Welcome to the Grovel, Er, Global Economy

At each step in America's middle class, three-decade race down the economic ladder, global economy gurus have assured us "not to worry" as jobs are firewalled by "American Exceptionalism."

Okay so textiles went first, but appliance and auto manufacturing is secure. Uh, maybe not, but America's leadership in hi-tech "componentry" is indisputable. Alright, so that didn't work out so well either. Then again at least back office, accounting, medical records processing and customer service jobs are safe. Oh yeah, that's right, they speak English in India.

Now we're betting on green innovation, biogenetics and nanotechnology as if China can't build windmills or manipulate DNA.

Once McDonald's figures a way of cooking a Big Mac in Thailand and beaming it to your local franchise, the final "firewall" will collapse.

It's the height of cultural arrogance to suppose other countries -- especially India and the emerging nations of the Pacific Rim -- don't have the genius, drive, management skills and, increasingly, investment clout to overtake historical American advantages as they have shown at every turn.

And since the economies breathing down our neck are not shy about ignoring patents and copyrights and excel at reverse engineering and producing cheap knock-offs, it puts them about 14 days behind our vaunted "Exceptionalism."

Here's where free trade has gotten us.

Eleven of the Department of Labor's projected 20 fastest growing jobs for the next decade provide only poverty-level to low wages: food handlers, home, health care and nursing aides, sales and office clerks, laborers, bookkeepers, customer service operators, receptionists and groundskeepers. To clarify, that's the U.S. Department of Labor not the Bangladesh Department of Labor.

Not a good paying blue collar manufacturing job in sight. Only management analysts and computer software engineers, in 17th and 18th spots, come close to participating in the promised global nirvana.

"Free" trade was a scam from the start. How in the world are the same pennies-a-day peasants to whom corporate executives handed our jobs in turn going to afford the American-made exports guaranteed in the dozens of trade pacts these cretins and their political toadies in both parties foisted on us? Our enormous balance of trade deficits are a major reason for our current financial predicament.

But it's all worked perfectly for the corporate elites who use the cover of free trade to amass excessive profits and avoid responsible stewardship all the while undermining middle class prosperity.

Instead of deriding President Obama for nixing the South Korean trade deal, he should be credited as the first president to insist on a fair deal for American workers and not simply a good deal for American companies.

If you're one of those people demanding your country back from Washington, you're looking in the wrong place.