Changing the Conventional Wisdom

Candidate Barack Obama told 6,000 people at Arizona State University, "I'm not running to uphold conventional wisdom. I'm running to change the conventional wisdom."

"I'm not running to uphold conventional wisdom. I'm running to change the conventional wisdom.'" [East Valley Tribune, 10/19/07] So, what might that conventional wisdom be Senator Obama? What is conventional about wisdom. Is it the prevailing view that you are challenging or the standard conventional Republican wisdom - and how might that differ from the standard conventional Democratic wisdom. I would like to know.

Obama has always struck me as being "thin on substance" and his criticism of welfare puts him squarely in the conservative camp. His economic advisers include Austan Goolsbee, U. of Chicago neoclassicist and critic of Michael Moore's "Sicko", which points out the advantages of single payer health care. Obama's other economic advisers are Harvard economist David Cutler who believes that high health costs are good for the economy and Harvard economist Jeffrey Liebman who co-authored a paper vis-a-vis the feasibility and favorability for privatizing social security.

Obama tells us his candidacy is "challenging conventional wisdom." What he should be telling you is, his candidacy is challenging conventional wisdom of Democrats. He wraps up and puts a ribbon around conservative positions and sells it as unconventional and indeed it is. It should appeal to Blue Dog Democrats and for the mainstream and the left it is still the same old conservative line of march.

Yet the challenge to convention is his rationale for running and it sounds good to all those young voters who, like him, do not have the experience of Democratic administrations and most barely remember, if at all, the prosperity enjoyed under Clinton when for the first time the budget deficits were eliminated and people were earning more relative to inflation what they are now and jobs were being created in numbers which would not only keep up with the natural increase in the labor force but exceeding it. With Bush we have negative job growth and income has fallen. Bush is destroying the middle class. During Clinton's administration the middle class increased and there was more job security and 22 million new jobs. Is that the conventional wisdom he eschews or is it social security and entitlements, the old mantra of the right?

It is strange that he now says he didn't mean it as a compliment when he said the Republicans were the "party of ideas" and when Reagan was "challenging conventional wisdom" it wasn't what he meant that he is now "challenging conventional wisdom." Are we to believe those terms mean different things and we should just take his definition at the time depending on the criticism he receives for saying them - and they must mean entirely opposite things - one thing for Democrats and one thing for Republicans? Does your head hurt yet?

Should we say to Obama nice endorsement from Ted Kennedy too, but Kennedy's plan which he and Bush co-supported and he ushered through the Congress for "No Child Left Behind" left all the children behind? And maybe Kennedy's judgment is not so good after-all.

"It's time to get off of the conventional wisdom and try something new," he told 500 people at Roosevelt Middle School in NE Cedar Rapids. [The Gazette, 7/30/07] BUT, what is the conventional wisdom? Is it time to try some Democratic wisdom, in which case it is a good idea to elect a Democrat, but why someone who has never been to Europe? Why you? Why not someone with experience. Someone who is in favor of universal health care, not budgeted health care, not much different than we have right now. Your health care plan is conventional. Your plan is conventional and misses at least 15 million people in addition to those who will still be under-insured. Hillary's health care plan is the unconventional for the U.S. which is the worst in the industrialized world when it comes to providing health care because you see UNIVERSAL single payer - which is what Clinton prefers, is the conventional everywhere else BUT HERE.

Sustained Growth

President Bill Clinton was criticized for saying we have to slow the economy. That is the problem of selective quotes. The quote those who faulted Bill was: "We just have to slow down our economy and cut back our greenhouse gas emissions 'cause we have to save the planet for our grandchildren." BUT, what he actually said was the opposite. He rejects slowing the economy. He advocates sustained economic growth. This is what he said: "And maybe America, and Europe, and Japan, and Canada -- the rich counties -- would say, 'OK, we just have to slow down our economy and cut back our greenhouse gas emissions 'cause we have to save the planet for our grandchildren.' We could do that. But if we did that, you know as well as I do, China and India and Indonesia and Vietnam and Mexico and Brazil and the Ukraine, and all the other countries will never agree to stay poor to save the planet for our grandchildren. The only way we can do this is if we get back in the world's fight against global warming and prove it is good economics that we will create more jobs to build a sustainable economy that saves the planet for our children and grandchildren. It is the only way it will work."

And that is actually what he said. I agree with that, but I do believe we have a serious population problem and I do not think we can stem the tide of destruction without a global agreement to reduce population growth. But this isn't about what I think. It was about wrongly defaming the Clinton's by picking their words for them.

By the way, this is the conventional wisdom in the rest of the world, not the Republican view at all. The Republican view is the unconventional wisdom - which is not so wise at all. If it is the position of most in the world then it is not a conventional wisdom to be challenged by Barack Obama.

Collective Bargaining

Hillary wants to turn the country around with strong support for labor and their unions. What we need is less outsourcing and what we need in this country is more collective bargaining, not the destruction of unions which the Republicans have been attempting to do at least since the Reagan years forcefully with the firing of all PATCO workers and wherever and whenever the Republicans get a hold of the legislative and executive power in the U.S. Citizens of other countries cannot understand our attitude toward unions in this country yet that is the result of intense brainwashing which must change. With Hillary's help that course will be reverse.

Hillary was on the board at Wall Mart. Does that mean Hillary should be painted with the same brush we use to paint the board now? No, at the time Sam Walton was alive and the company was much different than it is today. What changed was the national perspective with regard to labor policies and profits over people.

Hillary And Wal-Mart

Source and quoting from Hillary Fact Check
1/31/2008

ABC's Good Morning America ran a piece on Hillary Clinton and Wal-Mart. Both the fact that Hillary Clinton served on Wal-Mart's Board and Hillary's criticism of Wal-Mart are well known and well established.

Hillary is a strong supporter of organized labor and enjoys strong support from organized labor. The reason Sen. Clinton has been endorsed by unions representing six million Americans is because she knows that they have been essential to our nation's success.

Throughout her career, Sen. Clinton has stood with all workers as they exercised their right to organize and bargain collectively. Hillary has said that if elected President, she will sign the Employee Free Choice Act, legislation she sponsored in the Senate, into law so that we can create an atmosphere where workers can choose to form a union free from employer coercion and bargain collectively. Hillary has actively opposed anti-collective bargaining provisions contained in the Department of Defense's proposed National Security Personnel System and has voted in favor of collective bargaining rights for TSA screeners.

As the first woman on Wal-Mart's board, Hillary worked hard to make Wal-Mart a better corporate citizen.

Wal-Mart Board member: `Was Wal-Mart a better company, with better practices, because Hillary was on board? Yes.' "Did Hillary like all of Wal-Mart practices? No," said Garry Mauro, a longtime friend and supporter of the Clintons who sat on the Wal-Mart Environmental Advisory Board with Mrs. Clinton in the late 1980s and worked with her on George McGovern's 1972 presidential campaign." But," Mr. Mauro added, "was Wal-Mart a better company, with better practices, because Hillary was on the board? Yes." [New York Times, 5/20/07]

Hillary `used her position to champion personal causes, like the need for more women in management and a comprehensive environmental program.' Fellow board members and company executives, who have not spoken publicly about her role at Wal-Mart, say Mrs. Clinton used her position to champion personal causes, like the need for more women in management and a comprehensive environmental program, despite being Wal-Mart's only female director, the youngest and arguably the least experienced in business. [New York Times, 5/20/07]

Hillary strongly supports Wal-Mart workers' right to organize and has said so throughout the campaign.

"Senator Clinton believes strongly that Wal-Mart's workers should be able to unionize and bargain collectively, and that the corporation should provide health insurance coverage to its employees," campaign spokeswoman Hilarie Grey said. [Las Vegas Review-Journal, 12/10/07]

"Sen. Clinton has made clear that Wal-Mart has an obligation to provide good health benefits and good wages to its workers. Wal-Mart workers should be able to unionize and bargain collectively." [Los Angeles Times, 5/19/07]

At no time was Hillary aware that Wal-Mart was using child labor or selling foreign-made goods under Made in America banners.

Read a statement from Stuart Appelbaum, President of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union.

Hillary Clinton and Wal-Mart

Statement of Stuart Appelbaum

President, Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, UFCW

The following is a statement by Stuart Appelbaum, president of the 100,000- member Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, regarding recent attacks on Sen. Hillary Clinton related to her having once served on Wal-Mart's board of directors.

RWDSU families are proud to be in the forefront of the campaign to keep Wal-Mart from opening in New York City -- and we are equally proud of our close friendship with Sen. Hillary Clinton.

We know from experience that Hillary understands that strong unions built the American middle class.

We know from experience that union families can count on Hillary to be on their side, not once or twice, but whenever she is needed.

We know from experience that Hillary shares our belief that Wal-Mart and other retailers have a moral responsibility to respect every worker's right to organize.

Over the last seven years American workers and their families have been brutalized by corporate greed and unprecedented government indifference. Based on our experience we are convinced that, as president, Hillary would work from day one to restore workers rights and the institution of collective bargaining.

Some politicians only stand up for labor at election time, but we know from experience that Hillary will be there for workers and their unions long after the ballots are counted.

(End)

Hank Roth

The above includes some copying from other sources. Attributions have been provided where required. All copying is in compliance with the Fair Use Doctrine of Copyright law as per
Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, Copyright Law.

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Today is Wednesday July 23, 2008