Lou took Gates to the woodshed last night over the world’s richest man’s testimony before Congress. Along with Keith Olbermann, Lou Dobbs continues to be one of the most unique voices in MSM TV, and his observations are more often than not usually dead on correct. At the top of his broadcast last night Dobbs said:
And corporate elites trying to destroy what's left of our middle class. Microsoft's chairman -- former chairman -- Bill Gates insists Congress allow an unlimited number of cheap foreign technology workers into this country.
‘Corporate elites trying to destroy what's left of our middle class,’ why Lou sounds like a socialist! People label him a populist, but that is too limiting a definition to describe how Lou continues to rail against multinational corporations.
How Lou spanked Gates, and the I love/hate Lou poll below the fold:
Dobbs has a cadre of like minded reporters working for him. They know the stories that Dobbs wants to cover. The Gates smackdown began with:
LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT:
The head of one of the world's largest and richest companies, and the richest man in the world himself, was on Capitol Hill today. He was the sole testifier, the sole witness testifying before a Senate committee, and he was pleading for help. Microsoft's Bill Gates appealed to Congress to allow more high technology "guest workers" into the country and to remove future limits on such workers.
As Bill Tucker now tells us, the Gates plan would force many qualified American workers right out of the job market.
BILL TUCKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It was Bill Gates day at the Senate's Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. He sat alone and wasn't shy when asked about what he wants to see happen with the H1B visa program, a temporary guest worker program for skilled workers.
B. GATES: Even though it may not be realistic, I don't think there should be any limit.
TUCKER: The committee didn't deem it necessary to hear any opposing views, so...
Gee, the Democrats running Congress? One would think the Republicans would be running this kind of committee hearing. They did cut away to Hillary listening to Gates.
Tucker then supplied the opposing points of view:
KIM BERRY, PRESIDENT, PROGRAMMERS GUILD: An unlimited number of H1Bs would just push an unimaginable number of U.S. workers right out of the job market. It would destroy the supply and demand that's necessary to encourage next generation of Americans to enter this profession.
RON HIRA, ROCHESTER INST. OF TECHNOLOGY: He seems to be oblivious to sort of basic economics that there is supply and demand, and the fact that foreign workers, what the economists call, will have a lower reservation wage.
TUCKER: That means they'll work for less. The median wage paid to an H1B visa worker in the United States, according to the government, is $50,000. Little wonder then that American students are showing less of an interest in computer sciences.
And at the end, Lou weighs in with his usual tone of disgust:
DOBBS: Yes. It's -- to hear Bill Gates, who -- a marvelous entrepreneur, highly successful, the richest man in the world, but there is something wrong when a man as smart as Bill Gates advances an elitist agenda without regard to the impact that he is having on working men and women in this country, our middle class, and the future of the country.
He couldn't be more right when he talks about the need to invest in education in this country, but this is one sorry way in which to live up to the standard that he is trying to set. And to confuse this issue as he did with H1B visas, unlimited, as if there's no role for government or for the right of a man and a woman in this country to make a living and to provide for their families, I mean, the shortsightedness of the elites in this country right now, this is going to be, I think -- go down as one of the most shameful periods in our country's history, both in terms of the absence of government leadership and business leadership.
Bill Tucker, thank you for setting the record straight.
This is the kind of reporting and commentary I’ve come to expect from Lou Dobbs every night.
Earlier in the broadcast, Dobbs highlighted the comments of several politicians (mostly Democrats) on the trade problems this nation has.
SEN. BYRON DORGAN (D), NORTH DAKOTA: If an $840 billion annual trade deficit doesn't get your attention, then it seems to me you're brain dead.
SYLVESTER (voice over): A group of lawmakers seeks a new direction on trade. They say the old NAFTA-style model has fattened the pockets of corporate elites in the United States while devastating manufacturing middle class communities.
REP. WALTER JONES (R), NORTH CAROLINA: In my lifetime I have never seen a country sell itself out based on greed.
SYLVESTER: The Bush administration has been able to negotiate trade agreements with lightning speed because of something known as Fast-Track Trade Promotion Authority. That's set to expire June 30th. Some on Capitol Hill want to gut Fast-Track Authority and ensure Congress has more input on the trade agenda.
SEN. SHERROD BROWN (D), OHIO: If we can protect intellectual property rights with enforceable provisions and trade agreements, we can do the same for labor, for the environment, for food safety.
SYLVESTER: The White House has labeled this new effort by lawmakers as "protectionism". The Chamber of Commerce says without trade promotion authority a number of bilateral and multilateral trade agreements will fall apart. But congressional Democrats disagree, calling for fair trade.
REP. MIKE MICHAUD (D), MAINE: What we're talking about are the rules of trade. That's what it's about. It's not being protectionists. It's what rules we're going to be playing by when we deal with trade issues.
SYLVESTER: This group of lawmakers insists for too long the business community has called the shots on trade. Now they say it's time for workers to have a say.
One thing's for sure - you are not going to see this kind of reporting on Faux News, or just about any place else in the MSM.
Now to the Dobbs poll. I ran one 11 months ago and was surprised with the results. Let's see how Kossacks feel about Lou today.