Gary Hart on CSPAN

Gary Hart is on CSPAN this morning. He, at least, is raising the question of why Bush has been so adamant about this Dubai deal. He even mentioned the notion that Bush and his buddies may be making money off the deal. Nice to hear somebody actually talking about the real question.

I teach, or I used to teach, so I spend a lot of time answering questions from students. When the suggestion is made that somebody is making money off a deal like the port deal, students immediately assume that the profit is direct. In their minds, they seem to see men with envelopes making pay offs in shady public bathrooms.

While this may in fact go on, it is seldom in this day and age, that crude. The trade-offs and the benefits are much more indirect and more sophisticatedly arranged. So, the search for the smoking gun is seldom successful.

Hart is not as upset about the port deal as some people are. He pointed out that to have Saudi Arabia control our oil was more important than having Dubai control a part of port operations.

Hart’s new book is "The Shield and the Cloak: The Security of the Commons." Publishers Weekly says: "This is an accessible and stimulating read for those interested in national security, politics and terrorism."

CSPAN says he is working on a book about the future of the Democratic Party. On that subject, CSPAN also had on John Dean yesterday, talking about the future of the Democratic Party.

Other points made by Hart in the 2 March interview:

-corporations are using illegal labor
-we are not producing enough scientists
-we are importing our science from countries like Pakistan
-we are consuming more than we are producing
-we need to produce more mathematicians
-the minimum wage in this country is too low. You can work full time at minimum wage and still be living in poverty. We have to elevate the minimum wage.

If you haven't discovered CSPAN, you should. I can't imagine what we would do without it.