Dumb and dumber

Dumb politicians pitching dumb proposals to dumb voters: Democrats Seeking Labor's Backing Call for More Health Benefits and Less Free Trade

Mr. Kucinich and Mr. Gephardt were the most direct in professing their support for labor's goals. Mr. Gephardt noted that he had voted against Nafta in Congress and that others on stage — among them, Mr. Kerry, Senator Bob Graham of Florida and Howard Dean, the former governor of Vermont — had supported the trade pact, even as they expressed reservations about that support in the course of a Democratic nomination process where labor plays a critical role.

Only one candidate had the beytsim to tell the union bosses the truth:

Senator Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut, who has portrayed himself as the most centrist candidate, sought to stand out tonight as he refrained from offering unabashed endorsements of union positions.

At one point, the senator was booed when he said he would establish a pilot program to provide poor students with vouchers to attend private schools, a position strongly opposed by teacher unions.

"I'm going to speak the truth," Mr. Lieberman said. "I'm going say what I think is best for America regardless. This is an experiment. Try it for three to four years, limit it to poor children, don't take any money out of public school budgets."

And for this they booed him. No, it's not the labor union members who are dumb. It's the union leaders who think that representing their members means preventing poor children from getting a decent education.

Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at August 06, 2003 07:01 AM