Bill Greider On the Taboo Of Big Money, Trade & House Democrats

Bill Greider's post-mortem [1] of the House vote today on expanding the NAFTA trade model into Peru is a must-read. He excerpts a snippet from the New York Times [2] story that is surprisingly accurate from a newspaper that has made an art form out of berating fair traders as Luddites and free traders as Enlightened Saviors of the Planet. In explaining why so many Democrats voted for the Peru Free Trade Agreement, the Times incisively points out a taboo subject at the heart of the issue:

"Democrats from the prosperous areas of the East and West Coast have become especially responsive, many Democrats say, to the desire of Wall Street and the high technology, health, pharmaceutical and entertainment industries to expand their sales overseas. These industries have also become major Democratic contributors."

That is absolutely why so many Democrats in Washington simply don't care about the trade issue - because the Big Money people they are now surrounded with are hitting the jackpot from the status quo.

Greider says that these "big-money sectors are anxious to squelch the new critics of globalization in Democratic ranks before they can gain momentum in Congress." He saysthat Democratic leaders "chose to stand with the money guys and dismiss the political backlash against globalization building across the country" in a bet that "people aren't paying attention to such trivial matters."

"But I wouldn't count on that," he concludes, adding:

"[Democratic leaders in Washington are] liable to lose [their] bet as economic conditions worsen for folks in coming months. People are likely to get more anxious and angry than they already are. One thing Democrats should not try to tell voters in '08 is they are the party of change. Might yield more yawns and snickers than votes."

Go read Greider's whole analysis here [1]. As usual, he tells it like it is.