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It Started With NAFTA
Oct 01, 2008
Have you been shaking your head over the conservative Republican-left wing Democrat alliance that defeated the Bailout Bill? Look back to 1994, when Bill Clinton rammed the NAFTA enabling legislation through Congress with a narrow majority. I was sitting in the Gallery, and saw a fascinating political phenomenon. NAFTA was passed by a narrow majority made up of members from both parties, the corporatist Democrats (Clinton's Democratic Leadership Council) and the corporatist Republicans. Voting against? The populists on both sides of the aisle. The Representatives from blue collar districts around the country, populated by people who were divided by religion, by guns, by abortion, but united by a distrust, a deep and abiding distrust, of Wall Street and of the corporate elites who were so eager to take their jobs to Mexico, and then to China.
That divide has grown and grown, until today it defeated the bailout of Wall Street, despite the dire warnings of Congressional leaders from both parties. The conservatives who believe deeply in free enterprise, and mean it. Who do not believe that the government should bail out those who make bad choices. And the progressives who understand that Wall Street has no interest in building local economies in the United States, but is only interested in the quickest of quick bucks, driven by the lowest wage available worldwide.
So now, where does it go, this unholy alliance? Consider this: The progressives long ago gave up on socialism...they have embraced a sort of Adam Smith, national capitalism; local economies driven by local entrepreneurs. How different is this from the small town conservatives? Where do abortion, gun ownership, gay marriage fit into this equation? As distractions, which the Republican and Democratic leadership will try to resurrect quickly and decisively for the upcoming election. Will we let them? Can we imagine a new majority? A majority of economic populism?
Nothing is the matter with Kansas except our own gullibility.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
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Barbara Dudley
Barbara Dudley is an Adjunct Professor in the Hatfield School of Government at Portland State University. She is also co-chair of the Oregon Working Families Party, and a partner in Bethel Heights Vineyard in Polk County. She formerly served as President and Executive Director of the National Lawyers Guild, Executive Director of Greenpeace USA, and Assistant Director for Strategic Campaigns of the national AFL-CIO.
Have you been shaking your head over the conservative Republican-left wing Democrat alliance that defeated the Bailout Bill? Look back to 1994, when Bill Clinton rammed the NAFTA enabling legislation through Congress with a narrow majority. I was sitting in the Gallery, and saw a fascinating political phenomenon. NAFTA was passed by a narrow majority made up of members from both parties, the corporatist Democrats (Clinton's Democratic Leadership Council) and the corporatist Republicans. Voting against? The populists on both sides of the aisle. The Representatives from blue collar districts around the country, populated by people who were divided by religion, by guns, by abortion, but united by a distrust, a deep and abiding distrust, of Wall Street and of the corporate elites who were so eager to take their jobs to Mexico, and then to China.
That divide has grown and grown, until today it defeated the bailout of Wall Street, despite the dire warnings of Congressional leaders from both parties. The conservatives who believe deeply in free enterprise, and mean it. Who do not believe that the government should bail out those who make bad choices. And the progressives who understand that Wall Street has no interest in building local economies in the United States, but is only interested in the quickest of quick bucks, driven by the lowest wage available worldwide.
So now, where does it go, this unholy alliance? Consider this: The progressives long ago gave up on socialism...they have embraced a sort of Adam Smith, national capitalism; local economies driven by local entrepreneurs. How different is this from the small town conservatives? Where do abortion, gun ownership, gay marriage fit into this equation? As distractions, which the Republican and Democratic leadership will try to resurrect quickly and decisively for the upcoming election. Will we let them? Can we imagine a new majority? A majority of economic populism?
Nothing is the matter with Kansas except our own gullibility.
Barbara Dudley
Barbara Dudley is an Adjunct Professor in the Hatfield School of Government at Portland State University. She is also co-chair of the Oregon Working Families Party, and a partner in Bethel Heights Vineyard in Polk County. She formerly served as President and Executive Director of the National Lawyers Guild, Executive Director of Greenpeace USA, and Assistant Director for Strategic Campaigns of the national AFL-CIO.
Have you been shaking your head over the conservative Republican-left wing Democrat alliance that defeated the Bailout Bill? Look back to 1994, when Bill Clinton rammed the NAFTA enabling legislation through Congress with a narrow majority. I was sitting in the Gallery, and saw a fascinating political phenomenon. NAFTA was passed by a narrow majority made up of members from both parties, the corporatist Democrats (Clinton's Democratic Leadership Council) and the corporatist Republicans. Voting against? The populists on both sides of the aisle. The Representatives from blue collar districts around the country, populated by people who were divided by religion, by guns, by abortion, but united by a distrust, a deep and abiding distrust, of Wall Street and of the corporate elites who were so eager to take their jobs to Mexico, and then to China.
That divide has grown and grown, until today it defeated the bailout of Wall Street, despite the dire warnings of Congressional leaders from both parties. The conservatives who believe deeply in free enterprise, and mean it. Who do not believe that the government should bail out those who make bad choices. And the progressives who understand that Wall Street has no interest in building local economies in the United States, but is only interested in the quickest of quick bucks, driven by the lowest wage available worldwide.
So now, where does it go, this unholy alliance? Consider this: The progressives long ago gave up on socialism...they have embraced a sort of Adam Smith, national capitalism; local economies driven by local entrepreneurs. How different is this from the small town conservatives? Where do abortion, gun ownership, gay marriage fit into this equation? As distractions, which the Republican and Democratic leadership will try to resurrect quickly and decisively for the upcoming election. Will we let them? Can we imagine a new majority? A majority of economic populism?
Nothing is the matter with Kansas except our own gullibility.
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