This is a needed correction that will have consequences for Party alignment and future elections.
Why Joe Biden Resonates With Blue-Collar Voters
Joseph R. Biden Jr. has durable support from a multiracial coalition of working-class voters who view him as one of their own.
www.nytimes.com
The President's recovery package is receiving widespread, bipartisan support throughout the nation, but the enthusiasm among blue collar workers is a confirmation of his commitment to a faction that had become, quite rightfully imho, so alienated from the Democratic Party that it was willing to take a desperate shot in 2016.
The former guy's fake promises that he would revive coal mining, reinvigorate steel production, and restore manufacturing - as bogus as his vows to make Mexico pay for a big, beautiful wall and replace 'ObamaCare' with "Something terrific!" that "covers everybody!"- left them in despair, but they have been given reason to be cautiously optimistic.
Union leaders and their Democratic allies pointed to an $86 billion aid provision in the package that would prevent multi-employer pension plans from collapsing. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), who pushed for its inclusion, said it would “not only protect these pensions, but will stimulate our local economies and prevent a major bailout that would have cost taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars if we did nothing.”
Phil Smith, the head of governmental affairs with United Mine Workers of America, said while their workers had their pensions shored up in 2019, the rescue plan provides a “backstop” to protect their retirement accounts, and listed it along with other wishlist items that the union plans to tout internally, as well as though its social media channels.
“That is such a signature accomplishment that has been worked on for more than a decade,” Smith said. “It’s huge!”
They also welcomed expanded benefits that will soon begin flowing to thousands of unemployed mine workers. Other union leaders said out-of-work members whose families are suffering through the pandemic will make them aware of their eligibility for COBRA subsidies to help them afford healthcare.
“Unions are often in the position of having to explain to our members that after we fight, and after we mobilize, the negotiators come back and it’s not everything we wanted,” said Damon Silvers, policy director for the AFL-CIO. “President Biden’s American Rescue Plan is one of those extraordinary moments when that’s actually not true.”
“This is what we fought for—right down the line.”
The president is preparing to embark on a new, far more public-facing phase of his term.
www.politico.com
Biden's commitment to fulfill the former guy's phony promise to rebuild the nation's crumbling infrastructure is especially encouraging for the labor sector as well as for the nation in general.
America is coming back!
