Kucinich reclaimed the word "protectionist" in Iowa tonight.

[Eric J in MN]

Approximate transcript of Kucinich:

My first act as President will be to cancel NAFTA and the WTO.

When I tell people this, they respond, "Oh, you're a protectionist."

Damn straight I'm a protectionist!

I want to protect American manufacturing jobs and I want to protect American high-tech jobs.

[dweller]

1. Did you hear him live

or online?

dp

[Eric J in MN]

5. this was broadcast live on C-Span an hour ago (nt)

nt

[iowapeacechief]

6. C-SPAN will rebroadcast...

...the Linn County Democrats dinner a few minutes from now.

[cryofan]

2. I would to see him say that in a nationally televised debate

He would be certain to pick up a lot more support......

[tinanator]

3. He's the man!

These policies will attract a big number of Republican voters.

[DemBones DemBones]

4. Isn't he great?!!! He said pretty much the same thing in D.C.

on Friday, where only he and CMB and Sharpton showed up for the debate.

We do have to do something if we don't want to all be working for minimum wage. NAFTA and WTO may have helped others but they've hurt us -- if we stay in them, we're stupid. It's great to help others but Americans need jobs, too.

Another one of the big problems is today's high executive salaries. That's taking money away from workers. Corporations could pay their workers better and still give their executives large salaries -- it's the $30 million a year salaries that are ridiculous.

[ThirdWheelLegend]

11. Don't be so mean

:P
"if we stay in them, we're stupid"


shhh don't say that. A heck of a lot of DUers support candidates tjat will stick with NAFTA. Don't you know its hip to shift your Democratic ideals to the right so that you can be a winner!

:)

TWL

[Desertrose]

7. Dennis totally rocked in that speech!

( :hi: Thanks for the heads up Zomby!!)

He was on fire!!!
and the standing O's he got...it all really gave me hope.

I don't know how anyone can listen to this man and not be moved!

Dennis :yourock:

hoooo baby!!


Peace & hope
DR

[Kathleen04]

8. Great speech...

He was firey and addressed alot of important issues, it was impressive. :)

[ThirdWheelLegend]

9. Awesome.

NAFTA needs to go!

It is unDemocratic to support NAFTA.

"I want to protect American manufacturing jobs and I want to protect American high-tech jobs."

Rock on Dennis!


TWL

[redqueen]

14. "It is unDemocratic to support NAFTA"

Wow well put. When you consider the loss of sovreignity involved in some of the articles / chapters of NAFTA, that's a very accurate statement.

That was an awesome moment.

It was interesting to watch the crowd during his speech. While he was excoriating our policy in Iraq, it was interesting how many supported DK's UN in US out plan, and by contrast watching how many sat silent and stone-faced. :) Quite telling, it was.

[cyclezealot]

10. He is not a protectionist in the negative sense.

DK will re-establish trade as soon as it is fair..Sounds good to me. What is wrong with protecting America's manufacturing base.. About time...American trade deficits will eventually sink us and the whoe world, after some future date the dollar sinks from $.75 to what did John Snow say..Possibly $.45 per euro... Such a weak dollar and we think we will survive economically.
DK the protector, Bush the traitor..Selling out our contry for the profits of the likes of Nike, Mattel, and so on.

[Nederland]

16. Question

When you talk about "fair" trade, who gets to define what is fair? The US or its trading partners?

[Lydia Leftcoast]

23. Both

Trade that doesn't destroy American jobs.

Trade that doesn't amount to exploitation of desperate, starving people whose countries have repressive governments and no environmental or safety laws

Policies that encourage indigenous entrepreneurs instead of situations like you see in Central America and the Caribbean, where Taiwanese clothing manufacturers run sweatshops to make clothes to sell to American discount stores, who then sell it to American consumers at a huge mark-up.
Policies that encourage countries of relatively equal economic status within a region to cooperate in developing their own industrial bases and areas of strength

The current "free trade" situation is fantastic for those whose income stems largely from investments, but dangerous and demoralizing for the rest of us. It's the triumph of the Great God Money over all human considerations.

[redqueen]

24. Both, what makes it 'fair' is

that enormous, powerful multinationals have no say.

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

12. DK

:kick:

[ThirdWheelLegend]

13. DK!

Da Kick!

Another reason to vote for Dennis.

TWL

[Nederland]

15. Sad

The same trade policies that helped plunge this country into the Great Depression are advocated by DK and people here cheer.

Unbelieveable.

[redqueen]

17. So you think trade policy was a key instigator for the Great Depression?

Interesting.

:wtf:

[LibInternationalist]

19. you bet your ass it was

protectionism is BAD for more people than it is good for

[redqueen]

20. Got a source for that doozie?

You will probably find it was fiscal policies (allowing brokerage houses to also do analyst work, for example) more than any trade policy that was a precipitator for the depression.

But please, do share any reference to any trade policy, any trade policy you choose, which you believe was key in causing the depression.

[OhioStateProgressive]

27. no nation ever self developed

with cheap labor

high wage labor is what built this land

and ALL nations that have self developed have done so with high paid labor

NAFTA is the enemy of high paid labor

[Mairead]

18. Yeah, right

And we didn't get out of the Great Depression til Clinton and the right-wingers pushed through NAFTA and the WTO, right?

Sure, pal, sure.

[Paulie]

21. What, BiLateral trade lead to the depression?

I wasn't aware of that. I thought it was the crash of 1929...

[cryofan]

22. most countries in Europe are more protectionist than the USA

and surveys show that the highest quality of life for working people is found in Europe.

QED

[Lydia Leftcoast]

25. Every country that has actually achieved economic growth

to affluence has done so through protectionist policies and heavy investment in infrastructure, not in opening their borders to seekers of cheap labor and currency speculators.

The World Bank and the IMF require Third World countries to build up their export markets instead of their domestic markets as a condition for receiving loans. In the case of African countries, it means exporting unprocessed coffee, cocoa, minerals, and so on. This is why the Third World countries are "demanding free trade." Their IMF and World Bank loans depend on it.

It would be much better for those economies in the long run if they could instead build domestic and regional markets for processed versions of their natural resources.

A friend of my parents was a missionary in Liberia in the 1950s and 1960s. When he was back on furlough, he used to shake his head over foreign aid policies. In one case, the U.S. government funded the building of a state-of-the-art road from one town to another, using fancy construction equipment. This man's point was that very few Liberians had cars, so you could get by with simpler roads. Furthermore, there were thousands of unemployed young men who would jump at the chance to earn the then-prevailing wage of 10 cents an hour to help build gravel roads. The wages of these thousands of men would then fuel the local economy as they bought things they had previously been unable to afford.

I guess that made too much sense.

[OhioStateProgressive]

26. not true

and there was very little "trade" at that time anyways

poor agriculture policies, poor lending practices, and conservative policies of the previous administration left the problem...it led to a market crash...Roosevelt put in place protectionist policies and they WORKED

[redqueen]

28. Interesting

The "Conventional Wisdom" that opposing NAFTA or the WTO = isolationism has now been trumped by the Kooch. He's spoken clearly about protecting our economy, and now that that's complete, we're onto the next canard -- protecting US jobs = depression.

Oh the humanity.

[OhioStateProgressive]

30. i agree

i believe it isn't "isolationism" if put in place by Dennis, because he is speaking to a larger issue

now if Pat Buchanan were to repeal NAFTA, it would be for a different reason...THAT would be isolationism

[Lydia Leftcoast]

31. The tariffs of the pre-Depression era

really were intended to shut down trade, not make it more fair.

Int'l trade would continue under a Kucinich administration.

[ThirdWheelLegend]

34. that point is seldom recognized with the media distortions

So many uninformed people believe that DK wants to stop trade. They hear too much of the soundbite media. Gee, he only wants to continue trade while protecting worker's, citizens and the environment. What a nutty idea!

TWL :)

[cryofan]

29. Did DK use "Damn straight I'm a protectionist" in the debate yesterday?

He should use it whenever and wherever he can

[ThirdWheelLegend]

32. nice and blunt

:) It would be a good beginner, then he could calmly state that he means to protect american jobs. People would listen.

TWL

[Zomby Woof]

33. ZombyDKick