On the December 16 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio program, CNN host Lou Dobbs discussed the problem of “fearmongers” and political leaders “talking down this economy,” and played an audio clip of a December 16 CTV interview with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, in which Harper was asked, during a discussion of the global economy and the Canadian economy, “Are you scared?”*

In 2006, The New Yorker reported that “Dobbs is paid about six million dollars a year by CNN for his TV work and a weekly column that he writes for CNN.com.” In a 2007 CBS 60 Minutes profile, correspondent Lesley Stahl reported that Dobbs “lives on a 300 acre farm in New Jersey and commutes three hours a day -- every day -- to and from CNN in New York.” She further reported that Dobbs “lives there with 25 horses, four dogs, a cat, his wife, his 97-year-old mother, and his wife's parents, the in-laws.”

From the December 16 broadcast of United Stations Radio Networks' The Lou Dobbs Show:

DOBBS: No matter what the fearmongers tell you, however, we are not -- and I've said it, and I've said it, and I've said it -- we're not going to fall into recession into this -- in this country. We are going to probably go through one of the most painful recessions in our country's modern history, but we are not going to fall in depression, and you and I and all independent thinkers have got to keep our heads up, our eyes clear, avoid the nonsense and the herds, and deal with reality as it comes at us. That's what made this country great. It's what will maintain its greatness, and that is you and I sticking to our nation's founding ideals, and making certain that we are “can do” in our outlook, and not just going along with the crowd and the nonsense.

By the way, some of our folks have hopefully quit talking down this market, and talking down this economy. We've got enough problems without political leaders who are talking about how bad this situation is, how much we need to do this or that for an ailing stock market, or credit market, but good grief, up in Canada, they have got the -- they've got a serious issue. Listen to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper today.

[begin audio clip]

HARPER: The truth is I have never seen such uncertainty in terms of looking forward to the future.

STEVE MURPHY (CTV News anchor): Are you scared?

HARPER: I'm very worried about the Canadian economy.

[end audio clip]

DOBBS: Well, you know, we're all concerned. We're all worried. Anyone paying attention is concerned and worried, but are you scared? Are you afraid? No. That's un-American. And, you know what? If there -- to sit there and say as, you know -- and they're Canadians, I understand that, and Stephen Harper's a Canadian -- but you know, Canada didn't get to be a great country by, you know, whining about it. I'm glad he chose to say, “I'm worried about the Canadian economy.” Now, asked whether a recession -- a depression is possible, I'm not so pleased with Stephen Harper's answer.

[begin audio clip]

MURPHY: Could this be a depression?

HARPER: It could be, but I think we've learned enough about depressions -- what we learned enough from the 1930s to avoid some of the mistakes that caused a recession in 1929 to become a depression in the 1930s.

[end audio clip]

DOBBS: Now, bad public policy, bad public policy, and more bad public policy decisions leading to the depression of the '30s. Right now, 580,000 direct and indirect jobs will be lost in Canada -- this is one of the reasons for Prime Minister Harper's concerns -- would be lost over the next five years in Canada if the Big Three carmakers shut down their Ontario operations.

* Item has been updated.