Fidel steps down…and the critique of business has intensified…in the U.S. Huh–maybe this is a Democratic presidential race way of finally paying homage to the man who was vilified for decades by Republicans and Democrats alike? Yeah, just kidding…

    But, it is quite amusing to listen to two Democratic presidential candidates–who even The Economist magazine says are two economic centrists–berating business. It’s vote-getting time, folks!

    Here , for your consideration, is a taste of the rhetoric:

Mrs. Clinton, speaking on the eve of the Wisconsin primary but looking forward to primaries in Ohio and Texas on March 4, issued a 12-page compendium of her economic policies that emphasizes programs aiding families stressed by high oil prices, home foreclosures, costly student loans and soaring health care premiums.

In public appearances here and in her economic booklet, she took aim at hedge fund managers, oil company profits, drug company subsidies and trade agreements that she says encourage companies to export jobs.

Mrs. Clinton told an audience that the Wisconsin primary and subsequent contests were “a chance for all of you here to help take our country back.”

“We need tax breaks for the middle class, not for the wealthy and the well-connected,” she said Monday morning at St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wis. “We’re going to rein in the special interests and get the $55 billion in giveaways and subsidies they’ve gotten under Republicans back into your pockets.”

Mrs. Clinton referred to the “two oilmen in the White House” and repeated her call for a windfall-profits tax on the oil industry to finance a $50 billion program to develop alternate energy sources and create “green jobs.”

    Not to be outdone, Sen. Obama did a little stint of old-fashioned populism himself:

Campaigning in Ohio before flying to Wisconsin for an election-eve rally, Mr. Obama said the wealthy had “made out like bandits” under the Bush administration and called for an end to tax breaks for companies that move jobs overseas.

“In the last year alone,” Mr. Obama said, “93 plants have closed in this state. And yet, year after year, politicians in Washington sign trade agreements that are riddled with perks for big corporations but have absolutely no protections for American workers. It’s bad for our economy; it’s bad for our country.”

    Excuse me, this is from the two politicians who both voted for the Peru Free Trade Agreement? Mark me down as one who is thrilled that we’re starting to hear about the real threat to most people–abusive corporate power–and, at the same time, doesn’t believe for a second that this will mean much in terms of policy if one of the two Democrats actually wins the White House.

    By the way, an aside: the president is in Rwanda. Did anyone notice that he was gone?