In response, a reader reminded me of a recent quote (or, rather, series of quotes) from Barack Obama, which proves that he really understands that the pro-labor movement isn't innately anti-business. In fact, pro-labor can be regarded as pro-business. I just have to share it:
Last week, Obama made the following clear, rational, and astute observations:
I do not view the labor movement as part of the problem, to me it's part of the solution.Indeed.
and
"You cannot have a strong middle class without a strong labor movement."and
[T]he American economy is not and never has been a zero-sum game. When workers are prospering, they buy products that make businesses prosper.It makes perfect sense. This is the kind of attitude that brought about the American middle class.
But apparently that's not good enough for the corporate CEOs and the Republican lawmakers they sleep with. Why should they settle for six-figure salaries when they can exploit the workers, bust the unions, and send American jobs overseas to a cheaper labor market, and thereby bring in seven-figure salaries for themselves?
After all, the CEOs don't shop at Wal-Mart, so they don't have to worry about poisonous baby formula, toxic pet food, toxic toys, etc., that have resulted from the cost-cutting practice of outsourcing.
Is it not obscene?
Therefore, it's not enough for Obama to be pro-labor. He must also take action to rewrite our trade agreements to reduce our trade deficit. Outsourcing, at its recent level, must stop. And it must be reversed.
It's time to put Americans back to work manufacturing products, rather than just buying outsourced (and too often unregulated) products.
Besides, so many of us are no longer employed and therefore cannot afford to buy the outsourced merchandise, dirt-cheap as it may be.
Think about it.
This is not the America that my blue-collar grandparents migrated here to be a part of.
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