Economy in Crisis pays a well-deserved tribute to Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio. A leader in the fight for fair trade, Brown has worked tirelessly to protect American jobs.
Our Current Economic Environment is No Longer Sustainable
Published 01/15/09 Dustin Ensinger
www.economyincrisis.org
Editor's Note: American government officials are elected for one
purpose: To represent the best interest of their constituents. In
today's society more and more elected officials shun their duties
after taking office, and opt to pursue their own best interests to
the detriment of America as a whole. However, in the midst of a
politically corrupt sea of ill-willed politicians, a few individuals
remain fighting the good fight, these individuals are our "Free Trade
Foes."
If it were more than a mere symbolic accessory intended to signify
that "the struggle continues," the canary lapel pin worn by Sen.
Sherrod Brown might forewarn of the toxic air that is the modern day
American economy. Life is gradually sucked out by ill-conceived trade
policies like the North American Free Trade Agreement and the World
Trade Organization, leaving a gigantic void in what was once the
backbone of America`s flourishing economy: its manufacturing base.
But, that emblematic gesture does indeed mean so much more.
You see, for centuries miners died by the thousands each and every
year because there were no safety laws or trade unions to demand
protections or lawmakers ordering more precautionary measures be
taken. It was just the hard-working men and a caged canary toiling
miles under the earth`s surface. The bird was no mascot, however, it
was the only tool the miners had to warn them of potentially
hazardous air conditions: if the bird croaked, it was time to get
out - and quickly. Today, the canary symbolizes the progress made by
working men and women over the intervening years - child labor laws,
mandatory safety regulations, 40 hour work weeks, collective
bargaining rights - and the ongoing struggle that continues today.
It is fitting then that the bird known for protecting the working men
of years past is now proudly worn by the one of the working men and
women's strongest advocates in Congress, the junior Senator from
Ohio, Sherrod Brown.
Throughout the course of his career Brown has been derided by critics
as "a demagogue on trade," a "protectionist" and as someone standing
in the way of progress in the perennially downtrodden economies of
Third World nations. Washington Post columnist David Broder once
described Brown as "a loud advocate of protectionist policies that
offers a false hope of solving all our trade and job problems."
The reality, however, is that Brown just gets It, writing in an April
Op-Ed piece "Eight times I have taken the oath of office to support
and defend the United States. My colleagues and I commit ourselves to
protecting our nation from all enemies, foreign and domestic. That
includes protecting our neighborhoods from unsafe products. And, yes,
that also means protecting our workers and businesses from unfair
competition."
Protecting American businesses and workers is how Brown made a name
for himself in the me-first world of American politics. An economic
populist with both a homespun, down-to-earth Midwestern style and an
Ivy League background, he rejects the conventional wisdom that "free
trade" is great for everyone involved and is not afraid to make
blunt, politically unpopular assessments of the consequences of
unfettered "free trade."
"This is what's at stake when we talk about trade policy: America`s
middle class and the American Dream" Brown wrote in a 2006 Washington
Post Op-Ed piece.
By rejecting the gospel of "free trade," Brown, in 2006, became the
first Democratic senator from the state of Ohio since John Glenn
retired in 1998. Brown's 2006 defeat of Republican incumbent Mike
DeWine was the pinnacle of a political career that began soon after
he graduated from Yale. State Democratic officials persuaded him to
run for a seat in the state legislature at the ripe old age of 21.
Showing the fight and determination that is readily evident in the
working men and women Brown has supported throughout his career, he
knocked on 20,000 doors in his district, helping him defeat a popular
incumbent Republican. By age 29, Brown was elected Secretary of
State. In 1992, he was elected to represent Ohio's 13th District in
the U.S. House of Representatives, where he would serve six terms.
It was here, during his time in Congress, that Brown built a
reputation as a fiery populist ready to fight tooth-and-nail for the
working-class families of his district. He fought on issues ranging
from minimum wage, to universal health care, to sick leave, but
especially on trade issues, which had become a political lightning-
rod in Rust Belt states like Ohio as good-paying jobs seemingly
disappeared faster than a field of snow in May. "Free trade" had
decimated the industrial base of Ohio and left its victims jobless
and demoralized, but Brown was there to fight the good fight.
His father a local physician and his mother a one-time civil rights
activist, Brown had been instilled with a sense of righteous justice,
and seeing none in America's trade policies he was determined to
deliver it.
In 1993, in a losing effort, Brown led the fight against NAFTA -
which since has cost Ohio manufacturing 200,000 jobs. Not to be
deterred, members of the Democratic leadership in the House would
appoint him liaison in trade policy fights because of his manifest
grasp and passion of the issue. In 2005, Brown was charged with
leading the opposition to the Central American Free Trade Agreement
Though CAFTA would pass, the fact that it was carried by just two
votes, 217-215, in contrast to the passage of NAFTA by 34 votes 12
years prior, heartened Brown. He decided to make a run for the U.S.
Senate, where he is now one of the upper chamber's leading advocates
of "fair trade," describing America's current trade policies as "a
global race to the bottom as corporations troll the world for the
cheapest labor, fewest health, safety and environmental regulations
and the governments most unfriendly to labor rights."
On nearly every major piece of trade legislation over the past 15
years, Brown has been there, fighting for the rights of American
workers against unfair trade policies. In addition to his opposition
to NAFTA and CAFTA, Brown has actively and vigorously opposed trade
bills with the Andean nations, Singapore, Chile and Oman among
others. He has twice voted for the immediate withdrawal of the U.S.
from the World Trade Organization. He opposed giving the president of
his own party fast-track authority, which would have effectively cut
Congress out of any negotiations on further trade deals. He has been
a proponent of country-of-origin labeling on imported food products.
He has railed against corporations' corrupting influence on
government. Until recently, after urging from his wife, Brown refused
to accept the Congressional health insurance. He paid for it out of
his own pocket because many hard working men and women are unable to
afford health insurance. And Brown is the author of Myths of Free
Trade: Why American Trade Policy Has Failed.
America needs more lawmakers like Sen. Sherrod Brown, fighting for
the working men and women of America. Without them, the canary-in-the-
cage may keel over and die, warning us that our current economic
environment is no longer sustainable.
To learn more, or to encourage Senator Brown to keep fighting the
Good Fight, click here.
To contribute to Senator Brown's campaign war-chest to ensure that he
remains one of the leading voices of the fair trade movement in
Congress, click here
http://sherrodbrown.com/pages/about
http://www.economyincrisis.org/articles/show/2333
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