Let's Draft Senator Byron Dorgan for President

I recently finished reading Senator Byron Dorgan's (D-North Dakota) new book, "Take This Job and Ship It: How Corporate Greed and Brain-dead Politics are Selling Out America".

On trade issues, Senator Dorgan "gets it".  None of this namby-pamby "it's the responsibility of American workers to get more education so they'll be more competitive in the global economy" like we get from the corporate lapdog wing of the Democratic party.

On the contrary, Senator Dorgan recognizes that trade treaties like NAFTA, CAFTA, and the WTO have sold out America's workers, rigging the whole system against us.

Dorgan acknowledges that American workers, hard-working though they may be, simply cannot compete with people who are willing to work 7 days a week for 50 cents an hour.  But, he says, nor should they have to!

Dorgan gives numerous examples of companies that used to provide good, middle-class jobs who have abandoned American workers to make products cheaper overseas.  Then these companies import those products into the United States and sell them at a higher profit.

Dorgan discusses the tax breaks that so-called "American" corporations get for sending jobs overseas.  He talks about the Wal-Martization of the economy.  He says that, with the $2 billion per day trade defici, we are headed for a fiscal train wreck.  He calls for a re-vitalization of the labor movement, needed now more than ever to give workers a voice in bargaining for decent wages and working conditions.

He's not afraid to say he wants to "protect" American workers, even though that word is close to the dreaded word "protectionism".

Dorgan discusses Warren Buffett's idea of achieving a balance of trade using "import certificates".  You can read more about import certificates here.  It might work.  It might not.  But it's an interesting idea, and certainly worth discussing.

Here are just a few of the other ideas that Dorgan advocates:
1. allow companies to sue other companies that abuse foreign workers to lower their costs;
2. prohibit the importation of goods from companies that abuse overseas workers;
3. require that "most favored nation" status with China be renewed every year;
4. encourage stronger unions.

I found only one thing to quibble about (he doesn't call for a Canadian-style health care system).  But Dorgan clearly understands the economic forces at work in today's economy, and how dangerous they are.  This is a breath of fresh air, especially coming from an important elected official.

Many big names in the Democratic Party like John Kerry both Clintons clearly do not "get" the harmful impact of so-called "free trade" policies that they have supported (and which Dorgan opposed).  This makes Dorgan well-suited to lead the nation out of its current economic morass and toward more economic justice.

An earlier version of this was posted on Unbossed: http://www.unbossed.com/...