What a week....I came in at around midnight last night to find an e-mail saying Bill Clinton was going to be in the area...turned out he is at the same Train Depot that George Clooney was at on Wednesday. This time we were outside the station.There was a crowd of a few hundred people. We were in the press area behind the crowd on a platform so we had a clear shot of the crowd. Bill's speech had humor and was direct and pointed about plans to really turn this country around. He discussed the need for 100 mph cars which can run on Lithium, to pulling the troops out of Iraq, to schools and getting rid of all of this national testing for No Child Left Behind and to really look for true success not just test scores.
He also praised the McCain and Obama and this election has being historical no matter who wins.
The main theme was the Hilary has always been a 'change agent'. Not just in talk but in deeds her entire life. She thinks about the individuals, not just those with wealth and has been an advocate for children and families.
On the economic side, he made a great point about our trade deficit.
China, Japan and Korea are our largest trading partners, followed by the oil producing nations. They are also the countries who own our debt and lend us money to fuel our economy...his quote was that dealing with fair trade is tough since China is our banker...and "You don't go up to your banker, punch them in the face and then ask them for a loan".
He also joked about Not being able to go home, if he didn't campaign for his wife...
One of my highlights for the new mediamensch networks venture was meeting ABC News Producer for the US Senate Zach Wolf..we had a brief discussion of his feelings for the personalities and effectness of Senators Clinton, Obama, and McCain's surrogate, Sen. Tom Coburn (whom I believe may be on the VP short list..just my gut feel)....
More later....
1 comment:
Clinton's characterization of China as our "banker" is overly simplistic. China is our supplier of many products. We are their customer. They don't loan us money. We sell them assets in order to fund our purchases of their goods.
If we ever come to our senses and impose tariffs to eliminate our trade deficit, we will simply buy less of their stuff and stop selling them our assets to finance it. If we actually turned the trade deficit on its ear and ran a trade surplus, they would buy our products and finance it by selling back to us some of our own assets.
People like Clinton use fear-mongering to sustain their failed trade policies. It's time for America to see our free trade policy for what it is - a failure that has bankrupted us and transformed us from the world's preeminent industrial power into its skid row bum, literally begging the world for cash to keep us afloat. It's disgusting and it's time to put an end to it.
Pete Murphy
Author, Five Short Blasts
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