in the past decade are &#8221recasting“; it in terms of capitalism versus communism, even that &#8221capitalism makes democracy possible, rather than the inverse,“; said Dobbs, who earned an economics degree from Harvard. &#8221Free markets did not create democracy, nor will free markets ever be sufficient to create true democracy. It's an important distinction.“;
Dobbs, recalling his selection as National Father of the Year, said he has four children - two sons and two daughters - who like him and his wife, all attended public schools.
His son's question, &#8221Exactly who voted on this award?“; reminded him how his family keeps him &#8221grounded. Perspective is something we constantly lose in the context of our public national debates … the truth is, perspective has never been more important than it is now. We've just come through a most extraordinary five-year period. Our first contested presidential election in 130 years. Recession. The worst terrorist attack against this country. The greatest loss of life in our history. I take still Sept. 11 very personally. Our task of avenging their deaths and assuring America it will never happen again“; remains unfinished.
U.S. population could approach 1 billion people by the end of the century. &#8221If we triple the population of this country, we're going to have a whole set of new questions to ask.“; He said the president of the National Chamber of Commerce told him the influx of illegal aliens was necessary to sustain the 77 million baby boomers' impact on the system.
Only 4 percent of incoming cargo is inspected, Dobbs said.