CT Blue

Via Think Progress:

Business groups are worried by the potential effects of provisions banning the import of all goods made with convict labor, forced labor, or forced or indentured child labor that were included in a customs bill sponsored by Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) and Ranking Member Charles Grassley (R-IA)

Business sources say this reporting requirement could cause DHS to more actively seek out imported products made with child labor, forced labor or convict labor. […]

Sources conceded that this was a sensitive issue because industry groups do not want to be seen as opposing strict measures guarding against human rights abuses. However, one source did expect a push from lobbyists closer to the finance committee mark-up of the bill, and speculated that U.S. industry groups and foreign governments could form ad hoc coalitions to help send a united message.

As professionals, the lobbyists must relish a task like this. Compared to selling child labor and slavery, stopping health care is a walk in the park, a mere bagatelle in the trophy case of a true lobbyist.

Imagine the brainstorming session among those lobbyists as they craft their talking points. True, it’s money that matters, but it’s still necessary to burnish the lucre with an attractive veneer of hypocrisy. Here’s just a few possibilities:

1. Banning goods made by non-traditional laborers would increase prices for the American consumer.

2. We have no right to restrict the freedom of non-traditional laborers to get near-gainful employment.

3. The United States should not interfere with the cultures of other countries (unless we intend to bomb them, of course).

I’m sure these are Bush League suggestions. No doubt the lobbyists will be far more creative. But talking points are just the start. For the real lobbyist-they man or woman with absolutely no conscience whatsoever, there is the Holy Grail. Having turned out thousands of brain dead Glenn Beck fans to oppose health care for themselves, shouldn’t it be possible for the lobbyists (with a little moola to Beck on the side of course) to turn out the tea partiers to demand cheap goods made by slaves and children?

There must be award ceremonies for lobbyists, and the guy or gal who can pull that one off surely deserves a special award, along with that special place in hell.