Someone Get Lou Dobbs a Dictionary!

July 25th, 2006 1:52 PM

Someone get Lou Dobbs a dictionary. He certainly needs one.

Interviewing the anti-free trade liberal Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) on his July 24 program, Dobbs told viewers his guest was "no protectionist."

Below is an excerpt. You can find the full article of my story at the MRC's BusinessandMedia.org:

“Senator Byron Dorgan is no protectionist. In point of fact, he is calling for expanded markets for U.S. exports,” Dobbs insisted, praising Dorgan for his “critical examination of what this country is doing to itself,” with tax and trade policy.

But Dobbs is confusing his viewers, if not outright insulting their intelligence by insisting Dorgan isn’t for protectionist policies. Dorgan supports various tariffs, including one on foreign sources of ethanol, a fuel additive mandated for gasoline by the EPA.

The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines a protectionist as “an advocate of government economic protection for domestic producers through restrictions on foreign competitors.”

“If Byron Dorgan’s not a protectionist, than I don’t think anybody in Washington is,” Dan Griswold, director of the Cato Institute’s Center for Trade Policy Studies said in a phone interview with the Business & Media Institute.