War on the Middle Class: How the Government, Big Business, and Special Interest Groups Are Waging War on the American Dream and How to Fight Back: Dobbs, Lou: Amazon.com: Books (original) (raw)
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Customers find the book to be a great read with good insights. They say it's well-researched, and eye-opening. Readers also praise the writing quality as well-written and forthright.
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12 customers mention "Readability"12 positive0 negative
Customers find the book great, with excellent chapters on how to "take back" America. They appreciate the appendices and notes section. Readers also say the book is candid and straightforward.
"...24. An excellent chapter on how to "take back" America.25. Great appendices: The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the..." Read more
"...The book is a good read and really makes you angry. I say throw the bums out." Read more
"...Skip MSNBC and Fox broadcasts this week; read this book instead. Great job Dobbs." Read more
"Pretty good account for what has been going on in this area...." Read more
10 customers mention "Insight"10 positive0 negative
Customers find the book well-written, well-researched, and candid. They say it's interesting and eye-opening. Readers also mention the facts are astounding.
"...Eye-opening stuff. Many great examples.10. Big Pharma and its lobby power.11. The repeal of the "death" tax bill and its impact...." Read more
"...Because of the massive content of this brief, "easy-read" book, I have only reviewed some of its wealth, summarizing Mr Dobb's appraisal of the..." Read more
"...Honest, well researched, common sense...." Read more
"Lou Dobbs provides an unbiased insight into what is going on in America...." Read more
3 customers mention "Writing quality"3 positive0 negative
Customers praise the writing quality as well-written and easy to read. They also appreciate the author's forthright comments.
"...Taking Back America.Positives:1. A well-written, well researched, and as candid a book as you will find.2...." Read more
"...Because of the massive content of this brief, "easy-read" book, I have only reviewed some of its wealth, summarizing Mr Dobb's appraisal of the..." Read more
"...Lou Dobb's is not afraid of stating the real facts. Well written and I applaud his honesty and what he's trying to do for the Middle Class." Read more
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Reviewed in the United States on May 23, 2011
War on the Middle Class: How the Government, Big Business and Special Interest Groups Are Waging War on the American Dream and How to Fight Back by Lou Dobbs
"War on the Middle Class" is a candid account of what Lou Dobbs considers the war against the middle class. He goes through all the main issues with straightforward arguments in support of his position and closes the book with specific recommendations on how to combat them. This 288-page book is composed of the following twelve chapters: 1. War on the Middle Class, 2. Class Warfare, 3. The Best Government Money Can Buy, 4. The Politics of Deceit, 5. He Says, She Says, 6. The Exorbitant Cost of Free Trade, 7. Exporting America, 8. Broken Borders, 9. A Generation of Failure, 10. Health Care: It's Enough to Make You Sick, 11. The Best of Intentions, and 12. Taking Back America.
Positives:
1. A well-written, well researched, and as candid a book as you will find.
2. Mr. Dobbs has great mastery of the topic yet is able to use direct and accessible language to convey his points.
3. This is a surprisingly even-handed book. The author does not hold back and is very forthright in his comments. Even acknowledging personal mistakes which in my view give this book a lot of credibility. What he now acknowledges as an erroneous support for NAFTA as an example.
4. The ever increasing and dangerous impact of lobbyists.
5. The impact and threat of corporate elites to the principles of free markets and a democratic society. Many great examples of their impact.
6. The financial abuse of CEOs. An expose of sorts.
7. The truth about corporate taxes. Infuriating account.
8. The impact of special interests.
9. The conflict of interests between government employees and future careers as lobbyists. Eye-opening stuff. Many great examples.
10. Big Pharma and its lobby power.
11. The repeal of the "death" tax bill and its impact.
12. Social security and why Wall Street wants a piece of the pie.
13. Political perks...
14. Thought-provoking quotes backed by strong-supporting arguments. "I believe that free trade as defined and promoted by the Clinton and Bush administrations and by both Republicans and Democrats, are destroying America's manufacturing base and middle-class jobs, and is bankrupting the nation".
15. The ethics of media discussed. Interesting and insightful. "News should be based on facts, not titillation or voyeurism.
16. The negative impact of our free trade agreements. Very good stuff.
17. Why NAFTA failed? Excellent account. More than worth the price of the book!
18. The impact of outsourcing. Enlightening and upsetting.
19. Taxpayer privacy...another upsetting account.
20. The issue of illegal immigration and the factors involved.
21. The reality of our educational system. Another expose of sorts.
22. The importance of a national common bond.
23. The embarrassing state of health care and a look back at failed attempts.
24. An excellent chapter on how to "take back" America.
25. Great appendices: The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States.
26. Great notes section.
27. One of the best Kindle values out there!
Negatives:
1. No Kindle links.
2. A little dated since the book was published in 2006. Too little to be a concern.
3. With regards to illegal immigration the emphasis should be placed on illegal hiring practices versus going after the individuals. It's also more practical and more feasible economically than building a huge fence and having to protect it.
4. Having to wait and hope that Mr. Dobbs writes another book.
In summary, I highly recommend this book. It's one of the most straightforward unfiltered books I have read. Mr. Dobbs covers the appropriately named title of his book with expertise but not at the expense of being unintelligible. This is a very important topic and this book does it justice.
Further suggestions: "Screwed..." by Thom Hartman, "Perfectly Legal..." by David Cay Johnston, "Fifteen Biggest Lies about the Economy..." by Joshua Holland, and "The Looting of America..." by Les Leopold.
4 people found this helpful
Reviewed in the United States on July 2, 2008
Lou Dobbs lists and adds credible support to each subject: How American workers are breezily replaced by pennies a day foreign workers, our frightening health care situation : "American citizens who need health care assistance shouldn't need a post-college education to figure out how to enroll in Medicare," how big pharma reaps the lion's share of dollars which change hands, fleecing American taxpayers, while middlemen lobbyists dish out pharma goodies to "our" out-of-touch, "Who, me? I only work here" Congress, who are obsessed with pocketing extortion dollars to finance their TV re-election ads, thus again placing the American Middle Class citizen last on any help genuinely earned, deserved and needed. Lou Dobbs writes of how, when the Clinton Administration presented a health care proposal, "More than $100 million was spent to convince the American public that the proposed reform was a bad idea." WOW! I did not know that! Did you?
Outrageous costs of insurance, payments for medical necessities and the newly acquired poverty families with catastrophic illness must suffer block honest citizens from daring to dream any American Dream.
I could not reveal the book to you if I tried and I did not try. There is much, much more.
We are reminded how corporations are becoming the kings of life and death for Americans. You may wonder, "how can these things be?" And maybe, after reading "War On The Middle Class", you will want to keep Congress in "a state of constant gooseflesh" (Dr. Spock's immortal phrase).
Very few genuine Americans do not have a work ethic. Yet, too many middle class jobs have been outsourced. A reasonably paying job, holding family life together, has all but morphed into mist.
Mr. Dobbs writes the details of firms and people comprising and compromising today's America.
Because of the massive content of this brief, "easy-read" book, I have only reviewed some of its wealth, summarizing Mr Dobb's appraisal of the catastrophy of US health care, i. e., who IS captain of this ship of too many machines and prescriptions with sometimes questionable outcomes?
His coverage of other disasters are: the government's glut of lawyers, the Iraq disaster, "When Congressman John Murtha (D-PA), a decorated Marine Corps veteran, stood up on the floor of the House of Representatives to call for an orderly withdrawal of our troops from Iraq, the Senate and House Democratic leadership (and the rank and file)were silent." To a thoughtful reader, this silence on the Bush/Cheney rush to preemptive war, (Sen Byrd's wise eloquence on even considering such an undertaking was reflected by a few others in Congress, the lone Republican, Ron Paul, is included. Byrd's far-reaching wisdom was brushed aside like a pesky summer housefly,) my own opinion. Mr. Dobbs writes on this hot button subject that there is "still no demand for an accounting of the Pentagon's general staff for what has now been a three-year failure to defeat the insurgency."
Also painstakingly covered are the suicidal (my words)trade deals, the frightening dive of our educational system, the lack of adequate inspection of each container which comes into our ports and the needed manpower and will to safeguard our Mexican and Canadian borders.
In short, Mr. Dobbs outlines what a grown-up, mentally developed person's use of taxpayer money would be, in contrast to how a drunken sailer and his cronies are trashing our money supply, not their own, (my words, not Mr. Dobbs's.)
How did Lou Dobbs ever find so many revelations? I have heard that he is a reporter!
5 people found this helpful
Reviewed in the United States on June 25, 2007
This book was scarier than any Stephen King novel. I knew that Washington DC was out of touch with everyday citizens, but I was not aware of how deep pockets can make our elected representatives forget who elected them in the first place. Money really does talk, and if you don't have a lot of it, then it is unlikely the US government cares what you have to say. I have been seeing the gap widen between the rich and the poor with my own eyes as I am in the middle class but my brother is a consultant for a high profile firm on the West coast. He gets a lot of tax breaks for investments and gets to stop paying social security taxes after he hits the $90,000 mark every year. I barely have any money to save, much less invest. Read this book, and then check out Lou's show Lou Dobbs Tonight on CNN.
14 people found this helpful
Reviewed in the United States on December 6, 2016
While it was released in 2007, it addressed many issues that are now worse and still need to be addressed, such as 8000+ lobbyist (including international) buying and making politicians (names may be different but that's all) wealthy through behind the scene funding activities, because they have access to TRILLIONS of middle class taxpayer dollars and jobs. The lack of many quality teachers in the U.S. Educational Systems (grade & high school & college professors) needs to change, plus many other problem areas which have only worsened since 2007 AND NEED TO BE STOPPED AND CHANGED ASAP!!!. It's truly worth listening to what Lou Dobbs says the U.S. issues were and sadly still are. To date, only State, Federal Politicians, Foreign Entities and Rich have won and the middle class and poor Americans have greatly lost, which Dobbs made clear in 2007 and too many people ignored. Having worked in both the private and political sectors, for 40 years, I witnessed what Dobbs disclosed. Positive change is long overdue!!!
4 people found this helpful