Sherrod,
Haven't you learned the lessons of the Trump election? The electorate -yes, Ohioans too - has said NO more to so-called government solutions including tilting the tax code and trade policies to favor failed state economies. Let's get some new blood in the Democratic Party so we won't lose to Trump in four years, someone who has a new way of thinking and connecting with the population.
Haven't you learned the lessons of the Trump election? The electorate -yes, Ohioans too - has said NO more to so-called government solutions including tilting the tax code and trade policies to favor failed state economies. Let's get some new blood in the Democratic Party so we won't lose to Trump in four years, someone who has a new way of thinking and connecting with the population.
13
Another sore loser Democrat. Did all this bad news happen to Ohio since Trump was elected? No, this has occurred for the past 8 years with a Democrat president and Sherrod Brown as Senator. You own it. The voters have fired the Democrat party. Get used to it.
30
Most people SAY they believe that you should pay for what you get. The reason we believe that is if YOU don't pay for what you get, someone else does. We make exceptions for people too poor to pay for what they need, but otherwise, we SAY "pay for what you get."
And yet.
We allow:
- corporations to get FREE limited liability. That is: the owners of corporations are given FREE insurance in case the companies they own break the law or go bankrupt. Gee, I wish I could get that deal with free health and car insurance.
- anyone is allowed to burn fossil fuels, creating pollution that *costs other people money*. The people that use fossil fuels should PAY for what they GET by paying a fee for every ton of carbon (and other pollutants) they create. Instead, they pollute for free and cost me (and everyone) money.
- we allow inheritance, while at the same time not requiring all children to get an equal education. Rich children already get many more opportunities than poor children, why should we double-down on that by limiting school budgets to local wealth. Rich children haven't earned their better education, and don't deserve it any more than poor children.
I could go on and on. People say they've earned what they have (cough--Trump--cough), but most of the really rich people have transparently gotten a whole lot for free. They did not earn their position or their money.
And yet.
We allow:
- corporations to get FREE limited liability. That is: the owners of corporations are given FREE insurance in case the companies they own break the law or go bankrupt. Gee, I wish I could get that deal with free health and car insurance.
- anyone is allowed to burn fossil fuels, creating pollution that *costs other people money*. The people that use fossil fuels should PAY for what they GET by paying a fee for every ton of carbon (and other pollutants) they create. Instead, they pollute for free and cost me (and everyone) money.
- we allow inheritance, while at the same time not requiring all children to get an equal education. Rich children already get many more opportunities than poor children, why should we double-down on that by limiting school budgets to local wealth. Rich children haven't earned their better education, and don't deserve it any more than poor children.
I could go on and on. People say they've earned what they have (cough--Trump--cough), but most of the really rich people have transparently gotten a whole lot for free. They did not earn their position or their money.
66
Could, should, would have voted for Bernie. Shame the DNC, et al, schemed to undermine him, for, unlike Hillary, he would most likely have beaten Trump and been a true and solid supporter of the long forgotten and badly trodden workers.
40
How will people respond should the Trump administration let them down? This is the piece I can't figure out. People actually believe that Trump is for them v saying what he knew would get their goat and get them onboard. But what's the result when he doesn't change their lives? What will his supporters do besides be hurt and disappointed? Because it's going to happen.
46
That headline image for the story shouldn't be Uncle Sam shaking an empty hat. It should be Rich Uncle Pennybags, the original name of the mustachioed Monopoly board game character. Corporate bosses making 300 times the salary of line employees are the problem, not the U.S. Government.
Senator Mitch McConnell would also be better, given his staunch opposition to increasing the minimum wage.
Senator Mitch McConnell would also be better, given his staunch opposition to increasing the minimum wage.
41
Dear Senator Brown: PLEASE RUN FOR PRESIDENT IN 2020. Alan C. Braddock, Richmond, VA
36
Brown is Hillary light and was in lockstep with the establishment backing of Clinton. Time for him to clean up and go home too.
17
I don't want hear this whine. Clinton was for a $15 minimum wage, Rs want to lower it. The people have spoken, lower the minimum was to $5. That should make all those rural, whites happy. Idiots. Let me know where to send the cheese to go with the whine.
I also love the Mitch response to getting coal as king again. He stated it's private decisions and not to do with government intervention. So all you idiots in the coal fields, feel better now with those Rs.....
I also love the Mitch response to getting coal as king again. He stated it's private decisions and not to do with government intervention. So all you idiots in the coal fields, feel better now with those Rs.....
27
In 1971, my uncle was the CEO of a Fortune 400 company, Sundstrand Aviation. He was making $800,000. He had a great house, great cars, took great vacations, and bought expensive wine.
7
Start with this: When we hear people refer to the "Rust Belt" - many down here thought it was because of the obcene amounts of salt you put on your roads up there in the winter - that rust out cars overnight. No disprect was meant.
I agree that we need to bring manufacturing jobs back. It's not as if we stopped manufacturing things, companies just decided to manufacture them in places where they could make more money through cheap labor. There has always been tension between management and workers, but there seemed to be an underlying sense (civic duty?) that what was good for the company was also good for the country. Now, it would seem to be just about what is good for the company. No wonder people are angry.
I agree that we need to bring manufacturing jobs back. It's not as if we stopped manufacturing things, companies just decided to manufacture them in places where they could make more money through cheap labor. There has always been tension between management and workers, but there seemed to be an underlying sense (civic duty?) that what was good for the company was also good for the country. Now, it would seem to be just about what is good for the company. No wonder people are angry.
25
Senator Brown, I remember when you were rumored to be on the list of potential Democratic nominees. You and Biden were my favorites because of your ability to understand and speak to these people. Your empathy is real and it shows. I'm sure Clinton's was also real but she just wasn't able to show it. And let's face it, they were not her priority. So stay healthy and if the party can fix it's nomination process, you have a real shot!
27
Trump will pull a bait-and-switch on the white working class voters who supported him. When this betrayal occurs, Senator Brown says: "And they will respond."
So how will the Democrats respond when the betrayal occurs? Will they embrace these white working class voters, or will they denigrate them as a "basket of deplorables?" Democrats like Senator Brown will do the right thing and the smart thing: embrace them.
Brown for President in 2020.
So how will the Democrats respond when the betrayal occurs? Will they embrace these white working class voters, or will they denigrate them as a "basket of deplorables?" Democrats like Senator Brown will do the right thing and the smart thing: embrace them.
Brown for President in 2020.
19
"...tax policies that create immense affluence at the top and take wealth from workers. Much of Washington — and that now includes Donald J. Trump — doesn’t seem to understand this."
They understand it perfectly well. The Koch Bros., the GOP, and Trump and his wealthy friends created this. They'll continue to reinforce and solidify the oligarchy that is now more deeply embedded in our country.
They understand it perfectly well. The Koch Bros., the GOP, and Trump and his wealthy friends created this. They'll continue to reinforce and solidify the oligarchy that is now more deeply embedded in our country.
16
In 2008, people voted for Obama because he told them he would increase their wages, lower their taxes, and provide free health care for everyone. In 2016, Hillary Clinton lost the election because Obama failed on his promises. But then, what else is new among politicians?
16
Your constituents are hoping for fruit from a poison tree.
10
This article assumes that the Ohio worker actually listens and knows past rhetoric. Given that they voted for Trump I would say they don't.
21
Dear Senator Brown,
Blaming Republicans alone for the economic crisis in American families and for American workers is a sure fire way to jeopardize your re-election. A winning message is one that acknowledges that economic policies of free market globalists, which includes Republican leadership and the Clinton lead DLC wing of the Democratic party, have brought on economic havoc for millions. You can't blame Paul Ryan or Mitch McConnell and ignore the anti-worker pro-trade policies of the Evan Bayh's and Rahm Emmanuel's in the Democratic Party.
The future of America will be decided by factors related to class; not to political party. Will America be a global economic leader, at the expense of its working citizenry; or, will America be an economic giant that is mindful of the prosperity, opportunities, and economic security of its people.
Please don't hitch your wagon to the Democratic Party's status quo of pursuing a goal of globalization at all costs. Join the majority of Americans who rejected the Clinton inspired DLC and who support the New Deal like policies of the Sanders-Warren wing.
Blaming Republicans alone for the economic crisis in American families and for American workers is a sure fire way to jeopardize your re-election. A winning message is one that acknowledges that economic policies of free market globalists, which includes Republican leadership and the Clinton lead DLC wing of the Democratic party, have brought on economic havoc for millions. You can't blame Paul Ryan or Mitch McConnell and ignore the anti-worker pro-trade policies of the Evan Bayh's and Rahm Emmanuel's in the Democratic Party.
The future of America will be decided by factors related to class; not to political party. Will America be a global economic leader, at the expense of its working citizenry; or, will America be an economic giant that is mindful of the prosperity, opportunities, and economic security of its people.
Please don't hitch your wagon to the Democratic Party's status quo of pursuing a goal of globalization at all costs. Join the majority of Americans who rejected the Clinton inspired DLC and who support the New Deal like policies of the Sanders-Warren wing.
68
Even if Mr. Trump (I just can't call him president and never will) brings back factory jobs, how long will it take to build those factories? A couple of years? And after they're built, where would these employees be in the wage line - probably not at the $20 range they'd need to live on - they'd be at the bottom - again.
Nobody seems to bring up the fact that all of the jobs bills that President Obama put forth were voted down by the Repubs. Why is that?
And do we really think the Repubs are going to let an infrastructure bill through? Especially one that costs (gasp) money and just might put a bunch of folks to work? Maybe when those famous pigs fly.
Going to be extra sad when the people that voted for this yahoo find out they got duped. Why would a billionaire really care about you?
Depressing all the way around.
Nobody seems to bring up the fact that all of the jobs bills that President Obama put forth were voted down by the Repubs. Why is that?
And do we really think the Repubs are going to let an infrastructure bill through? Especially one that costs (gasp) money and just might put a bunch of folks to work? Maybe when those famous pigs fly.
Going to be extra sad when the people that voted for this yahoo find out they got duped. Why would a billionaire really care about you?
Depressing all the way around.
39
I did not vote for Trump but I keep explaining his win to other cultural Mandarins in my circle, since I'm a child of the working class and a first-gen college student. One colleague said something about the low unemployment rate in Michigan. Sigh. It's just a number. Try this:
1) Your father made $30 per hour putting windshields into Pontiacs.
2) You now make $12.50 per hour as an assistant manager at a fast-food outlet. Copays on insurance are eating you alive. Your car needs repairs you cannot afford. At best, your kids will get a community-college education.
3) Pontiac is gone. GM's gets propped up by the US government in 2008 but its latest venture is in Puebla, Mexico.
4) You have grown up watching your little city get increasingly run down as the downtown boarded up, young people left or now live for their Meth, and newcomers are alien to you.
5) You are not a racist or misogynist by nature, though perhaps those assumptions were just in the air you breathed as a kid. But now you are desperate. The America of your childhood is gone. The UAW did not save you, as it helped your old man. On TV you hear about the next great social-justice crusade: bathrooms friendly to transgender folks. You have never known one of them. The CEOs get richer and richer, meanwhile.
6) You vote accordingly.
The only question now for me is what happens when these folks do not see any improvement in a Trump economy.
1) Your father made $30 per hour putting windshields into Pontiacs.
2) You now make $12.50 per hour as an assistant manager at a fast-food outlet. Copays on insurance are eating you alive. Your car needs repairs you cannot afford. At best, your kids will get a community-college education.
3) Pontiac is gone. GM's gets propped up by the US government in 2008 but its latest venture is in Puebla, Mexico.
4) You have grown up watching your little city get increasingly run down as the downtown boarded up, young people left or now live for their Meth, and newcomers are alien to you.
5) You are not a racist or misogynist by nature, though perhaps those assumptions were just in the air you breathed as a kid. But now you are desperate. The America of your childhood is gone. The UAW did not save you, as it helped your old man. On TV you hear about the next great social-justice crusade: bathrooms friendly to transgender folks. You have never known one of them. The CEOs get richer and richer, meanwhile.
6) You vote accordingly.
The only question now for me is what happens when these folks do not see any improvement in a Trump economy.
58
What ever happened to unions? Or at the very least raising the minimum wage so that any person working a full time job can afford housing, transportation and health insurance? Democrat legislators keep pushing this agenda to no avail against Republicans who want nothings to do with it, yet the under employed and unemployed vote for the Republicans.
27
The direct association of making things, mining things, and growing things with creating wealth (a stand-in phrase here for a strong economy) is out of date. The fact that Ohio (making things) can be mentioned in the same breath with giants like California (growing things - food; making things - software) and Texas (mining things - oil and gas; making things - computers) shows this. No amount of political will is going to change the facts on the ground: heavy manufacturing will not pay well because those outside the US are in a position to underbid for their labor and, here at home, robots will work for free, nights and Sundays, and never ask for a cost of living increase.
25
People with high school educations complaining about trade deals remind me of Luddites complaining about losing jobs to machinery. You want a better life for your children, you need to work on learning the skills necessary to program the computers that run the machines in the factories. I teach community college, and I have students every year, who can't write a coherent sentence and don't have the math skills to balance a checkbook because they were too lazy to do homework and work hard in high school. They are the children whose parents complain that their children can't leave high school and go straight to a job on the line and make $60,000 a year. Sorry, it is 2016, not 1950, and just like the Luddites weren't going to be able to go back to making everything by hand, people who are too lazy to work hard in high school and college to gain the knowledge and skills necessary to have good jobs in this country, are not going to be able to go back and use their bodies and not their minds to make $60,000 a year.
22
"affluence at the top"
Who do you think this 'top' is? It is all the corporations you so dearly love you purchase things from them made in China everyday. There will be no more assembly line jobs in America that you get right after you drop-out of high school.
What would work better than electing Trump is boycotting all Chinese made goods by these corporations. But you will soon find out that electing a billionaire will not help middle-class problems.
Who do you think this 'top' is? It is all the corporations you so dearly love you purchase things from them made in China everyday. There will be no more assembly line jobs in America that you get right after you drop-out of high school.
What would work better than electing Trump is boycotting all Chinese made goods by these corporations. But you will soon find out that electing a billionaire will not help middle-class problems.
4
Myself, and practically all of my friends, are all doing better than our parents and don't want for much.
We got educated, stayed focused and work like animals.
You either have it or you don't.
The American dream is alive and well, trust me.
We got educated, stayed focused and work like animals.
You either have it or you don't.
The American dream is alive and well, trust me.
12
Yes, of course Ohio workers will be betrayed and they will respond. But consider the damage that Trump will inflict on this entire country by then.
10
A lovely thought Sen. Brown. Not rooted in any reality, but lovely still.
They are desperate people which lead them to elect a fast talking, telegenic, charming conman who will take away what little they have and make them love him for it anyway. The misplaced faith in the wisdom of the voters is as dangerous as any radical religious interpretation. They did this to themselves and will continue to because that's what they saw on the news.
They are desperate people which lead them to elect a fast talking, telegenic, charming conman who will take away what little they have and make them love him for it anyway. The misplaced faith in the wisdom of the voters is as dangerous as any radical religious interpretation. They did this to themselves and will continue to because that's what they saw on the news.
4
The illustration with this is totally wrong and kind of surprisingly misleading. Uncle Sam is not responsible for workers not getting paid while the masters of the universe get ever richer. Put Daddy Warbucks in the picture and you will be nearer the reality.
12
Tax cuts for the rich is what Trump is all about. Not helpful.
12
Mr. Brown, what you have expressed in this op-ed, is what I've been saying for years and precisely what got Trump elected. I'm so glad you - as a Democrat - are finally on board, but your deaf-eared, elitist, paper-pushing party with all its celebrity-studded galas and trade agreements and "globalization" at the expense of the backbone of America STILL isn't on board. May I remind you that it was your establishment-minded, status quo party that ruthlessly promoted a Wall Street sycophant making six figure speeches while flaunting the law, over an honest man that garnered enormous support and never took a dime from Wall Street through "secret" speeches. In fact, he tirelessly supported the middle class working men and women of this country, and for his efforts, was conspired against by the DNC.
Trump is the last person you have to worry about because he is indeed, draining the swamp with a serious policy to end the parade of lobbyists that your party's established politicians so gleefully exploited, at our expense. I agree with your op-ed except for the punch line, which is a condescending directive to a man already proving his sincerity with regard to supporting middle America. You should have saved that directive for that big group of complacent, glad-handing Democrats on the Hill, that are still having a hard time comprehending that America's borders don't stop at the edge of high income - "it's all good here!! let's have lunch!!" - metropolitan areas.
Trump is the last person you have to worry about because he is indeed, draining the swamp with a serious policy to end the parade of lobbyists that your party's established politicians so gleefully exploited, at our expense. I agree with your op-ed except for the punch line, which is a condescending directive to a man already proving his sincerity with regard to supporting middle America. You should have saved that directive for that big group of complacent, glad-handing Democrats on the Hill, that are still having a hard time comprehending that America's borders don't stop at the edge of high income - "it's all good here!! let's have lunch!!" - metropolitan areas.
12
Trump won because he said "Make America Great Again" whatever that may mean. I suggest that the Democrats adopt not only as a slogan but as a principle "American Jobs at American Wages for American Workers."
Oppose offshoring jobs and outsourcing work to H1-B visa holders. Support working wages and bring back unions.
Oppose offshoring jobs and outsourcing work to H1-B visa holders. Support working wages and bring back unions.
70
I understand the anger that put Trump in the white house. But their anger has blinded them to reason. Both parties are occupied by politicians who don't know or have forgotten what it is like to survive in this day and age. They may crow about their parents' blue collar background and their childhood in public schools. But things have changed...for the worse. I bet my last dollar for any politician to understand how health insurance plans work -- i.e. copay, coinsurance, and deductible. Just let them go on the exchange and figure out which plan to buy and what it ultimately costs. Let them work the minimum wage in their own state and figure out how to feed their kids and pay the bills. Let them work part time at Wal Mart and be on Medicaid. We keep electing people who don't understand the lives of working class. They just know how to talk like they do and this includes the Democrats. Instead of talking about her orphaned mother, HC should have talked about how it is like to survive in 2016.
12
Don't attribute Trump' to racism. Consider how many "union," people who read Camus and Falkner voted for religion. The Republican party said "we will give you religion and you give us the country. When ordinary people realize there is no "Heaven" and no "salvation," they may respond logically to the needs of their expected time on earth.
7
The good people of the midwest who voted for Trump in the the hope that they were not being deceived again likely are in for the old republican two step--now you see it, now you don't. Speaker Ryan and majority leader McConnell will support legislation that is in the interest of labor but opposed by management when the cows come home. What Trump says and does have been two different things his whole life. Welcome to Trump world.
6
"Ohio workers will feel betrayed?" Most of Trump's actions suggest his policies will contribute to the continued trend of income inequality. Sorry, but voting on the premise of 3-syllable slogans like "build that wall," "drain the swamp" and "lock her up" should invoke feelings of embarrassment, not betrayal, when things go awry.
17
Work with dignity is a necessity. Consuming resources when we don't have any left is just dumb. The past is over. Let it Rest In Peace. We need a new dream that includes care for the Earth and creation not just humans. Something Native Americans had. By the way, aren't they still around somewhere? Perhaps they can help build that new dream.
10
Sen. Brown, I know this is hard for you to understand, but if companies in Ohio have their corporate tax rate lowered from 35% to 15%, don't you see that leads to higher pay?
As someone who grew up in PA, I know why it's called the rust belt, because it's filled with manufacturing that sits rusting away. Cheap foreign steel, zinc, and assembly forced companies to move overseas or die.
What's the Democrat's alternative? Higher corporate taxes, higher health insurance plans, higher, higher, higher. Midsize companies don't stagnate wages to stick it to their employees, they do it not to lose their life's work.
In short, look at Connecticut. Liberal nirvana where the state is so upside down financially it's 1% debt away from receivership. Their extra corporate tax rate forces companies to leave, like GE (and every gun company). It's so bad they are PAYING Sikorsky $220 Million Not to leave! 49% of people in Connecticut want to leave.
Lot's of empathy Senator Brown, but I've lived in the policies you want and I'm leaving. How good can your policies be when it makes half of the people in the state with the highest median income want to leave?
As someone who grew up in PA, I know why it's called the rust belt, because it's filled with manufacturing that sits rusting away. Cheap foreign steel, zinc, and assembly forced companies to move overseas or die.
What's the Democrat's alternative? Higher corporate taxes, higher health insurance plans, higher, higher, higher. Midsize companies don't stagnate wages to stick it to their employees, they do it not to lose their life's work.
In short, look at Connecticut. Liberal nirvana where the state is so upside down financially it's 1% debt away from receivership. Their extra corporate tax rate forces companies to leave, like GE (and every gun company). It's so bad they are PAYING Sikorsky $220 Million Not to leave! 49% of people in Connecticut want to leave.
Lot's of empathy Senator Brown, but I've lived in the policies you want and I'm leaving. How good can your policies be when it makes half of the people in the state with the highest median income want to leave?
5
Uber has mastered the exploitation of low income laborers to the T.
11
Please see WORK, INC. by Edmund F Byrne.
1
Dear Mr. Brown,
You skipped two important points: First, the voters you are talking about have had plenty of time to "respond". They keep electing people who do the same things to them. Why should the next time be any different?
Second, and more important: Where can they turn? The betrayal of the working class got rolling with Reagan's election in 1980, but it really got legs when Bill Clinton and the New Democrats rolled over and whole-heartedly embraced the Friedman Doctrine, which says that 1) regulation is bad, and 2) corporations have no duty except to increase profits.
The alternation of Democratic and Republican Presidents has fooled people into thinking we have had a shot at trying different approaches. Poppycock. We've had a Republican congress almost continuously since 1994, not that it really mattered. The two parties may differ on social issues, but on economic issues they are largely indistiguishable. Your article is as bad as the 2012 Republican "autopsy": it assumes that the Democrats' problem is only messaging, when in fact the problem is you have abandoned your principles.
You skipped two important points: First, the voters you are talking about have had plenty of time to "respond". They keep electing people who do the same things to them. Why should the next time be any different?
Second, and more important: Where can they turn? The betrayal of the working class got rolling with Reagan's election in 1980, but it really got legs when Bill Clinton and the New Democrats rolled over and whole-heartedly embraced the Friedman Doctrine, which says that 1) regulation is bad, and 2) corporations have no duty except to increase profits.
The alternation of Democratic and Republican Presidents has fooled people into thinking we have had a shot at trying different approaches. Poppycock. We've had a Republican congress almost continuously since 1994, not that it really mattered. The two parties may differ on social issues, but on economic issues they are largely indistiguishable. Your article is as bad as the 2012 Republican "autopsy": it assumes that the Democrats' problem is only messaging, when in fact the problem is you have abandoned your principles.
8
Hello, Senator Brown:
Thanks for this heartfelt piece. While during my lifetime the Republican Party has never put forth a single bill supporting American workers, the Democratic Party shifted away from the very workers that used to be its backbone. This was done under Bill Clinton and was continued under Barack Obama, whose populist rhetoric in the run-up to his re-election was hypocritical beyond belief.
Perhaps President Trump (How I hate typing that.) will actually try to keep the clear promise he made to the American workers who voted for him, and create millions of good paying jobs. I suspect, however, that his agenda will be taken over by the likes of Paul Ryan, who I doubt has ever read "The Grapes of Wrath".
Whatever the Republicans do, the Democrats must - they simply must - return to their roots that made them the party of the people. Ohio is fortunate to have you as one of its senators, and the Democrats are fortunate to have you as one of their leaders. Now, it's time for some good old-fashioned liberalism.
Thanks for this heartfelt piece. While during my lifetime the Republican Party has never put forth a single bill supporting American workers, the Democratic Party shifted away from the very workers that used to be its backbone. This was done under Bill Clinton and was continued under Barack Obama, whose populist rhetoric in the run-up to his re-election was hypocritical beyond belief.
Perhaps President Trump (How I hate typing that.) will actually try to keep the clear promise he made to the American workers who voted for him, and create millions of good paying jobs. I suspect, however, that his agenda will be taken over by the likes of Paul Ryan, who I doubt has ever read "The Grapes of Wrath".
Whatever the Republicans do, the Democrats must - they simply must - return to their roots that made them the party of the people. Ohio is fortunate to have you as one of its senators, and the Democrats are fortunate to have you as one of their leaders. Now, it's time for some good old-fashioned liberalism.
9
"If President Trump takes the likely path that almost all Washington Republicans hope — tax cuts for the rich, an easing up on Wall Street, more voter suppression — Ohio workers will feel betrayed. Again. And they will respond."
By voting Republican again.
By voting Republican again.
11
And yet it was Ohioans and Pennsylvanians who out trump in power. And it is they who will lose the most. The manual and craft labor for HS grads is just not coming back in any numbers, and if trump does follow his promises and throws up protectionist barriers, the result will be higher prices and inflation, but no real jobs coming back. Maine, and New England in general, is not going to start making millions of shoes again, NYC is not going to be sewing millions of garments again, but protectionist tariffs will raise the price of shoes and clothes.
And who voted for this to happen? We all know the answer to that.
And who voted for this to happen? We all know the answer to that.
3
Thank you, Senator Brown--and thank you for co-sponsoring the Senate Resolution Supporting the H-1B AND L-1B Visa Reform Act of 2015 (S.2266!.
3
Hmmm, working longer hours for lower wages...sounds like Bernie. Maybe Paul Krugman has learned his lesson or can we count on him to rail against the next progressive candidate in 2020.
7
I'm so tired of commenters saying that blue-collar workers vote against their own interests every time they vote Republican as if anything improved when Clinton and Obama were in the White House.
Conservative voters did their part to get this country back on track when they rejected every "real" Republican offered up to them (Jeb!, Christie, Kasich, etc) and went with a sort-of Republican who has never been a politician.
This election, voters rejected the career politicians from both parties because voters are sick of the blame game. Through Reagan, Bush(es), Clinton, and Obama, nothing's gotten better regardless of which party is in the White House.
Face it: we've been ruled by a bipartisan elite who serve each other and enrich themselves. Until this year, neither party did a thing for jobs. It's not the voters who are stupid, it's the people who actually believe there's a difference between the parties.
Conservative voters did their part to get this country back on track when they rejected every "real" Republican offered up to them (Jeb!, Christie, Kasich, etc) and went with a sort-of Republican who has never been a politician.
This election, voters rejected the career politicians from both parties because voters are sick of the blame game. Through Reagan, Bush(es), Clinton, and Obama, nothing's gotten better regardless of which party is in the White House.
Face it: we've been ruled by a bipartisan elite who serve each other and enrich themselves. Until this year, neither party did a thing for jobs. It's not the voters who are stupid, it's the people who actually believe there's a difference between the parties.
12
"If President Trump [introduces] tax cuts for the rich ... Ohio workers will feel betrayed. Again."
Well, Trump promised huge tax cuts for the rich.
If he delivers, those who supported Trump will have what they voted for: trickle-down economics that "was discredited decades ago".
Somehow he was allowed to get away with saying his tax cuts were "especially for the middle class," just as he was allowed to get away with so many other lies.
Well, Trump promised huge tax cuts for the rich.
If he delivers, those who supported Trump will have what they voted for: trickle-down economics that "was discredited decades ago".
Somehow he was allowed to get away with saying his tax cuts were "especially for the middle class," just as he was allowed to get away with so many other lies.
9
For how much longer can the 1 percent continue bleeding dry the rest of us? It's unsustainable.
12
Rust belt is a descriptor for the abandoned factories left as rusting hulks that came about to describe the vast swath of economic destruction reagan and his criminal cabal unleashed upon us when they de-regulated to allow traitorous businessmen to shut down working self supporting factories to move them out of the country for more profit.
How does one personalize a description of the effect of unnecessary intentional economic destruction?
The election of Donald J Trump was not in any way a rejection of the GOP it was a 1000% “thank you sir can we have some more” moment. Most of the people supporting Trump made $72K or more. That is not working people money that is I’m in the lower middle class and don’t have to worry unless I spend more than I should money.
Search Sarah Smarsh, Guardian.
As for responding I think it is high time for there to be investigations of the organized national gerrymandering scheme the GOP has engaged in as described in David Daley’s book. It may not have been illegal but it goes against the intent/basis of our system and everything that it means to be an American to set up such an unfair way to gain office because they know they cannot win seats in a free and fair election. Pew research in 2012
http://www.people-press.org/2012/08/23/a-closer-look-at-the-parties-in-2... Says there are more DEMs 35% and INDs 33% than REPs 28% Only because there are only two viable parties that breaks down to 48% DEM and 43% REP.
How does one personalize a description of the effect of unnecessary intentional economic destruction?
The election of Donald J Trump was not in any way a rejection of the GOP it was a 1000% “thank you sir can we have some more” moment. Most of the people supporting Trump made $72K or more. That is not working people money that is I’m in the lower middle class and don’t have to worry unless I spend more than I should money.
Search Sarah Smarsh, Guardian.
As for responding I think it is high time for there to be investigations of the organized national gerrymandering scheme the GOP has engaged in as described in David Daley’s book. It may not have been illegal but it goes against the intent/basis of our system and everything that it means to be an American to set up such an unfair way to gain office because they know they cannot win seats in a free and fair election. Pew research in 2012
http://www.people-press.org/2012/08/23/a-closer-look-at-the-parties-in-2... Says there are more DEMs 35% and INDs 33% than REPs 28% Only because there are only two viable parties that breaks down to 48% DEM and 43% REP.
3
Senator Brown, nominee for president 2020?
2
I see few people showing an understanding that the majority of work is, and will remain, blue collar. I hear a lot of the time how people who work in food service or retail are only filling 'beginner' positions and how they shouldn't expect to make a living off their jobs. Get to the bottom of and correct such class snobbishness is a necessary first step to correcting inequality. Everybody's 40 hours deserves a living wage.
12
I am a big fan of Senator Brown, and appreciate his optimistic view here.
But--if "Trickle-down economics was discredited decades ago", why did Ohio voters choose trickle-down on steroids?
And--assuming "Ohio workers will feel betrayed. Again." Will they really respond? I am not so optimistic.
But--if "Trickle-down economics was discredited decades ago", why did Ohio voters choose trickle-down on steroids?
And--assuming "Ohio workers will feel betrayed. Again." Will they really respond? I am not so optimistic.
2
Many years ago my parents worked hard, saved their money, and bought the lemons you all built. Now we all buy foreign cars. You reap what you sow.
4
How exactly do perpetually higher taxes on income, as always propogated by Democrats, further 'dignify' work?
3
I went to college in Ohio, and I lived for almost two decades in the midwest; so workers there who have lost their dignity certainly have my sympathy.
However, with a billionaire president who chronically mistreats his own workers (and who showed no interest in midwestern issues before he wanted midwestern votes), I don't think these workers will do any better in the next four years. Injured dignity will soon be the LEAST of their worries.
However, with a billionaire president who chronically mistreats his own workers (and who showed no interest in midwestern issues before he wanted midwestern votes), I don't think these workers will do any better in the next four years. Injured dignity will soon be the LEAST of their worries.
6
Dear Senator Brown - We need to hear more from you. You should have been the Minority Leader, as opposed to Chuck Schumer - a mouthpiece for Wall Street. His sort of "leadership" is the reason the Democratic Party is losing ground. Please work to bring the party back to what it once was - the party of FDR.
6
These are also people who have voted against their self-interest for years. They vote for people who gut unions and make states right-to-work states. All of these states have hard-core, benefits-reducing Republican governors who werewillingly voted in for second terms, despite the damage they did.
4
All Hogwash and fear mongering by Hippocrates. Hillary Clinton had a 2 billion war chest from wall street and big donors to run for President . Hillary's 1% backers want slave labor not union workers Once enough slave labor is imported to influence an election, democrats such as Hillary would kick big labor to the curb. All this talk about racism is nothing except a ruse and excuse for more neo liberal economic policies that benefit the ultra rich. It is appalling that the innocence of college students is being used and exploited to destroy the middle class for more neo conservative and neo liberal anarchy thrust upon us by 1% oligarchs. The oligarchs are not racist since they could not give a hoot about the race of a slave laborer or the race of people whose lives are destroyed by the policies that they support.
7
We live in a society where waitstaff and hair dressers are now expected to sign non-compete agreements, basically leaving some folks unable to work in their field for two years, if not more. A legal document that was once used to protect trade secrets now prevents people from working or from making negative comments about their employer.
Nowadays, the Average Joe or Jane who separates from their employer may be forced to sign a non-disclosure agreement, effectively negating their right to free speech, or they won't get their last paycheck. A paycheck they ALREADY worked for.
And yet - angry American workers just elected a man who willfully, gleefully, stiffed the working people who entered into agreements with him.
Good luck with that.
Nowadays, the Average Joe or Jane who separates from their employer may be forced to sign a non-disclosure agreement, effectively negating their right to free speech, or they won't get their last paycheck. A paycheck they ALREADY worked for.
And yet - angry American workers just elected a man who willfully, gleefully, stiffed the working people who entered into agreements with him.
Good luck with that.
12
I'm sorry, what did you say?
I was too busy worrying about emails on a private server.
I was too busy worrying about emails on a private server.
6
It would be a good time for the NYT to focus less on cosmopolitans and more on the struggling workers, employed AND unemployed, throughout the rest of the country that both parties have overlooked.
8
The truth is that the American economy no longer needs millions upon millions of blue-collar workers to make it go. Those jobs are gone, they're not coming back, and that's that. Period.
With Trump, the low-information cohort of our country that has consistently voted against its own interest might finally be forced to recognize, however grudgingly, that no matter what Republicans say, their agenda is always the same - consisting solely of consolidating the power of the ruling class and ensuring that it is passed on to their children. No presidential candidate in my memory made more numerous and specific outrageous promises to the people that are going to keep getting screwed, and I just don't see how the GOP is going to come back to places like Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Michigan in two or four years and sell the idea that you won't believe this, but somehow the evil liberals, foreigners, and minorities have managed to subvert and stymie the will of the Republican president and the Republican-controlled Congress...so, about those promises...
With Trump, the low-information cohort of our country that has consistently voted against its own interest might finally be forced to recognize, however grudgingly, that no matter what Republicans say, their agenda is always the same - consisting solely of consolidating the power of the ruling class and ensuring that it is passed on to their children. No presidential candidate in my memory made more numerous and specific outrageous promises to the people that are going to keep getting screwed, and I just don't see how the GOP is going to come back to places like Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Michigan in two or four years and sell the idea that you won't believe this, but somehow the evil liberals, foreigners, and minorities have managed to subvert and stymie the will of the Republican president and the Republican-controlled Congress...so, about those promises...
5
Senator Brown, I have been awaiting your response to this election. As an Ohioan, you have articulated well the concerns we have, even here in California. We all know too well that words are cheap. It is action that counts. The Republicans in Congress, I fear, will not change their stripes. It will be the same old, same old. They are beholden to corporations, Wall Street, and Big Banks with the promise of deregulation. We look to you and your Congressional counterparts, especially from the Midwest, to hold the Senate and House, as well as the president-elect, accountable. I urge our representatives from the West Coast and the Northeast to follow your lead.
78
As Sanders said, to the extent that Trump actually does anything to try to help the average American worker, we will stand with him. Unfortunately, in the unlikely event Trump actually tries to do the right thing, we can count on the Republicans in the House and the Senate to stop him.
7
Yes, but these same people are the ones who allowed the demise of unions. Unions made these jobs middle class and the erosion of unions has made these jobs scarce and less valuable. My mother worked in a sweat shop at one point and I learned to "look for the union label" early in life. There is no easy solution but people need to take back their unions first. Second, there need to be more worker owned (or at least worker invested and controlled) companies. This won't happen over night but it is the ultimate solution to the problem. Workers gave up too much and now they will have to scramble to get it back - Trump is NOT going to make their lives easier. He has a good line but it's just that - a line. Just like the snake oil salesman of old - he's all hot air and nothing will come of it. If people want to see their lives improve they are going to have to do something about it themselves (and electing a bigot does not count).
5
... especially when they held union cards....
Well, that's done, and their fellow GOP voters did it. The people in the city may not understand their plight, but the GOP politicians sure do, and sold them a bill of goods. Good-paying jobs for people who work with their hands are gone for good and it wasn't the Democrats who did it, and it's not the Democrats who will ensure that those pay levels never come back.
The GOP sided with their CEO's to keep pay down and jobs miserable. And it's about to double down on that, AND give those CEOs personally, and their companies, giant tax breaks.
Truth has stepped through the looking glass.
Well, that's done, and their fellow GOP voters did it. The people in the city may not understand their plight, but the GOP politicians sure do, and sold them a bill of goods. Good-paying jobs for people who work with their hands are gone for good and it wasn't the Democrats who did it, and it's not the Democrats who will ensure that those pay levels never come back.
The GOP sided with their CEO's to keep pay down and jobs miserable. And it's about to double down on that, AND give those CEOs personally, and their companies, giant tax breaks.
Truth has stepped through the looking glass.
4
The US needs not just technical education, but civics education and help in restoring and creating communities and the understanding that it's not just about money, but about social bonds. We talk about wanting our children better off than we are, but this is not happening, not only because they are no longer making more money than we do, but because they are often scattered far and wide frequently because that is where they have to go for jobs. We need to be there for each other.
3
Want/Need…Have/Don't have…Care/Don't care…
Simple concepts but lack of understanding… You don't have to be an economist
to deal with problems created by war waged between these concepts.
Simple concepts but lack of understanding… You don't have to be an economist
to deal with problems created by war waged between these concepts.
1
Sadly, many Americans, and all liberals, have yet to wake up from the dream we enjoyed during this country's days of isolation from the rest of the world and the insulation from its economic operation. If you legislate artificially high wages (i.e., increase the minimum wage and mandate overtime), you push more jobs overseas -- and then you whine about American companies moving their operations elsewhere. We now live in a global economy. American workers are not competing with one another for jobs, they are competing with Chinese and Indian workers. Drive wages up artificially by legislation and fiat, and you will absolute assure that ALL manufacturing will move offshore, that NO ONE will buy anything from America because it's simply too expensive relative to what they can buy elsewhere. It's the economy, stupid. We have to learn to be more innovative, more productive, more efficient, and -- yes, you'll hate to hear it -- willing to work harder. Most of the rest of the world works MUCH harder than we do to earn MUCH less.
2
So glad to hear a Democrat focus on jobs and money! This is where the white man lives. Democrats were so weak and out of touch, they allowed wealthy donors to force a far left cultural liberalism down our throats and encouraged us to blame racism (ourselves) for all of our troubles. Democrats have ignored income inequality and alienated the white middle/lower class in the process.
3
It is not that working on an assembly line or other factory is not deserving of dignity. It is hard not to remember when the left denigrated certain types of work when it came to reforming welfare. The reality is that first the American South took jobs from the Northeast and Midwest and not technology is going further. It is time that Democrats get real.
1
Sen. Brown concludes, "Ohio workers If President Trump takes the likely path that almost all Washington Republicans hope... they will feel betrayed. Again. And they will respond."
They had a chance to respond 9 days ago, and unfortunately they did. This column may be too little too late.
They had a chance to respond 9 days ago, and unfortunately they did. This column may be too little too late.
4
There is no dignity in being a slave. Many people in charge see anyone that works by the hour as wage slaves. Now many people who work for a salary are seen in the same light. I have seen many people coerced into salaried positions, with very long titles, simply to get more hours a week out of them without overtime and to be on call to work on demand.
9
Maybe there could be a MAXIMUM wage, or a maximum ratio of CEO salary to average salary or lowest salary in an organization. But factory jobs aren't coming back, and neither are coal mining jobs, whatever Trump has promised and regardless of which party is in power. Factories employ a fraction of the number of people as before due to mechanization, and market forces are favoring natural gas over coal (cheaper to produce, etc.). So the people in these jobs need to stop wishing for the impossible and blaming government or minorities or liberals who offer job training or whatever else they're blaming. Maybe what the unions need to do is gather their people and get them to sit down and make concrete plans. GIVEN that the factories and mines aren't coming back (let's deal with reality here) or that there are plentiful jobs in another state, what would these workers like to see happen? Let them come up with viable solutions rather than just complain about government or immigrants. I've heard a lot lately about how factory workers don't want to train for other jobs and see those suggesting that as arrogant, and they also don't want to have to move anywhere else to seek a job. Well, then, what is their solution?
4
I think an important fact many working class people fail to realize is that we can't go back to those days where factory and other blue color jobs were plentiful (thanks to automation). There are other blue collar jobs out there but ultimately those may go to. I personally think America needs to bring back apprenticeship and technical schools. In Germany where I lived for nearly 4 years, these job opportunities were considered reputable and honest jobs with good pay.
6
"... Ohio workers will feel betrayed. Again. And they will respond."
I appreciate your POV, Senator. Plus, I know there are many hard working, honest, educated and humanistic people across the Midwest. But, apparently, these people are outnumbered by the angry, shortsighted, ill-informed and perhaps racist folks in your state that vote against their own interests. No need to feel betrayed; Trump has been very clear what he'll do, and it won't favor your constituents. I hope they do respond for the better, but in the meantime many of us in the rest of the country suffer as a result.
I appreciate your POV, Senator. Plus, I know there are many hard working, honest, educated and humanistic people across the Midwest. But, apparently, these people are outnumbered by the angry, shortsighted, ill-informed and perhaps racist folks in your state that vote against their own interests. No need to feel betrayed; Trump has been very clear what he'll do, and it won't favor your constituents. I hope they do respond for the better, but in the meantime many of us in the rest of the country suffer as a result.
1
When wooden sailing ships gave way to iron steamships, a lot of people lost their jobs or had to learn a new one. Think of how many people's livelihoods were affected when automobiles replaced the horse and carriage. The famous buggy-whip-makers? Washington doesn't decide the course of economic and technological progress, and short of hand-outs Washington isn't in a position to cushion its blows. The "Great America" Trump voters want to return to is one in which people picked up and moved on any way they could, and didn't blame the government for their woes.
1
Their struggles have often been ignored by the Times as well.
2
I certainly hope so. The people you talk about are exactly those that voted him into office. Trump is already picking the hardest right of Republicans because he clearly has no idea what he is doing and now has to lean on the lobbyists to help guide him. Are your constituents watching this horror show? When the workers in OH don't get all or even a fraction of what Trump promised, I really hope they vote in the other direction in the mid-term elections.
1
I, like all the good, liberal, NPR listening, NYT reading, white professionals out there have struggled to understand what drives the Trump candidacy and especially what motivates his supporters and how their needs could be met, absent racism.
I am finished trying to understand them, and suggest that they spend some time trying to understand some things: First, you are not the only hard workers; I and most other professionals work hard at our jobs, and worked hard to achieve an education; you could and should do the same. Education is a must, at least for your children.
Second, well paying jobs that require little or no education are gone, and will continue to disappear. Trump is lying when he says he will bring those jobs back. You are nothing less than a chump to believe him.
Third, Democrats have not only known about your plight, but have worked hard for decades to create a system that provides worker protection and worker dignity. Republicans have successfully undermined a lot of that (with the support of blue collar Reagan democrats). Voting Republican/Trump is slitting your own throat.
Finally, look around you and understand that many people across the world have it far worse than you. Brown people, women, gays, those of other religions have suffered discrimination, some of it violent, in addition to having to contend with an economy that does not serve them. Stop being such whiners and do something to improve your lives, as generations have done before you.
I am finished trying to understand them, and suggest that they spend some time trying to understand some things: First, you are not the only hard workers; I and most other professionals work hard at our jobs, and worked hard to achieve an education; you could and should do the same. Education is a must, at least for your children.
Second, well paying jobs that require little or no education are gone, and will continue to disappear. Trump is lying when he says he will bring those jobs back. You are nothing less than a chump to believe him.
Third, Democrats have not only known about your plight, but have worked hard for decades to create a system that provides worker protection and worker dignity. Republicans have successfully undermined a lot of that (with the support of blue collar Reagan democrats). Voting Republican/Trump is slitting your own throat.
Finally, look around you and understand that many people across the world have it far worse than you. Brown people, women, gays, those of other religions have suffered discrimination, some of it violent, in addition to having to contend with an economy that does not serve them. Stop being such whiners and do something to improve your lives, as generations have done before you.
9
I think the Senator must know that there's a real chance that the new Administration will move to eliminate the federal minimum wage. There is no chance whatsoever they are going to raise it.
3
Terrific illustration (referring to the artwork).
Work has "lost its dignity" as the author suggests because it's become so hard to open and operate a business. We've layered on so many taxes, regulations, and virtually everything responsibility to provide social goods to on businesses big and small that we're killing off one of the main benefits of business--to provide a good job.
1
"Trickle-down economics was discredited decades ago." Exactly. Yet that's what Trump thus far has suggested... he still believes that if you cut taxes for the rich that the benefits to stream down to the non-rich. We know that doesn't work. These workers were played like a fiddled by Trump's campaign and will get shafted yet again. Where are the federal funds for widespread re-training programs? Where are the bucks for affordable post-high-school education programs? Those are the paths to more upward mobility, not just a $0.50 per hour pay raise in the same job rut!
2
I read this online so I can't really state that it was a waste of paper but...
What is Ms. Brown trying to say? That Ohio is filled with hard workers that only want their fair share in life? Tell it to the judge, ma'am.
This sort of article might play well for the dozen or so Ohioans who voted for Trump but can imagine Clinton as president but it will do little to make any sort of difference. Ohioans have spoken and they chose Trump. Now they must lie in the bed that they made.
What is Ms. Brown trying to say? That Ohio is filled with hard workers that only want their fair share in life? Tell it to the judge, ma'am.
This sort of article might play well for the dozen or so Ohioans who voted for Trump but can imagine Clinton as president but it will do little to make any sort of difference. Ohioans have spoken and they chose Trump. Now they must lie in the bed that they made.
4
Senator Brown is right: workers around the country will be looking to see if the new administration and new Congress follow a billionaires' agenda. That includes immigration policy, where he and his fellow Democrats continue to push to flood working class labor markets and drive down wages and opportunities for American workers.
In construction, manufacturing, meat-packing, janitorial services, etc. -- there are too many workers chasing too few jobs. Tighten up labor markets by significantly decreasing immigration, and you help struggling American workers.
In construction, manufacturing, meat-packing, janitorial services, etc. -- there are too many workers chasing too few jobs. Tighten up labor markets by significantly decreasing immigration, and you help struggling American workers.
3
Work hasn't got dignity. And dignity is not conferrable on persons, entities, or ideas. If you have a dignified personal carriage, that bearing goes with you wherever you go, and nobody can take it away. The idea that you can be "treated with dignity" is absurd. You can be shown good manners or poor ones or something in the middle, but that is about the conduct of other people. A certain Mrs. Stowe wrote a novel bout a very great man, terribly treated, whose dignified bearing never left him. Never. And he endured suffering of biblical proportions. Kindly let me add that I do not endorse ill treatment of anybody by anybody else. I should like to see death-row prisoners put to sleep the way veterinarians put gravely ill animals down.
2
One other thing: much lost human dignity, in the workplace and out, can be accounted for by the human race having sacrificed--not even sold--its soul on the altar of digital technology. Is it me, or does walking an ordinary city street among a bunch of zombies staring transfixed into little hand-held gizmos seem less like living?
8
Since when has the dignity of work been a function of how much a person is paid?
All work can have dignity, including pushing a broom and mopping out a bathroom. If Brown does not get that, Brown is the problem.
It is Brown who is demeaning work by attaching a price to its dignity. For him and other self-styled "progressives," as well as organized labor, dignity is purely instrumental; it is something you use to barter for more money. It is a tool for blackmailing others for more cash -- "If you don't pay us more, you are robbing us of our dignity."
But dignity doesn't have a price, and all the cash in the world won't give a job dignity if that is not its nature or the worker's nature. Since the desire for money is insatiable, Brown's equation of dollars with dignity means that work will never be dignified, because job holders will endlessly demean themselves and their work in order to wring more cash out of their employers.
All work can have dignity, including pushing a broom and mopping out a bathroom. If Brown does not get that, Brown is the problem.
It is Brown who is demeaning work by attaching a price to its dignity. For him and other self-styled "progressives," as well as organized labor, dignity is purely instrumental; it is something you use to barter for more money. It is a tool for blackmailing others for more cash -- "If you don't pay us more, you are robbing us of our dignity."
But dignity doesn't have a price, and all the cash in the world won't give a job dignity if that is not its nature or the worker's nature. Since the desire for money is insatiable, Brown's equation of dollars with dignity means that work will never be dignified, because job holders will endlessly demean themselves and their work in order to wring more cash out of their employers.
1
Senator Brown:
If/when Trump doesn't deliver on his promises, they'll blame it on subversives and support rounding up another class of villains. They're easily led.
If/when Trump doesn't deliver on his promises, they'll blame it on subversives and support rounding up another class of villains. They're easily led.
3
You are totally correct in your assessment and I couldn't agree more. I was once a member of the USW. The workers you described have been getting ripped off by the rich in this country since at least the 60's and they keep voting against their economic interests every time. What response are you talking about? I have yet to see it.
2
Senator Brown, you should have endorsed Bernie.
7
So where has this talk been for the past 20 years since the Democrats became "Republican Light"
3
It’s all right there. You’ve been shown. The Republicans have generated laws to circumvent tariff rules and regulations in order to ship their labor overseas. They’ve sold you on, “Unions bad, management good.” You see the CEO bonuses increasing by millions of dollars, every year. You see them shipping profits into offshore accounts. You’re shown how the top 10% (management) makes more and you make less. What is it you didn’t understand in all that?
3
I opposed the TPP like many progressives, but we need trade, and I haven't a clue about what a good trade deal would look like. Will Mr. Brown please articulate the details of plan that a broad swath of the population can support.
1
"trickle down economics was discredited years ago"???...are you kidding me? Ask those midwest workers if they wished Reagan was back in office. He'd outpull his landslide numbers if given the chance.
one reason for the Democratic party abysmal showing in recent presidential, state, house&congressional elections is the Democratic party is no longer the party of working people but the party of "non-working" people who benefit from government sec. 8 housing, food stamps, Obama phone and many more benefits by not working.....
1
Now the Democrats in Washington should support our president-elect in doing those things that will help the middle class: an infrastructure bill, paid maternity leave, and a $10 minimum wage. (not as high as it should be, but Trump once supported $10.) If the Democrats don't push, these things will be forgotten, and the only thing Congress will do is cut taxes for the 1% and repeal Obamacare.
2
If you want to see the social results of breaking the link between work and reward we need look no further than the African American community who historically were not paid for their labor and then paid lower wages than other groups. Broken families, depression, hopelessness, wasted lives. When you know that work will get you nowhere what's the point? What's the point of doing well in school when school puts you so far deep in debt you will never get out and even white collar jobs are a grind? What's the point of getting up in the morning? What's a human being to do with all their energy if work is not a positive way to spend one's life? Human beings need to be productive for themselves to feel good about their existence.
We have the sample evidence of what can happen and we seem intent on sending everyone else down that same road.
We have the sample evidence of what can happen and we seem intent on sending everyone else down that same road.
1
Sen. Brown, before you point fingers at Washington elites who forgot workers, please look at yourself. If you had the courage of your convictions and had endorsed Bernie Sanders during the full year when he had no prominent supporters, we would likely be looking at President Sanders.
8
The rust belt is coming to lots of non rustable jobs. Some in the medical profession have been praising a new program that sends radiology films to be read in India etc at very low fees. When this is done what happens to the jobs and pay level of trained radiologists in the US? It is coming to a lot of areas. Law is another that can be outsourced and not to a robot. These are persons who now see themselves as professionals and above the problem. T'AIN'T SO!
6
The Democratic Party needs to listen to what this man has to say. This is where its future lies.
I'm proud to say Sherrod represents my state!
I'm proud to say Sherrod represents my state!
5
I didn't realize this was humor.
" This diverse force feels betrayed by trade and tax policies that create immense affluence at the top and take wealth from workers. Much of Washington — and that now includes Donald J. Trump — doesn’t seem to understand this."
While Brown is right about people being betrayed, he wants those same people to put their trust in the people that betrayed them! That's why the Dems got wiped out.
" This diverse force feels betrayed by trade and tax policies that create immense affluence at the top and take wealth from workers. Much of Washington — and that now includes Donald J. Trump — doesn’t seem to understand this."
While Brown is right about people being betrayed, he wants those same people to put their trust in the people that betrayed them! That's why the Dems got wiped out.
1
Life without a strong union.
1
Of course, Trump is not going to help these hard working people of Ohio. Trump is not intelligent, but he is clever and manipulative. He knew just what to say to get people to vote for him. Unfortunately, his entire campaign was one long con, and everyone that voted for him are suckers. It's too bad that not enough people realized that, and that we are all going to have to pay for it for the next four years.
7
And what exactly is the solution? If manufacturing and agricultural jobs are gone - which many of them are, because who wants to go back to the days of subsistence farming and assembly lines - what are all these people supposed to be doing?
1
I grew up in Detroit and this is the best, succinct essay about midwestern families and the decreased possibilities for a decent life.
Interestingly, Ohio is quite progressive in its economic and education policies and seeks to increase the number of STEM-literate high school students through innovative, inclusive STEM high schools. Inclusive means the wide range of all kids have access to college prep STEM. See website and click on the video to see what Metro Early College High School in Columbus is doing (https://ospri.research.gwu.edu/).
Communities are going to have to work with state governments and business/industry and higher ed to plan new economies and attract companies that pay well. Workers need opportunities beyond pay and overtime, building valuable skills and knowledge. This is where the old factory model failed and where the knowledge economy might offer more flexibility and value for individuals.
But we need basic fairness and commitment to workers and the community as well, not the current plundering of dollars and lives by "management". Good for Sherrod Brown for saying so.
Interestingly, Ohio is quite progressive in its economic and education policies and seeks to increase the number of STEM-literate high school students through innovative, inclusive STEM high schools. Inclusive means the wide range of all kids have access to college prep STEM. See website and click on the video to see what Metro Early College High School in Columbus is doing (https://ospri.research.gwu.edu/).
Communities are going to have to work with state governments and business/industry and higher ed to plan new economies and attract companies that pay well. Workers need opportunities beyond pay and overtime, building valuable skills and knowledge. This is where the old factory model failed and where the knowledge economy might offer more flexibility and value for individuals.
But we need basic fairness and commitment to workers and the community as well, not the current plundering of dollars and lives by "management". Good for Sherrod Brown for saying so.
3
Well, good luck with your choice in Presidents, Industrial Midwest. I hope it pans out for you. I'm betting it won't
1
I wonder how these noble working class folks will fare under a Republican Congress that is bound and determine to weaken labor laws that protect workers, in the name of "deregulation". Trump has not, in his 70 years on this earth, demonstrated any sympathy for labor, or labor laws. Blind faith has consequences.
Oh, and your labor unions? Good luck with that, the Republican Congress is also obsessed with weakening those also.
How any of this is going to help working class people is beyond reason. Enjoy your Trump hat.
Oh, and your labor unions? Good luck with that, the Republican Congress is also obsessed with weakening those also.
How any of this is going to help working class people is beyond reason. Enjoy your Trump hat.
6
Mr. Brown, my dad was an auto worker in the late 70s and early 80s. When I was in high school, he was out of work more often than not. He dropped out of high school, got a GED in the Navy and after he left the service, got a job fixing office machines and eventually ended up in a parts manufacturing plant. Our mom -- a secretary -- was the main support of the family. They often wondered where the money would come from to pay the mortgage and we did without a lot of things. So I understand the frustration and fear and hopelessness of the people who you talk about in a way that you might not think that I do or even can.
But I have to ask -- WHY are they in the situation that they are in? Why, in the past 35 years, haven't they and their families done more to get themselves out of lives that leave them without skills to take jobs that are part of America's economy today?
America is undergoing a long -- and painful -- structural change in its economy. We simply do not have a need for as much low skill and unskilled labor as we did historically. Do we respond to this change by giving everyone some sort of "basic income," by raising everyone's pay so that we return to a model where a household can be supported on one adult's wages, something else? How does that work its way through the rest of the economy in terms of prices for goods and services?
And in the end, does anyone actually end up better off? Or -- relatively -- do we all end up where we are now?
But I have to ask -- WHY are they in the situation that they are in? Why, in the past 35 years, haven't they and their families done more to get themselves out of lives that leave them without skills to take jobs that are part of America's economy today?
America is undergoing a long -- and painful -- structural change in its economy. We simply do not have a need for as much low skill and unskilled labor as we did historically. Do we respond to this change by giving everyone some sort of "basic income," by raising everyone's pay so that we return to a model where a household can be supported on one adult's wages, something else? How does that work its way through the rest of the economy in terms of prices for goods and services?
And in the end, does anyone actually end up better off? Or -- relatively -- do we all end up where we are now?
3
One aspect of this situation that is being completely ignored is population growth. There are far more people today than there are jobs for them. If you are serious about 'human dignity" you have to get serious about reducing overpopulation.
7
Nicely done by by Ms. Brown. As a native of Alabama everyone I knew (including me!) had uncles and cousins who lived in "DeeeTroit" (emphasize on the DEE) because it was seen as the land of milk and honey. They left Alabama with very little prospects and built a nice middle class life for themselves in Michigan working in the auto industry. This view of Michigan some forty years ago is now a distant dream of those old enough to remember it.
Lets hope the Democrats will work with him to keep those promises and create a "new" dream for those who want to build a stable life for themselves.
Lets hope the Democrats will work with him to keep those promises and create a "new" dream for those who want to build a stable life for themselves.
3
Through his initial hires and apparent body of applicants, Trump is ignoring his own promise to "drain the swamp" by hiring people who have been key players in the feeding and sustenance of that morass. But we knew that by his choice for Vice President, a man who puts his religion before the Constitution and who for many years has been a leading member and proponent of the Party of No and its roadblock on progress.
Add Gingrich, Giuliani, Bolton and the other hacks, stir and watch the new swamp replace the old swamp.
Add Gingrich, Giuliani, Bolton and the other hacks, stir and watch the new swamp replace the old swamp.
5
Please Mr. Brown please consider 2020. I thought it a tragic mistake not to have you picked as VP this year.
The party needs you
The party needs you
5
Tax cuts for the rich has been the republican mantra for so long now it's almost part of their insane psyche. That didn't seem to stop Ohioans from voting for another one. The last time I heard from the steel industry in this country was when Reagan gave zillions of dollars in tax cuts for corporations which were supposed to be used to revitalize their industries. Because it was only implied that this was what they were supposed to do, enterprising corporations took the money and invested in other things other than their core industries. U.S.Steel - now only remembered because their logo is on the Pittsburgh football helmets - took their billions, bought Marathon Oil, and changed their name to USX. Whatever happens in this country benefits the rich in one way or another and then we reward them with more tax cuts. Vote for Hillary...oops!
1
You had me until the last paragraph. Raising the minimum wage and wealth re-distributing are mere crumbs from the globalist table. And just how do those solutions bring dignity back to our work?
We need to end this destructive race to the bottom, the inevitable result when trading with countries who pay slave wages who then turn around and sell us $5 shirts at WalMart. My fervent hope is that President Trump will crush the globalist establishment of both parties and restructure our trade to put us back on a level field.
We need to end this destructive race to the bottom, the inevitable result when trading with countries who pay slave wages who then turn around and sell us $5 shirts at WalMart. My fervent hope is that President Trump will crush the globalist establishment of both parties and restructure our trade to put us back on a level field.
4
"Few of these workers, white or black, expected to have the opportunities I had as a doctor’s kid."
Today, even fewer of them expect to have it when they're competing with brown illegal ones that accept cut-rate wages under the table.
Today, even fewer of them expect to have it when they're competing with brown illegal ones that accept cut-rate wages under the table.
5
Great explanation of why Hillary Clinton lost the election. People in Ohio are not Deplorable. People in Ohio want their dignity, but rich Hillary never understood that. Yes, we hope Trump delivers on his promises to the Ohio workers and does not ignore them the way Hillary did. Otherwise, we may get a President Sanders in 2020.
4
As a midwestern gal born and bred, i cringe a little every time i here the term "rust belt". Time to retire this condescending, "othering", eastern elitist term.
And stop talking about us like we are all living in trailers and smoking meth. Just stop it.
And stop talking about us like we are all living in trailers and smoking meth. Just stop it.
2
"Workers will expect the president to keep his promise of a trade agenda that puts their jobs above corporate profits"; right, Charlie Brown, and Nancy is going to let you kick the football this time, really.
Two things to remember, worker bees; one, the only thing you can tell the president-elect is that he has a beautiful golf swing; two, he doesn't do promises.
Two things to remember, worker bees; one, the only thing you can tell the president-elect is that he has a beautiful golf swing; two, he doesn't do promises.
2
And Trump, thank God, knows that is is suicidal to have American workers compete with Chinese coolies who make $10 a day. We need tariffs to protect our workers and our industries, a position that Republicans held sacred until the post World War II period.
But with populist pro-working-class President-Elect Trump about to occupy the Oval Office, workers and employees in general have a new champion.
Either that or Plutocrat-in-Chief-Elect Trump will be heading up a graduate seminar for his working-class supporters:
BUS 402 The Art of the Deal--Ye Olde Bait-and-Switch.
Either that or Plutocrat-in-Chief-Elect Trump will be heading up a graduate seminar for his working-class supporters:
BUS 402 The Art of the Deal--Ye Olde Bait-and-Switch.
The people who voted for Trump deserve what they get. So don't complain if he acts the way he does. He showed you his racist bigoted hand. He showed you he doesn't feel the need to pay taxes and would rather have the middle class and blue collar workers pay Americas taxes. He showed you how unqualified he is for the position. So I hope all the uneducated Trump supporters are happy.
3
Thank you for this op.ed. I fully agree but the Trumpists are soon to be in power and while I hope for the best I don’t think that I pigs can fly, when it comes to helping the working and middle class.
In one jump we have gone from constitutional democracy to authoritarian kleptocracy. Soon “Make America Great Again” will be a punch line and we will see hats and tee shirts with, “I WANT MY COUNTRY BACK,” which will be part of the Trump family business.
As to the Constitution it has betrayed us again by an obsolete provision to protect slave owning states in the South so as give them more power than their non-slave population warranted. A sizeable majority of the popular vote went to HRC yet the Trumpists claim a vast mandate equal in every respect to a coup d’etat.
This election was the biggest scam in history and the brightest and the best are being shown the door or will not serve. The absolute dregs of the political barrel, the corrupt, the science deniers, the know nothings, the haters, the neo-nazis, white supremacists, the corporate lobbyists, those who represent foreign powers will be calling the shots and their pockets will be lined by corporations.
How about the Constitution? The GOP senate has simply ignored it to deny our president his constitutional right to fill a vacant Supreme Court seat by refusing to fulfill the their constitutional duty. In the GOP it was always party above nation and is has gone now to party over Constitution. Think 2018.
In one jump we have gone from constitutional democracy to authoritarian kleptocracy. Soon “Make America Great Again” will be a punch line and we will see hats and tee shirts with, “I WANT MY COUNTRY BACK,” which will be part of the Trump family business.
As to the Constitution it has betrayed us again by an obsolete provision to protect slave owning states in the South so as give them more power than their non-slave population warranted. A sizeable majority of the popular vote went to HRC yet the Trumpists claim a vast mandate equal in every respect to a coup d’etat.
This election was the biggest scam in history and the brightest and the best are being shown the door or will not serve. The absolute dregs of the political barrel, the corrupt, the science deniers, the know nothings, the haters, the neo-nazis, white supremacists, the corporate lobbyists, those who represent foreign powers will be calling the shots and their pockets will be lined by corporations.
How about the Constitution? The GOP senate has simply ignored it to deny our president his constitutional right to fill a vacant Supreme Court seat by refusing to fulfill the their constitutional duty. In the GOP it was always party above nation and is has gone now to party over Constitution. Think 2018.
5
Excellent op-ed piece.
"Workers paid good wages are also good consumers, which means companies can sell more of their products. "
Henry Ford understood this when he paid his employees enough so that they could actually afford to buy his Model T.
"Workers paid good wages are also good consumers, which means companies can sell more of their products. "
Henry Ford understood this when he paid his employees enough so that they could actually afford to buy his Model T.
2
Sherrod Brown was born in 1952; a year younger than I am. The 1950s were the golden age of the American working man, particularly in the industrial heartland: America had the industrial capacity that won WWII, almost all the rest had been bombed to rubble, the men had all returned from war, and the rest of the world was rebuilding. The Marshall Plan gave all the non-communist-bloc countries the cash to buy our goods. And the GI Bill was putting a lot of soldiers through college: the numbers of engineers increased dramatically.
It wasn't all roses: women and many minorities summarily lost their jobs or were demoted to make room for returning GIs: McCarthyism and June-Cleaverism took over, and there were the cold-war fears.
But if you were a working white man -- it was a good time.
Then those rebuilding countries started to export ... to us. It started with lots of cheap plastic stuff from Japan. But then Japanese cameras were better than anything else you could buy at a reasonable price. And then it was Japanese cars were better than American.
And then Nixon opened western trade to China. That took off slowly, but Guandong swallowed most of the world's electronics assembly, Chinese steel and mechanical goods started to dominate world trade in them.
It's easy to see the causes, but not easy to see solutions. Rage against "the Democrats" is crazy though.
It wasn't all roses: women and many minorities summarily lost their jobs or were demoted to make room for returning GIs: McCarthyism and June-Cleaverism took over, and there were the cold-war fears.
But if you were a working white man -- it was a good time.
Then those rebuilding countries started to export ... to us. It started with lots of cheap plastic stuff from Japan. But then Japanese cameras were better than anything else you could buy at a reasonable price. And then it was Japanese cars were better than American.
And then Nixon opened western trade to China. That took off slowly, but Guandong swallowed most of the world's electronics assembly, Chinese steel and mechanical goods started to dominate world trade in them.
It's easy to see the causes, but not easy to see solutions. Rage against "the Democrats" is crazy though.
2
"When you call us the Rust Belt, you demean our work and diminish who we are." Why is it that the New York Times has absolutely nothing to say unless its pushing forth an agenda that screams "I'm offended by everything". Give me a break. The liberal swamp in America is filled with hyper... hyper sensitive voices when it comes to engaging in any dialogue with an opposing viewpoint. My fear, the left is raising a generation of weak, feeble-minded, hypocrites that play the "victim card" whenever they don't get their way... while the rest of the non-liberal world is preparing their kids for the challenges of adulthood.
3
Based on all signs to this point - Ohio workers (white) will not respond negatively no matter what Trump does. All he has to do to get their support is wave a flag at them and be a white male (holding up a gun and shouting about immigrants would work also). In my experience working folks these days always blame "liberals" and those less fortunate than them for whatever the problems are. I can't see how to change that tide.
3
Well work has dignity and nobody can take that away from you unless you allow them to do so.
"Bubble up" instead of "trickle down!"
If we can't or won't re-industrialize then we should legislate unionization of the service sector workforce.
If we can't or won't re-industrialize then we should legislate unionization of the service sector workforce.
1
The politicians really don't care about anything but getting re-elected.
Who else has their health care paid for by we the people.
Retirement after as little as six years paid for by we the people.
Their salary that they can vote for and we can pay for.
More vacation days in one year then we get in YEARS.
AND they get to vote on how much they get paid etc.
I don't know what happened to the Grand Old Party but it has been in control and has had the hubris to announce that they would not work with the last president on anything.
I fear that the next few years will be the worst and will lead to open rebellion.
Who else has their health care paid for by we the people.
Retirement after as little as six years paid for by we the people.
Their salary that they can vote for and we can pay for.
More vacation days in one year then we get in YEARS.
AND they get to vote on how much they get paid etc.
I don't know what happened to the Grand Old Party but it has been in control and has had the hubris to announce that they would not work with the last president on anything.
I fear that the next few years will be the worst and will lead to open rebellion.
3
Love your first line- When you call us the Rust Belt, you demean our work and diminish who we are.
I keep trying to get my family (who live on both coasts) to refer to where I live as The Great Lakes States or the MidWest to the Industrial States because we find the term "Rust Belt" demeaning. They do not understand what I am talking about. They tell me "nothing is there".
Really? Can you hear us now?
I keep trying to get my family (who live on both coasts) to refer to where I live as The Great Lakes States or the MidWest to the Industrial States because we find the term "Rust Belt" demeaning. They do not understand what I am talking about. They tell me "nothing is there".
Really? Can you hear us now?
3
Senator Brown states: “you demean our work you diminish who we are.”
One important less I learned while living in France beginning my association with MSF (Doctors without Borders) was living with French families. (BTW working as an MD with good experience and top skills pays ~$1800/month.)
I had been there for 3 weeks playing tourist in the City of Lights, taking Le Metro everywhere, talking to businessmen, shoppers, fellow riders on their beautiful trains, or just meeting people while drinking espresso on the Champs-Élysées. I had boned up my high school French speaking skills with Rosetta stone, I dressed up every day in skirts, sweaters, jacket, boots, scarves--NO ONE outside MSF knew what I did. We spoke of world events, the ongoing French Open, the election of an African-American president in the USA, history of slavery and so on.
I went to people’s small homes or apts for dinner. I finally said “No one ever asks what I do for a living! In America that is usually the second thing we ask of people we meet.”
These wonderful French citizens looked at me quizzically and replied “Because it is not who you are!”
We align ourselves with our occupation/job in the US. When 12 million people lost their jobs in the recession, they became unmoored. Brown says “Every job has dignity.” Nice idea--but really?? Not a chance. Even here I mentioned being an MD. Do you KNOW who cleans at work?
Sure, France has GREAT social nets-top tax of 45%. But their sense of self is intact.
One important less I learned while living in France beginning my association with MSF (Doctors without Borders) was living with French families. (BTW working as an MD with good experience and top skills pays ~$1800/month.)
I had been there for 3 weeks playing tourist in the City of Lights, taking Le Metro everywhere, talking to businessmen, shoppers, fellow riders on their beautiful trains, or just meeting people while drinking espresso on the Champs-Élysées. I had boned up my high school French speaking skills with Rosetta stone, I dressed up every day in skirts, sweaters, jacket, boots, scarves--NO ONE outside MSF knew what I did. We spoke of world events, the ongoing French Open, the election of an African-American president in the USA, history of slavery and so on.
I went to people’s small homes or apts for dinner. I finally said “No one ever asks what I do for a living! In America that is usually the second thing we ask of people we meet.”
These wonderful French citizens looked at me quizzically and replied “Because it is not who you are!”
We align ourselves with our occupation/job in the US. When 12 million people lost their jobs in the recession, they became unmoored. Brown says “Every job has dignity.” Nice idea--but really?? Not a chance. Even here I mentioned being an MD. Do you KNOW who cleans at work?
Sure, France has GREAT social nets-top tax of 45%. But their sense of self is intact.
5
If Trump wants to help struggling American workers, one huge thing that he and Congress could do would be to re-institute deducting interest on consumer borrowing which was the law until sometime in the '80s. Buy a car?...deduct the interest on your car payments. Can't get through the month without putting some of the last week's groceries on your credit card?...deduct interest paid on that. College loans?...at 7.9% interest on federal loans, my family has paid what is in effect a substantial extra federal tax of almost $100,000 in interest to the government over two decades helping three children pay for college...not including the interest they have paid on their own federal college loans over the years (average approx. 6%)...how about changing the tax law back to what it was to at least let Americans deduct those usuriously high interest payments again? And while they're at it, they should reduce those federal college loan interest rates to something more in line with the market, rather than gouging students and parents with rates double or triple the going rate for mortgages.
2
A lot more dignity is going to be lost if Donald Trump sells out his rust-belt base by cutting and privatizing Social Security and Medicare. Is Donald Trump going to break his promise and HURT working class Americans by CUTTING and PRIVATIZING Social Security and Medicare? Is he going to betray the people who voted for him??
1
It's not just Ohio and working class folks. I am a healthcare professional and have been for 30 years. I have gone through 5 buyouts which involved layoffs, pay cuts, benefit reduction, pay freezes, demotions, you name it. As each year goes by I work harder and for less pay when you factor in inflation. Most single professionals I know share my plight. We don't think we will be able to retire or send our children to college or buy a house ( I lost 6 digits of equity in the housing crash). We don't know if we will keep our job as we are not assets to our company but liabilities. Washington and the media are filled with people in the top 20 percent. You don't seem to realize that the bottom 80 percent are struggling. This is not just the manufacuring industry. It's not just our job situations either, it's the high cost of living. Health, car and life insurance. Internet and cable. Car and gone repair. Everything is over inflated due to monopolies, greed etc. In my parents generation, none of this was true. My father never went through a merger or buyout. We could afford to live anywhere in the country with one salary. He helped send four kids to college. We all need to write our Congress man/women and spell it out. Get them out of their bubble and open their eyes to reality.
137
His advisor all along was a conspiracy theorist. Get into those disenfranchised towns and tell them what they want to hear, stoke the anger that it's "the government" Get them worked up in the way it was and should be. Sadly the slave labor movement of Co's moving jobs overseas to improve shareholder value have left the citizens of the US clinging to hope that they will be moved back. Yes well let's see when they re-patriot those cash balances if they are dispersed to create jobs openings or is the motive to increase shareholder value in the form of stock options and dividend increases.
Senator Brown-- I respect you and appreciate your essay. But I think the working voters for Trump have made a fundamental error. They linked their economic pain and hardship with "shaking up the establishment" as some sort of solution. It is equivalent to saying-- I need to get to the emergency room for my life-threatening injury so let me throw my car keys into the lake. Instead of organizing to make themselves heard, they waited to vote for the person who said "I have a very big brain, I know more than the generals and I alone can fix everything." So now the people who have very real suffering have instead voted to ruin our American democracy. How is it that these hard working people couldn't seem to remember that it was the Republicans who blocked Obama at every turn? It is the republicans who shut down the government since 1994 and it is the republican governors like Mike Pence who turn away medicaid funds in order to make the ACA fail and those governors who intrude into our private lives with their cultural agendas. Trump is phoning Putin for heaven's sake.
These voters have set fire to our house and it is going to be destroyed. I'm angry at these voters for being so gullible. I'm sorry, but I despise the ruin they have created for everyone. They were capable of doing better and they chose not to. Senator Brown, I appreciate that you can still be part of the bridge to these voters but right now I can't respect them and I don't know if I ever will again.
These voters have set fire to our house and it is going to be destroyed. I'm angry at these voters for being so gullible. I'm sorry, but I despise the ruin they have created for everyone. They were capable of doing better and they chose not to. Senator Brown, I appreciate that you can still be part of the bridge to these voters but right now I can't respect them and I don't know if I ever will again.
10
ALL economics is "trickle down economics". ALL of it, even in the DPRK. Pretending that a buzz term has been discredited, the author betrays himself as a know-nothing. And, the only "voter suppression" that went on was perpetrated by the IRS, under the orders of the flailing party that's on its way to retirement.
When you negotiate with a business you don't get anymore than you demand. When you have no self esteem you don't even negotiate. When you are jealous of your co worker or others like yourself, you don't even get whet they get, in fact you tear them down. Unions were what made America great, the destruction of Unions and collective bargaining rules s what moved jobs to the compliant south
2
As Sherrod Brown's constituent, I hope he has read this: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/this-ohio-town-voted-for-obama-by-hu...
1
George Carlin--The American Dream: "You have to be asleep to believe it."
3
Senator Brown has it exactly right. Unfortunately, the rich and powerful don't care about poor and average people at all, except when they want to get their vote, and after they do, they forget all about them. Nothing the Donald has said at any time during the election process has given me any comfort that he is any different. He is by the rich, of the rich and for the rich. Why Ohio's voters couldn't see that is beyond my comprehension.
99
We are lucky to have Sherrod Brown, a beacon of light in a state dominated by regressive, corporate puppets. If we had more like him, the false prophets would not garner the votes of desperation as Trump did. Globalization has been sold as an unstoppable natural force and the workers told to just get used to it. They say there are "winners and losers" but somehow it's always the workers that are the losers, never the moneyed class. Maybe this will wake up the democratic party to rediscover their roots.
5
Some decades ago my father, when seeing the global economy emerging, said to me: "Either the living standards of industrial workers in the rest of the world will rise to meet ours, or they will drag us down to theirs." He was foreseeing the future (which is now) very clearly. That is indeed what we are seeing.
5
Excellent article. It is notjust manufacturing jobs - privatization of public work forces like putting garbage collection in the hands of a private company skimming off the workers salaries while creating a disconnect between them and the community they serve and general disregard by employers for those doing the work necessary to generate their wealth strips working people of their dignity.
Throughout the Obama years, it was striking that part of Michelle's connection with the US and Chicago in particular was because her father worked for the city of Chicago and felt a part of it.
Throughout the Obama years, it was striking that part of Michelle's connection with the US and Chicago in particular was because her father worked for the city of Chicago and felt a part of it.
48
Voters who cast their ballots for Trump, and Republican House and Senate will soon realize they've voted against their own interests. They've given free reign to Republicans who will give more tax cuts for the rich, and gut social programs that benefit the poor and the middle class. The GOP is the party for the rich and Republicans will always put the interest of their rich donors first. The first tax that Trump wants to eliminate is the estate tax which benefits the 5000 wealthiest families including his own. White working class voters the majority of which voted for Trump were duped into thinking he's in it to help them. They'll soon realize they will end up poorer after a Trump presidency.
2
Well I guess the next President can hand out more food stamps and run up the national debt pass 20 trillion dollar's. Kind of like Barry on steroids.
We should all give President Trump the respect and chance he deserves.
He is certainly more qualified than a crooked has been.
The people have spoken and Trump won.
We should all give President Trump the respect and chance he deserves.
He is certainly more qualified than a crooked has been.
The people have spoken and Trump won.
2
Let's assume everything you say is true. However, there are other ways, just as important and maybe more realistic, to look at things.
"To create wealth in America, we make it, we grow it or we mine it." We also create it, develop it, and sell it..
"When we devalue work, we threaten the pride and dignity that come from it."--Artists, social workers, and writers work hard too. Is their work valued and treated with dignity?
"Ohio workers will feel betrayed. Again. And they will respond."--How will they do that. Judging by some of the responses and people listened to in the past 18 months, those responses are not ones we should value or look forward to.
"To create wealth in America, we make it, we grow it or we mine it." We also create it, develop it, and sell it..
"When we devalue work, we threaten the pride and dignity that come from it."--Artists, social workers, and writers work hard too. Is their work valued and treated with dignity?
"Ohio workers will feel betrayed. Again. And they will respond."--How will they do that. Judging by some of the responses and people listened to in the past 18 months, those responses are not ones we should value or look forward to.
2
As a member of that dwindling and endangered species called a union member, I have little sympathy for many of my union brothers and sisters. I've seen many fall for the rhetoric and vote against their own interests, time and time again. My union endorsed Sanders, yet many wouldn't get behind him. Instead, they 'revolted' by voting for the ultimate Republican Manchurian candidate. The man who ran a fun house mirror image of Nixon's Southern Strategy campaign ... and they fell for it. Again. In the back of my mind, sometimes I think that the pandering neoliberal Democrat faction that we've lived with since Reagan deserves this scorched earth they've been handed. Maybe something new will bloom from that same scorched earth. Who knows? The next 4 years will be interesting, to say the least.
3
Missing from this picture is the role of workers themselves in a culture which claims to value the personal accountability that comes with the freedoms we enjoy.While all stakeholders have a role to play in ensuring the dignity that comes with a living wage, the burden falls first and foremost on the individuals affected. Second ,it is useless to hark back to the post WWII period when the US was the only game in Town given a devastated Europe and insignificant Asia.US companies have been losing out to European and Asian competitors since the 70s because of inferior quality (Autos,,electronics),not because of unfair trading practices or cheap labor.More recently,US technology enabled globalization simply exacerbated an already difficult situation for those who did not adapt by acquiring new skills or moving geographically.So while our government did nothing to create the awareness for changing needs or the conditions to support those who wished to re-train, we cannot absolve those who preferred to blame everyone but themselves for the situation they find themselves in.
1
I'm really tired of hearing " those jobs aren't coming back" of course they won't as long as that is the attitude. those jobs may not return but there are others that should. Fifteen or twenty years ago I used to hear from the financialists who were lending to manufacturing "what is your China move plan"; they could never see what it takes to run smaller (the connective tissue) manufacturing operations. The financial types thought it was just numbers and not the collective memory of everyone -workers and management that created the success and the jobs and the profits that ultimately paid them. We are a nation of makers and we need to re-remember it.
3
All due respect to Senator Brown. Trump was and is following the billionaire agenda of the Republican leadership in Washington.
His tax plan , a new round of supply side nonsense, was published early in his campaign and widely ignored by his supporters in Ohio and elsewhere. It will balloon the deficit and provide a rational for debilitating cuts to or elimination of the social safety net.
Your voters, as was the remainder of the nation, were warned what a Trump presidency with a Republican majority in Congress would mean to workers rights, civil rights, Social Security and Medicare. They didn't listen. They were more enamored with eliminating "political correctness" at Trump rallies.
They bought Trumps pitch about the apocryphal return of the good manufacturing jobs that once existed in Ohio. We all know will not happen.( If manufacturing does return to Ohio the factories will be automated and employ a fraction of what they once did. ) They reveled in healthy doses of conspiracies, machismo, sexism, isolationism,xenophobia and , yes, racism. They focused their ire on manufactured scandals involving Mrs Clinton, the media and people of color.
In other words, they deserve the bounty of indignities they will receive at the hand of Trump and rule by the Republican majority.
His tax plan , a new round of supply side nonsense, was published early in his campaign and widely ignored by his supporters in Ohio and elsewhere. It will balloon the deficit and provide a rational for debilitating cuts to or elimination of the social safety net.
Your voters, as was the remainder of the nation, were warned what a Trump presidency with a Republican majority in Congress would mean to workers rights, civil rights, Social Security and Medicare. They didn't listen. They were more enamored with eliminating "political correctness" at Trump rallies.
They bought Trumps pitch about the apocryphal return of the good manufacturing jobs that once existed in Ohio. We all know will not happen.( If manufacturing does return to Ohio the factories will be automated and employ a fraction of what they once did. ) They reveled in healthy doses of conspiracies, machismo, sexism, isolationism,xenophobia and , yes, racism. They focused their ire on manufactured scandals involving Mrs Clinton, the media and people of color.
In other words, they deserve the bounty of indignities they will receive at the hand of Trump and rule by the Republican majority.
4
A Green job is one that respects worker's rights, pay, benefits, safety and dignity, and also is beneficial to people, animals and planet. Many of us have to hold down two or three jobs to make ends meet, and we don't have any leisure time or vacations anymore. This will not change without democracy in the workplace where workers have strong bargaining power, respect and dignity.
1
One reason work has lost its dignity is because college for all has been sold indiscriminately, leaving those who labor and toil in non-college degree required areas behind not just economically, but soulfully. They have gotten the message they are the dumb ones. This must change. Yes, I agree with MLK: all work has dignity. In fact, in my opinion, the "dirty work" has more dignity.
I will never forget the nurse who cleaned my friend with AIDS back in the eighties when it was a death sentence. He'd soiled himself, and the smell was awful. I heard him murmuring apologies from the bathroom, and her soothing response, "Oh, don't worry about it," in a sweet Irish brogue - yes, an immigrant, since there was a nursing shortage back then.
So, let's include the laborers of all types when we talk about respecting each other. But, speaking of labor, I'm sick and tired of hearing about trade being the big problem. Clinton was right about trade, nuanced and right, pushed leftward by Sanders, who is now once again on his anti-trade kick, simplifying as he did during the campaign. So, I'm hoping for some middle ground on both these issues: valuing work and trade.
I will never forget the nurse who cleaned my friend with AIDS back in the eighties when it was a death sentence. He'd soiled himself, and the smell was awful. I heard him murmuring apologies from the bathroom, and her soothing response, "Oh, don't worry about it," in a sweet Irish brogue - yes, an immigrant, since there was a nursing shortage back then.
So, let's include the laborers of all types when we talk about respecting each other. But, speaking of labor, I'm sick and tired of hearing about trade being the big problem. Clinton was right about trade, nuanced and right, pushed leftward by Sanders, who is now once again on his anti-trade kick, simplifying as he did during the campaign. So, I'm hoping for some middle ground on both these issues: valuing work and trade.
1
Time to focus on the first fight-- medicare and Obamacare. workers need both, and they like both. The billionaire agenda of Paul Ryan and his plan to destroy health care for 30 million people + medicare is taking center stage, but if Ohio and other workers make noise President- Elect Trump is likely to hear it and make a pact with Chuck Schumer on this one. On the economic agenda President Trump's campaign was more in line with moderate dems then the Republicans.
1
Americans have allowed "at will" employment to become the norm all across the country, which has reduced the power of workers. Workers have made themselves weaker by turning away from unions and talking themselves into believing the their companies would watch out for them. Workers who believed that their 15, or 20, or 25 years of service meant something have found that it means nothing, and they are let go just like that, not even a thank you. If blue (and white collar) workers feel left behind it's because they have relinquished the power their numbers held. By thinking that each worker could go it alone, against the corporation, workers became nothing but profit churners for CEOs, board members and shareholders. The reason our fathers and grandfathers had a better living is because they understood that one man, or woman, means nothing, but hundreds or thousands mean a have power and can make a difference.
How many more generations will we go before we understand that our well-being cannot be turned over to the politicians or CEOs? What does Mr. Brown think those Ohio workers will do when they realize Trump lied to them? Write letters? March around in the street? Big deal. They will just be fired and others will take their places. They are powerless, and will remain so until they give up the notion that unions have no place in modern working life. In fact, the exact opposite is true.
How many more generations will we go before we understand that our well-being cannot be turned over to the politicians or CEOs? What does Mr. Brown think those Ohio workers will do when they realize Trump lied to them? Write letters? March around in the street? Big deal. They will just be fired and others will take their places. They are powerless, and will remain so until they give up the notion that unions have no place in modern working life. In fact, the exact opposite is true.
5
A more fundamental problem is the notion embraced by the GOP since the Nixon years that the only responsibility corporations owe is to maximizing shareholder returns. This erodes any sense of shared responsibility for the common good of corporations, their workers, their communities and the nation.
3
For nearly 5 years I worked as a home health aid, and so did my mother. We had no benefit. Worked from Monday to Monday, worked on holidays, and did not receive the usual pay and a half for overtime, thanks to flawed laws that allowed agencies to get away with it. We were hardly above the poverty line. Work had no dignity, we felt no pride in working ourselves out of life. We were exhausted. We felt abused by a system that truly did not care for us. The only thing that has freed us from this was my ability to be educated, but I know I was one of the few lucky ones.
5
Perhaps if we got rid of carried interest tax breaks the rich would pay more.
Perhaps if NAFTA was not emplaced millions of jobs would not be shed. The promise to retrain the workers for "better" jobs never happened in any meaningful, and not all workers are cut out to do more advanced jobs.
Perhaps if we did not have more than 1 million people immigrate here legally every year, 11 million illegal (pardon me "undocumented") immigrants and hundreds of thousands of H1-b visa holders displacing and lowering the wages of American workers salaries would rise and the "true" unemployment go down.
Democrats are willing to discuss the first item but give short shift to the other two. Lets get all the cards on the table, not just the "politically correct" ones.
It is way, way past the time that our representatives care more about American workers then their political donations and ideology.
Perhaps if NAFTA was not emplaced millions of jobs would not be shed. The promise to retrain the workers for "better" jobs never happened in any meaningful, and not all workers are cut out to do more advanced jobs.
Perhaps if we did not have more than 1 million people immigrate here legally every year, 11 million illegal (pardon me "undocumented") immigrants and hundreds of thousands of H1-b visa holders displacing and lowering the wages of American workers salaries would rise and the "true" unemployment go down.
Democrats are willing to discuss the first item but give short shift to the other two. Lets get all the cards on the table, not just the "politically correct" ones.
It is way, way past the time that our representatives care more about American workers then their political donations and ideology.
5
As a long-time constituent of Senator Brown's, going back to his days in the House, I can tell you that he has been a champion of American workers throughout his political life. Yes, I am frustrated and appalled at the results of this election, but I am stunned at the condescension displayed by some of these comments. It reminds me of the reaction of the literati when a so-called genre novel climbs the best-seller list. They spend too much time belittling the readers of trashy prose without asking themselves what it was that resonated with so many. That's how we learn.
5
Last time I checked tax cuts under Reagan fueled an economic boom. Meanwhile the Dems want to raise taxes just one little problem. The only folks effected by this tax increases are the middle class and the working wealthy i.e. a married doctor and lawyer etc. Anyone who has any understanding of the wealthy the truly wealthy knows that their income comes from investments not paychecks and they have never in history paid usurious tax rates. They don't have to, investment income is tax differently and you biased media types know that you just don't report it. The truly rich have the ability to move their income just like major corporations do to foreign countries, Unfortunately small business can't do that so tax increases effect them more severely. The bias in the media is simply staggering. You call Trump's transition in disarray because they haven't name a cabinet position in week one, it took Obama three week but he was being thoughtful. Shame on you guys you are part of the reason Trump was elected and much of the reason the Dems have strayed so far from the party they were.
1
All workers need dignity. One way to help working class America is to accept economic changes. Jobs that have been outsourced aren't coming back. Industries being replaced with new technologies aren't going to be resurrected.
The people working in this new economy need the same things people have always needed. Good salaries, a standard benefit package, a decent retirement. Many of the available jobs are considered "work that requires too little skill to be valued. So, burger flipper, janitor, caregiver, and similar work is considered demeaning. People doing those jobs deserve the dignity of supporting themselves and their families, the same as anyone doing any other job.
Then you have the "gig" economy. People doing things task by task, using their own resources and paying their own expenses. It can be the same as running their own business, but without the ability to tweak things so they can afford a decent life.
Too many jobs pay so little that taxpayers support the workers. All of the base jobs needs to pay a living wage, with a standard benefit package. Workers need to know they'll be OK when they retire. Those basic needs haven't changed since the unions fought for them back in my grandparent's day.
A universal income would help the other problem caused by technology. There aren't enough jobs of any kind for everyone who has themselves or a family to support. People want to work, but if there isn't any work, they should be able to have the basics to survive.
The people working in this new economy need the same things people have always needed. Good salaries, a standard benefit package, a decent retirement. Many of the available jobs are considered "work that requires too little skill to be valued. So, burger flipper, janitor, caregiver, and similar work is considered demeaning. People doing those jobs deserve the dignity of supporting themselves and their families, the same as anyone doing any other job.
Then you have the "gig" economy. People doing things task by task, using their own resources and paying their own expenses. It can be the same as running their own business, but without the ability to tweak things so they can afford a decent life.
Too many jobs pay so little that taxpayers support the workers. All of the base jobs needs to pay a living wage, with a standard benefit package. Workers need to know they'll be OK when they retire. Those basic needs haven't changed since the unions fought for them back in my grandparent's day.
A universal income would help the other problem caused by technology. There aren't enough jobs of any kind for everyone who has themselves or a family to support. People want to work, but if there isn't any work, they should be able to have the basics to survive.
1
In a classic example of voting against self-interest, workers in America have shifted their support to Republicans. That would be the same party that has spent significant effort to dismantle unions. Having unions is not a guarantee of having a job, but it can guarantee better protections and outcomes for workers. The Democrats have always, and I suspect will always support unions. The empty promise of bringing jobs back to America is just that - empty, making this shift towards the Republican party a double-dupe-play.
4
Here are some not very bold predictions:
- we are not putting tariffs above 5% on Mexican manufactured goods
- that Carrier plant is still moving to Mexico
- the minimum wage will stay be below $10 in 2016
- the number of "illegals" deported by Trump in his first 4 years will be less than Obama did
- the wall isn't going to get built
- regulatory reform will tend to favor management including the rule cited by Sen. Brown
And Trump will still win Ohio in 2016.
- we are not putting tariffs above 5% on Mexican manufactured goods
- that Carrier plant is still moving to Mexico
- the minimum wage will stay be below $10 in 2016
- the number of "illegals" deported by Trump in his first 4 years will be less than Obama did
- the wall isn't going to get built
- regulatory reform will tend to favor management including the rule cited by Sen. Brown
And Trump will still win Ohio in 2016.
1
I managed a large industrial plant in the "rust belt". Looking back there was good and bad. Great wages and mostly great teamwork. The union/companies had apprentice programs that were as good or better than a college education.
But time passes on and " buggy whips" are no longer needed.
The apprentice programs disappeared. We , as citizens, chose to take care of ourselves and not the future. School budgets were cut, and employees watched as new technologies displaced factories and jobs.
The manufacturing did not disappear, it just got much more efficient and/or moved to states that would throw financial support to the companies.
It's like planting trees. You do not do it for yourself, you do it for your children or grandchildren.
We all decided not to spend the money cultivating and educating our children for the future and now we pay and will continue to pay the price of "me me " for many years into the future.
But time passes on and " buggy whips" are no longer needed.
The apprentice programs disappeared. We , as citizens, chose to take care of ourselves and not the future. School budgets were cut, and employees watched as new technologies displaced factories and jobs.
The manufacturing did not disappear, it just got much more efficient and/or moved to states that would throw financial support to the companies.
It's like planting trees. You do not do it for yourself, you do it for your children or grandchildren.
We all decided not to spend the money cultivating and educating our children for the future and now we pay and will continue to pay the price of "me me " for many years into the future.
124
Good analysis but the conclusion doesn't measure up to current reality. Yes, the workers once betrayed again will respond. But the Republican and alt-right media is going to continue to feed them the false narrative that Democrats are the problem and Republicans are the only ones that can fix it. This is what happened with Trump and they will continue this strategy in order to hold on to power.
2
The most baffling circumstance today is listening to the working class white males, who overwhelmingly sunk their own ship by refusing to go to what was super cheap college or vo-tech training once the knife blade of Vietnam and the draft was no longer over their head. Instead, just when automation, technology and Nixon's globalized opening up trade with China overtook the 1970s and then Reagan did the same - along with amnesty for illegals, those males sat and did net to nothing to keep pace. Interestingly, many of their wives and daughters piled into college, did well and now have decent jobs.
2
"But over the past 40 years, as people have worked harder for less pay and fewer benefits, the value of their work has eroded." Correct. But left unstated: one of the reasons work has been devalued is the government gives too much free stuff (food stamps, health care, cell phones, child care, etc.) to those who do not work.
2
Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution gives the federal government no power to set a minimum wage or to interfere in any other way in contracts between freely consenting parties. Senator Brown should know this. That the federal minimum wage law exists at all is due only to an extraordinarily perverse reading of the 14th Amendment--actually, a lot of New Deal legislation exists due only to extraordinarily perverse readings of the Constitution, something that it would be great if Trump-nominated Justices would address.
1
All work should have dignity and importance. Just as all workers should receive the dignity of healthcare and retirement which includes Medicare and Social Security. And a decent wage. Allowing for leisure activities and paid vacation and sick leave and parental leave.
There are a lot of ways to ensure and uplift the dignity and importance of work.
There are a lot of ways to ensure and uplift the dignity and importance of work.
4
There struggles have been dismissed by the GOP which has repeatedly refused to increase the minimum wage and refused virtually every other workplace advance.
The Obama Administration, thwarted at every turn by the GOP, used executive action to try to raise wages by raising the floor for overtime eligibility, raised pay standards for Federal contractors at all levels and probably more I can't remember.
The GOP makes war on workers so let's see what happens now.
The Obama Administration, thwarted at every turn by the GOP, used executive action to try to raise wages by raising the floor for overtime eligibility, raised pay standards for Federal contractors at all levels and probably more I can't remember.
The GOP makes war on workers so let's see what happens now.
3
Rural areas of the country have been forgotten by the democrats who pull their support from urban areas. There is desperation in the rural areas where towns are dying and jobs are vanishing as the economy rapidly changes. Trump offered hope to the hopeful, but it will be difficult to bring blue collar jobs back to our shores no matter what our politicians promise. These jobs have already been automated and will continue to be more so. I am afraid there will be disappointment for many who think the good days will return to 1950's America where there was a well paying factory job for any able bodied worker. Our best hope for new jobs will be if Trump embraces the new economy of climate change or instead give that to the Chinese who are already embracing it. We will have to wait and see.
1
Good wages for manufacturing jobs have been in decline for some time. Good wages for service sector jobs have generally never taken off. Yet many manufacturing jobs are of a similar skill level as those service sector jobs. Making a great hamburger in less than two minutes at lunch rush hour would seem to require the same dexterity and skill level as assembling an appliance our mixing silica sand, limestone and iron ore to make cement. Yet we denigrate the service sector jobs.
My point is, we should appreciate both. We should strive to make both pay sufficiently to support a family … not just a roof and nutritious food, but also opportunity to move into a higher-skilled occupation through training and education.
My point is, we should appreciate both. We should strive to make both pay sufficiently to support a family … not just a roof and nutritious food, but also opportunity to move into a higher-skilled occupation through training and education.
1
This made me cry. And it made me angry. Because Ohio had a chance to do the right thing last week and failed to do it. If Sen. Brown says that if the incoming administration doesn't help the workers, they will respond, well, that's a little disingenuous. Donald Trump was crystal clear about his plans for the American worker, and his plans do not include increasing the strength of unions or increasing wages. So what happened on election day? Ohio could have delivered the election to Hillary Clinton, giving progressive dreams a chance. Populism is another way of saying that stupidity and cupidity reign. The people of Ohio had a chance to choose progressivism over populism and they did not. Sen. Brown admits they are worse off than they were in the past due to Republican business policies that became law; he seriously thinks that Ohio will finally realize this? "So goes Ohio, so goes the nation;" well, Ohio is in decline...
4
Senator Brown is one of the most principled and enlightened members of the Senate, and his op-ed column is right on the mark.
One can only add two things: 1) The workers left behind, who flocked to Donald Trump in the election, were not left behind by Washington – they were abandoned by Republicans in Washington; 2) There are thousands of jobs waiting to be filled in Ohio and elsewhere in the skilled trades in manufacturing and construction. The training and education necessary to elevate an underemployed person to the skills by such jobs has not been funded by Washington.
One can only add two things: 1) The workers left behind, who flocked to Donald Trump in the election, were not left behind by Washington – they were abandoned by Republicans in Washington; 2) There are thousands of jobs waiting to be filled in Ohio and elsewhere in the skilled trades in manufacturing and construction. The training and education necessary to elevate an underemployed person to the skills by such jobs has not been funded by Washington.
4
There is a great lie being promulgated by the brainwashed and the corrupt: The United States cannot be re-industrialized. This is pure nonsense. One need look no further than the Mittelstand in Germany. These middle sized industrial companies have managed to get a toe-hold all over the world, and what is more, they are distributed throughout Germany.
Germans have hithertofore not succumbed to the notion that "globalization" meant destroying the lives of their countrymen like the monied-classes in the United States have done. Their business leaders typically have PhDs in engineering and science. Ours have MBAs from institutions whose primary purpose is the rationalization, justification, and education to strip assets from enterprises while skirting tax laws meant to support the country and its society.
We can adopt the German model and adapt it to our own society. Bless Sherrod Brown for fighting the good fight. Damn those whose aim is to loot enterprises and impoverish working families (i.e. Private Equity firms, and all offshoring CEOs).
Sherrod Brown 2020!
Germans have hithertofore not succumbed to the notion that "globalization" meant destroying the lives of their countrymen like the monied-classes in the United States have done. Their business leaders typically have PhDs in engineering and science. Ours have MBAs from institutions whose primary purpose is the rationalization, justification, and education to strip assets from enterprises while skirting tax laws meant to support the country and its society.
We can adopt the German model and adapt it to our own society. Bless Sherrod Brown for fighting the good fight. Damn those whose aim is to loot enterprises and impoverish working families (i.e. Private Equity firms, and all offshoring CEOs).
Sherrod Brown 2020!
6
Senator Brown does much to bemoan the fate of working class Americans, but poses no real solutions. Unionized job losses did not happen because companies kicked out their unions. Those losses were because unionized companies became uncompetitive. Look at the auto industry as an example. Remember when GM had a 50% market share of US auto sales? This year they will be well under 20%. You can blame management if you want, but those unionized jobs in the auto industry aren't coming back.
As for the loss of jobs in the steel industry the untold story is the extent to which environmental rules made the industry uncompetitive without major changes. Clean air is nice, but it's not free - at least to those who's jobs depended upon steel. Automation has made the industry more competitive, but hasn't brought back the jobs. The Mansfield steel mill Senator Brown references had 1100 employees in 1993. Now it has 250.
President-elect Trump will disappoint his supporters when these jobs don't come back, but Senator Brown doesn't have a solution either.
As for the loss of jobs in the steel industry the untold story is the extent to which environmental rules made the industry uncompetitive without major changes. Clean air is nice, but it's not free - at least to those who's jobs depended upon steel. Automation has made the industry more competitive, but hasn't brought back the jobs. The Mansfield steel mill Senator Brown references had 1100 employees in 1993. Now it has 250.
President-elect Trump will disappoint his supporters when these jobs don't come back, but Senator Brown doesn't have a solution either.
2
It's not only people in the Rust Belt who are suffering, and I'm a bit tired of hearing about their woes. I worked in trade magazine journalism for years. The field I wrote about was transformed by the big box stores, and so the owners of the mom-and-pop shops that subscribed to our publications, read our stories and bought our advertisers' products went out of business. After a time, so did we. There are no jobs in my field any longer. Despite my experience, I'm considered too old for full-time employment and incapable of adapting my skills to social media--as if a 140-character tweet somehow trumps (pardon the pun) the 2000-word articles I used to write and edit on a regular basis. I live in the Northeast, not the Rust Belt, but I did build things. I used words, two hands on a typewriter and then, a computer, and after all was done, I could hold that magazine in my hands and feel the same pride a steel worker must feel seeing a beam leave a shop. I've had to reinvent myself dozens of times since the years that publishing house went out of business. My income has steadily dropped through the years, as has my standard of living, but I don't blame anyone. I realize that market forces were--and still are--at work, and I do the best to make my way in the world. I reinvent myself on a regular basis. I recommend others who have been tossed aside do the same.
3
Senator Brown wrote, in part, "each coming with more devastating consequences than those life deals out to more affluent white families." Really Senator? Why the adjective "white" when the consequences relate to affluence, not race?
I suggest that one of the first things that the Democratic party should do to bring this country together and recapture its relevance to the working class is to stop making everything about race, ethnicity and sexual preference. Democrats lost the last election because they have become the party of the "aggrieved" rather than of all Americans. This Op-ed reflects that problem.
I suggest that one of the first things that the Democratic party should do to bring this country together and recapture its relevance to the working class is to stop making everything about race, ethnicity and sexual preference. Democrats lost the last election because they have become the party of the "aggrieved" rather than of all Americans. This Op-ed reflects that problem.
3
Senator Brown,
Thank you for a well-written piece on the dignity of work. I agree. However, I would hope that as the House and Senate propose new legislation, an emphasis be placed towards building 'career' level employment and not just 'jobs'. While even a temp gig as a burger-flipper has a dignity attached; such a job should be a means to a real career, with benefits and stability, in which the worker can build some wealth and permanence. Too many on the right have gutted the pension system and labor movement in favor of 401k's and 'right-to-work' (for less!) Now some of those want to privatize Medicare and social security.
If we truly want to restore the middle class Washington DC needs to adopt career-friendly policies, not just create 'jobs'.
Thank you for a well-written piece on the dignity of work. I agree. However, I would hope that as the House and Senate propose new legislation, an emphasis be placed towards building 'career' level employment and not just 'jobs'. While even a temp gig as a burger-flipper has a dignity attached; such a job should be a means to a real career, with benefits and stability, in which the worker can build some wealth and permanence. Too many on the right have gutted the pension system and labor movement in favor of 401k's and 'right-to-work' (for less!) Now some of those want to privatize Medicare and social security.
If we truly want to restore the middle class Washington DC needs to adopt career-friendly policies, not just create 'jobs'.
1
For the past sixteen years we have had two Presidents tell Americans that they are lazy, saying that illegal aliens do the jobs that Americans won't do. Rather than be outraged by that lie, American businesses embraced it as a way to lower salaries below the poverty level, cheerfully repeating that they cannot get Americans to do hard work. Of course, they did not mention that they were paying one-fourth of what the going rate used to be for manual labor, thanks to millions of illegal aliens being paid off the books.
The solution, politicians say, is to teach a American laborers to code -- to write software. Meanwhile, Silicon complains that the 650,000 foreign workers in our country on the H-1B visa aren't enough because: Americans are too stupid to write software. Of course, they did not mention that they were paying each H-1B visa holder one-third of what the going rate used to be for technology work, and only hiring Americans at that same rate or lower.
So, it is refreshing to hear an American President-elect do what he is supposed to do: encourage our citizens to strive to do great things, and assail those barriers artificially and, in many cases, illegally placed in their way.
The solution, politicians say, is to teach a American laborers to code -- to write software. Meanwhile, Silicon complains that the 650,000 foreign workers in our country on the H-1B visa aren't enough because: Americans are too stupid to write software. Of course, they did not mention that they were paying each H-1B visa holder one-third of what the going rate used to be for technology work, and only hiring Americans at that same rate or lower.
So, it is refreshing to hear an American President-elect do what he is supposed to do: encourage our citizens to strive to do great things, and assail those barriers artificially and, in many cases, illegally placed in their way.
2
No one worked harder and longer for less return than the enslaved Africans whose blood, sweat and tears built an America that denied their humanity. On the eve of the Civil War there were 4 million of them in a nation of 30 million souls.
Followed by the Africans whose work during the Jim Crow era was denied equal and fair occupation and compensation. In the exalted Age of Obama there are comparatively disproportionately more blacks than ever before on welfare, in prison and unemployed. Working with dignity is a state of affairs that has been routinely regularly denied to African Americans as their dream of the end of their colored racial caste conversion metastasized into a nightmare of a permanently dark class.
See the many works of William Julius Williams beginning with up beat "The Declining Significance of Race" to the down beat "When Work Disappears". See also "Dog-Whistle Politics: How Coded Racial Appeals Reinvented Racism and Wrecked the Middle Class" Ian Haney Lopez; "The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism" Edward Baptist
"We did not land on Plymouth Rock. It landed on us" Malcolm X
Followed by the Africans whose work during the Jim Crow era was denied equal and fair occupation and compensation. In the exalted Age of Obama there are comparatively disproportionately more blacks than ever before on welfare, in prison and unemployed. Working with dignity is a state of affairs that has been routinely regularly denied to African Americans as their dream of the end of their colored racial caste conversion metastasized into a nightmare of a permanently dark class.
See the many works of William Julius Williams beginning with up beat "The Declining Significance of Race" to the down beat "When Work Disappears". See also "Dog-Whistle Politics: How Coded Racial Appeals Reinvented Racism and Wrecked the Middle Class" Ian Haney Lopez; "The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism" Edward Baptist
"We did not land on Plymouth Rock. It landed on us" Malcolm X
1
I am a person in the upper tier of the income range and stand to benefit greatly from Trump's proposed tax cuts. Yet I've voted Democrat since I was legally able to vote because other issues far outweigh what goes into my wallet.
It is frustrating to see, year after year, so many average Americans who vote against their own interests and never learn from their mistakes when things turn out poorly. I can easily see why someone like me would vote Republican. But a middle-of-the-row citizen with a high school diploma making $30,000 a year? It is truly baffling, and I no longer have any sympathy for these easily impressionable people who are clearly unable to learn.
It is frustrating to see, year after year, so many average Americans who vote against their own interests and never learn from their mistakes when things turn out poorly. I can easily see why someone like me would vote Republican. But a middle-of-the-row citizen with a high school diploma making $30,000 a year? It is truly baffling, and I no longer have any sympathy for these easily impressionable people who are clearly unable to learn.
10
Senator Brown, it's not just Ohio. In the Southwest, low-paying, low-benefit service sector jobs dominate our employment landscape. It's not uncommon for people in our lower middle class suburban area to work 2 or even 3 part-time jobs. These Americans are one bad day from financial disaster: a car repair or dental bill can throw their finances into complete disarray, and not because they're shiftless spendthrifts. They simply can't find work that provides a living wage. I long for a Democratic Party truly listens to and advocates for America's working class, of all social identities, rather than continuing to push economic policies that have benefitted mostly global elites. Going forward, I'm committed to working locally to build exactly that. I hope others do the same.
104
Sad to say as a dues-paying union member, the nation has already split into the 1% and the rest of us. We who are the overwhelming majority do not own the proportionate capital and are completely at the mercy of rapacious amoral multinational corporations. Regardless of who voted in whom at any level of the government, the multinationals who really rule the USA are laughing. Because their lobbyists dictate line item after line item into law and we the little people who pay the taxes shut up and put up with their endless imposition of greed...
5
One of my sons has entered the workforce after graduating our state university. The jobs he has been able to get offer part-time work to avoid paying for benefits. His schedule changes day to day making it difficult to get a second job. The fact that he can't support himself or consider starting a family doesn't matter to his employers. The fact that an illness or injury could be devastating because he doesn't have health insurance doesn't matter to his employers. They care only about exploiting his labor and increasing the financial rewards of the executives of the company.
8
It's not just Ohio or the rust belt where these circumstances exist, it's the entire country. In east and west coast cities where the costs of living are higher, workers have seen an erosion of good paying jobs and professions that have been turned inside out with automation and digital disruption. They have been replaced with service jobs that often pay little above the minimum wage. Anyone living in these places trying to eek out a living knows the pain and anguish and frustration these workers feel. Washington has ignored the part of the Constitution that states "promote the general welfare" for corporate darwinism.
4
I watched three hours worth of the Senate Finance deliberations on fast track authority for the TPP. Sherrod Brown did his best to amend the bill to serve workers. Sadly, my senator, Mark Warner, voted with the Republican majority to pass it without Sen. Brown's amendments.
Sherrod Brown is to me one of the heirs to Bernie Sanders leadership role in progressive politics. I hope Sen. Brown will increase his visibility on the national level and become a presidential candidate in 2020. As much as I like Elizabeth Warren, democrats need a progressive male candidate to win over blue collar men and to pave the way for a progressive woman in the White House.
Sherrod Brown is to me one of the heirs to Bernie Sanders leadership role in progressive politics. I hope Sen. Brown will increase his visibility on the national level and become a presidential candidate in 2020. As much as I like Elizabeth Warren, democrats need a progressive male candidate to win over blue collar men and to pave the way for a progressive woman in the White House.
114
No political leader, including Bernie Sanders, has developed a plan to restore economic justice and dignity in our economy. Why? Not simply because of greed or class warfare. What is involved is the probably impossible task of figuring out how our economy is going to relate to the global economy. This article makes clear why only justice and dignity are worth fighting for. It does not say how to do this in the world as it is now structured. But what if we had a party that articulated an overarching plan to work toward these goals, thus avoiding the whip-saw impulses of our politics and our voting public.
1
We get your heartfelt sentiments in this essay, but it is beyond ludicrous to think that the tax and trade policy Trump advocates will ever have the slightest impact on these workers. Hillary was pushed toward worker-friendly positions by Bernie, and she would have been forced to stick with them. Trump will increase the multiple for CEO:worker compensation, and if he actually creates protectionist trade policies it will doom American workers. The decline in the dignity of work has to do with the decline in the compensation for work (including healthcare coverage, paid leave, and all the rest). There is no silver lining here.
1
This is a very insightful piece. It's important to realize that many of the workers Senator Brown are describing voted for Trump out of desperation, not racism. Sure, racists supported Trump, but millions of workers with their backs against the wall did too, and they're just ordinary folks, not racist. The Financial Times ran an article about people in coal mining areas who were voting for Trump out of hope that somebody will at last alleviate their plight -- Clinton sure wasn't going to. These people explicitly rejected the racism and xenophobia, but were voting for Trump despite the "weird" things he was saying.
These workers will have a huge influence on the politics of America for a long time to come. It's best to understand their plight and intelligence.
These workers will have a huge influence on the politics of America for a long time to come. It's best to understand their plight and intelligence.
77
"To create wealth in America, we make it, we grow it or we mine it."
THIS is the lost knowledge that is dooming America. Thinking we can prosper as a service economy is the same as two men shipwrecked on a deserted island prospering by doing each others laundry.
And 'service economy' doesn't just mean barbers and maids. It includes accountants. Lawyers. Teachers. Advertisers. Health care workers. Actors. Sports figures. These positions are all of value, but they are 'drains' to the economy, not 'faucets'. They create nothing new to drive revenue or be sold outside.
Picture that we're a group of 100 people, living in a remote area. 60 of us work. The others are older or younger. 40 of us make a product that we sell to our group and beyond. 20 farm, for us and export the extra.
We set 2 of the 60 aside for teaching our kids. Another to police us. Another does our taxes. Another doctors us. Two more to do health insurance. Another does audits for the government. Two more to do banking and investing between us. One is a paid athlete and one an actor. All good, except now instead of 60 of the 100 people producing, we have 48.
The non-producers tell their kids that manufacturing is bad, and become office workers instead. We belittle farmers. 4 people choose not to work, but be supported. 4 work in governing us or getting things to our poor. Now we're down to 12 producers.
And somehow the future isn't as bright for our kids.
THIS is the lost knowledge that is dooming America. Thinking we can prosper as a service economy is the same as two men shipwrecked on a deserted island prospering by doing each others laundry.
And 'service economy' doesn't just mean barbers and maids. It includes accountants. Lawyers. Teachers. Advertisers. Health care workers. Actors. Sports figures. These positions are all of value, but they are 'drains' to the economy, not 'faucets'. They create nothing new to drive revenue or be sold outside.
Picture that we're a group of 100 people, living in a remote area. 60 of us work. The others are older or younger. 40 of us make a product that we sell to our group and beyond. 20 farm, for us and export the extra.
We set 2 of the 60 aside for teaching our kids. Another to police us. Another does our taxes. Another doctors us. Two more to do health insurance. Another does audits for the government. Two more to do banking and investing between us. One is a paid athlete and one an actor. All good, except now instead of 60 of the 100 people producing, we have 48.
The non-producers tell their kids that manufacturing is bad, and become office workers instead. We belittle farmers. 4 people choose not to work, but be supported. 4 work in governing us or getting things to our poor. Now we're down to 12 producers.
And somehow the future isn't as bright for our kids.
4
The reactions from the conservative commenters to this Op-ed are telling. They didn't have some articulate for voting Trump. They voted for him to
1. Stick it to "liberals" because liberals are annoying know-it-alls.
2. Trump blames all those foreign looking people for America's problems. Surely America's problems are due to foreigners and not due to our own inability to retool for jobs and industries that will actually exist 20 years from now.
We liberals always think we can reason our way to the White House with well thought out policy. It happened with Gore. It happened with Clinton. Unless we learn how to articulate our vision of America in a 10 second sound bite we will lose in 2020 too.
1. Stick it to "liberals" because liberals are annoying know-it-alls.
2. Trump blames all those foreign looking people for America's problems. Surely America's problems are due to foreigners and not due to our own inability to retool for jobs and industries that will actually exist 20 years from now.
We liberals always think we can reason our way to the White House with well thought out policy. It happened with Gore. It happened with Clinton. Unless we learn how to articulate our vision of America in a 10 second sound bite we will lose in 2020 too.
3
In the 50s and 60s as a child growing up in Northern Ohio I saw my father drive to work at the Chevy plant 6 days a week. His work was more creative than most as he was a toolmaker. Nonetheless, I saw him fret over wage and benefit issues. We ate spam and creamed chip beef when he was on strike.
Now, many years later, I am a university professor in NYC. I belong to the same union as my father did. It has been largely eviscerated, keeping the professoriat on the rim, rather than falling down the cliff.
While waiting in the parking lot for his shift to begin my father read history: Will and Ariel Durant, William Shirer. He educated himself to the degree that the racism and right wing politicians my family embraced gave way to votes for Kennedy and Johnson.
Senator Brown, you have been a beacon. Please continue to be this by speaking out publicly against this toxic administration, and against any drift toward seeing this as a normal zig or zag. Please continue to be a beacon by helping to reshape the Democratic Party to be inclusive of these workers, black and white, women and me, who wear blue collars. Please help these same workers to learn to name their oppressors and not scapegoat on the wrong ones.
Now, many years later, I am a university professor in NYC. I belong to the same union as my father did. It has been largely eviscerated, keeping the professoriat on the rim, rather than falling down the cliff.
While waiting in the parking lot for his shift to begin my father read history: Will and Ariel Durant, William Shirer. He educated himself to the degree that the racism and right wing politicians my family embraced gave way to votes for Kennedy and Johnson.
Senator Brown, you have been a beacon. Please continue to be this by speaking out publicly against this toxic administration, and against any drift toward seeing this as a normal zig or zag. Please continue to be a beacon by helping to reshape the Democratic Party to be inclusive of these workers, black and white, women and me, who wear blue collars. Please help these same workers to learn to name their oppressors and not scapegoat on the wrong ones.
226
Working people should recognize that this election has the potential of being a huge victory for them. Labor has in essence captured the republican party and now has influence within both political parties.
Bernie Sanders is correct in expressing his willingness to work with the president elect and hold him accountable for promises made during the election. All supporters of labor should join him in placing relentless pressure upon the new administration to follow through with these promises that will have the effect of strengthening the hand of labor.
Bernie Sanders is correct in expressing his willingness to work with the president elect and hold him accountable for promises made during the election. All supporters of labor should join him in placing relentless pressure upon the new administration to follow through with these promises that will have the effect of strengthening the hand of labor.
2
Work may be losing it's dignity, but when workers band together to vote for politicians only too happy to enact policies and laws that pilfer and undermine the dignity and value of their labor, there's really not much that can be done. Yes indeed, I feel badly about what's going to happen to labor, already enfeebled, under a future Trump administration. It certainly won't be good. But that can be said about a whole host of concerns across the spectrum of issues. But when workers are utterly resistant to fact and history and embrace empty promises and foolish rhetoric, I would say they've taken a strong hand in their own subjugation. They don't seem to realize how much damage they've done to themselves, let alone the rest of the country.
3
My father was a steelworker and a union member for almost forty years. I said from the outset of this election, that a Democrat such as Sherrod Brown would have been exactly what the Democrats needed. Along with Elizabeth Warren, he truly understands the Americans who have been left behind, and along with respecting them, and the dignity of their work, I believe that he could truly craft policy that would lead to job retraining for the twenty first century, while not undermining or demeaning the work or workers. Sherrod Brown is the best of what the Democrats can be-a strong and true voice for all. Perhaps if he had been on the ticket with Hillary Clinton, we would not be facing the prospect of a Trump presidency.
119
For an immigrant like me, work in the factories in the Detroit area was not only the best way to integrate and matriculate in America but also to earn sufficient money to go to college Although I have three graduate degrees and just retired from a successful career in software engineering and data analytics, I am, nevertheless, most proud of the work I did as a young man building products for a small windows manufacturer in Rochester, Michigan. I can still point to buildings in the Detroit area and say that I built and installed those windows.
I consider myself lucky because I can take pride in making things for the use by others. Nowadays, few of us have the opportunity to say that and that grieves me.
By the way, I learned English to Detroit Tigers baseball and Motown before they moved to LA. I still miss the music.
I consider myself lucky because I can take pride in making things for the use by others. Nowadays, few of us have the opportunity to say that and that grieves me.
By the way, I learned English to Detroit Tigers baseball and Motown before they moved to LA. I still miss the music.
5
It's not just manufacturing.
Corporations have used the Great Recession as an excuse to lay off thousands of workers, frighten the remaining employees into doing the work of 2 or 3, and all for a stagnant wage - all for the holy grail that is the must-be-obeyed shareholder.
At the start of the Great Depression, people bought into it, and put the needs of the country first.
But over the last 8 years, corporations realized vast profits could be made by instilling in their employees a permanent fear of losing your job.
Ultimately, there is a tipping point. Eventually, 'work loses its dignity' and people get very depressed (middle-age suicides spike) or very angry.
And that is why Donald Trump is president-elect.
Corporations have used the Great Recession as an excuse to lay off thousands of workers, frighten the remaining employees into doing the work of 2 or 3, and all for a stagnant wage - all for the holy grail that is the must-be-obeyed shareholder.
At the start of the Great Depression, people bought into it, and put the needs of the country first.
But over the last 8 years, corporations realized vast profits could be made by instilling in their employees a permanent fear of losing your job.
Ultimately, there is a tipping point. Eventually, 'work loses its dignity' and people get very depressed (middle-age suicides spike) or very angry.
And that is why Donald Trump is president-elect.
106
Unions also bear some responsibility in this, especially when leadership seems more interested in collecting dues and offering toothless resistance to management's demands than in real action -- yes, including strikes -- that have the potential to influence outcomes in workers' favor. I've twice been a member of such unions, and what did we get for all of the dues we paid and T-shirts to wear at contract time? Layoffs and closings. My grandparents' and parents' generations would be appalled at what their peers fought for and has been subsequently lost.
I'm encouraged that there's actually real talk of infrastructure jobs, but just freeing up the funds is not enough. The Republican way is to let contracts for these jobs, then wash their hands of all responsibility for the outcome. After Katrina, one contractor from my town received $1 billion in no-bid emergency "clean up" contracts from the Army Corps, despite the fact that its head is a convicted felon who served time for bid rigging. The company didn't hire anyone to do demolition or cleanup. It immediately began issuing sub contracts. A government report showed there were four to five tiers of subcontracts on average before any work actually got done on the ground, and the workers were quite often underpaid, overtaxed illegal immigrants. The same company "cleaned up" at the World Trade Center after 9/11. Almost no one works for them, they just skim huge sums and issue sub contracts, apparently A-OK with the government. Just issuing $ for shovel ready jobs won't work. The Army, or someone, must oversee the work on the ground to make sure that Americans are getting jobs for which their tax dollars are being used. Lincoln and Truman both cleared out a lot of this corrupt "subcontracting" and rampant profiteering for shoddy services and goods. It can be done. Government oversight serves a purpose. If this one thing gets done and a lot of Americans go to work on infrastructure for reasonable wages then I'll eat my words about Trump.
2
For too long, Democratic presidential politics has not just forgotten, but excluded, working people, even (or perhaps most obviously) when the candidates dressed down in their new bought jeans and flannel shirts to shake a few hands. Sen. Brown, like VP Biden, remains grounded and understand that party politics must be based on the accumulation of individual voter support, not acquired by networking elite organizational leaders who promise to bring along "their people." Democrats need a party leadership that reflects a commitment to begin and remain with the grass roots workers, whether on farms, in factories, schools, small businesses, or white collar high tech or financial companies. Enough with the bi-coastal elite Dem dandies. If Sen. Brown and others like him are willing to begin this work, most of us will gladly pitch in.
2
Taxes and regulations drove manufacturing away? Union wages and benefits combined with unfair trade deals and robotics drove them away. Now the rubes who voted for the conn artist want to believe their high pay, pensions and benefits will magically return when regulations and taxes are reduced. They won't build a wall, coal miners will never return and above all low skilled jobs with high pay will never return. Just wait till truck drivers are all replaced with robots, during Trumps reign of terror.
1
My father was a doctor and I will never be as well off as he was. The entire middle class has suffered, not just Ohio workers.
As Ohio has contributed to the success of Trump's election, I will have no sympathy for the results of that choice on Ohio's workers. Let them enjoy the victory they have achieved and I don't want to hear complaints of their dire circumstances anymore. Let them reap what they have sown. We will all suffer the consequences of their choice equally (unless we happen to be Trump or one of his fellow self-proclaimed billionaires).
As Ohio has contributed to the success of Trump's election, I will have no sympathy for the results of that choice on Ohio's workers. Let them enjoy the victory they have achieved and I don't want to hear complaints of their dire circumstances anymore. Let them reap what they have sown. We will all suffer the consequences of their choice equally (unless we happen to be Trump or one of his fellow self-proclaimed billionaires).
3
It is not just factory workers or construction workers in the "Rust Belt."
The scorn so many people show toward people who are in the people-caring jobs is deplorable. We do not value their work, either with pay or respect.
The instructional assistants in our public schools, who are where the rubber meets the road for our most challenging students--those with behavior problems, special needs and learning disabilities--(2 years of higher educ. required, physically demanding, very high stress, yearly pay--below living wage, zero appreciation).
The daycare providers and eldercare providers, home health aides,.....(physically demanding, extremely low pay, very high stress, zero appreciation).
These are the people who help your children and your parents, and you., in times of need.
They do not hide their money in off-shore accounts--they spend in locally--they are the real job creators.
This economy will never improve until money is put in the hands of the hard-working people who actually spend it in our communities, and it is not only factory workers and construction workers who do that.
The scorn so many people show toward people who are in the people-caring jobs is deplorable. We do not value their work, either with pay or respect.
The instructional assistants in our public schools, who are where the rubber meets the road for our most challenging students--those with behavior problems, special needs and learning disabilities--(2 years of higher educ. required, physically demanding, very high stress, yearly pay--below living wage, zero appreciation).
The daycare providers and eldercare providers, home health aides,.....(physically demanding, extremely low pay, very high stress, zero appreciation).
These are the people who help your children and your parents, and you., in times of need.
They do not hide their money in off-shore accounts--they spend in locally--they are the real job creators.
This economy will never improve until money is put in the hands of the hard-working people who actually spend it in our communities, and it is not only factory workers and construction workers who do that.
5
Capitalism....I would not wish to live under any other ism. Capitalism is not fair. There will be winners and losers. The displaced workers are victims of the system...nit only those in the Rust Belt but those in the other parts of the country. The same reason, capital chasing more capital. How? Automation, off shoring, out sourcing. Capitalism provided for a high standard of living and upward mobility. It still does but appears the only ones who believe it are the immigrants breaking down the door to get in. Let's not give up what made America great.
Government is supposed to control the excesses of Capitalism. I have seen it in practice in Germany and other EU countries and Canada. It starts with a fundamental acceptance that every citizen, resident has a right to access basic services...not a free ride,,but a right and a responsibility. Companies are free to conduct their business but not free to trample over workers rights. Companies can move but they cannot leave behind abandoned facilities, they are expected to provide for displaced workers. They have programs whereby displaced workers are returned into the workforce through very innovative programs. These elements work because there is a genuine belief that each citizen looks out for each other.
Government is supposed to control the excesses of Capitalism. I have seen it in practice in Germany and other EU countries and Canada. It starts with a fundamental acceptance that every citizen, resident has a right to access basic services...not a free ride,,but a right and a responsibility. Companies are free to conduct their business but not free to trample over workers rights. Companies can move but they cannot leave behind abandoned facilities, they are expected to provide for displaced workers. They have programs whereby displaced workers are returned into the workforce through very innovative programs. These elements work because there is a genuine belief that each citizen looks out for each other.
1
I empathize for all the suffering workers because, I too, suffered for morst of the last eight years. So, we really need to hold Trump to his words. The forgotten man will hopefully no longer be forgotten. However, HRC didn't understand the suffering in this country and never had a plan to help anyone. Just more of the same policies based on Obama's "You didn't build it". Now, HRC will become the forgotten woman and if Trump doesn't deliver he will become a failed President whose legacy will be as rebuked and failed as Obama's is now. Both parties fail to serve this country. Now we should all be scared because the Dems are about to turn to Keith Ellerson, a documented long time, far left racist, a supporter of Louis Farrakhan and devout anti-Semite. He is one step above Reverend Wright. Also, they are actually about to reinstall Pelosi as minority leader. They are also turning to Schumer, a politician so lacking in vision and creativity. Has never glommed onto an idea until after the problem exploded. Good luck to the Dems if this is their best idea for reinventing themselves.
3
Of course they are going to be betrayed. Trump was at the "21" Club the other night telling the patrons that he's going to reduce their taxes. Reduce their taxes? The rich don't pay a lot of taxes. The three groups of the Middle class pay most of the taxes in the U.S. The radical extermination of the Unions in America that R. Reagan began is where everything went wrong for hard working Americans. Yet, Americans kept rewarding these republicans with one Presidency after another.
So, Mr. Brown as a dedicated Hillary Clinton supporter I hope the Democrats can get the message out that the problem is not with what the Democrats are saying, since they on average earn way less than the average Trump supporter, rather that they just didn't connect on a more human level. I wrote to Hillary's campaign several times asking her to get down more to the people. Be seen with us, wrap herself in the American Flag and Cowboy Boots and visit with us. Talk one on one with us. In my family the Hillary Clinton supporters out numbered the Trump supporters. We also made less money. The Trump supporters (all men) with only HS educations have "tendencies" toward sexist and racist beliefs. The Trump people try to down play that but it's real. I think a lot of the women who voted for Trump are borderline misogynists also. So, please, please, when Trump goes against all of his "promises" to the Working Class be ready.
So, Mr. Brown as a dedicated Hillary Clinton supporter I hope the Democrats can get the message out that the problem is not with what the Democrats are saying, since they on average earn way less than the average Trump supporter, rather that they just didn't connect on a more human level. I wrote to Hillary's campaign several times asking her to get down more to the people. Be seen with us, wrap herself in the American Flag and Cowboy Boots and visit with us. Talk one on one with us. In my family the Hillary Clinton supporters out numbered the Trump supporters. We also made less money. The Trump supporters (all men) with only HS educations have "tendencies" toward sexist and racist beliefs. The Trump people try to down play that but it's real. I think a lot of the women who voted for Trump are borderline misogynists also. So, please, please, when Trump goes against all of his "promises" to the Working Class be ready.
4
It is important that people feel dignity in their work because they know what sort of job they are doing, even if other people do not understand and admire them for it. Many jobs across the economy (white collar, blue collar, professional...) are maligned by other people who do not understand what the job entails. But other people's lack of understanding should not interfere with our own actual knowledge of what it is we do and our pride in the effort and expertise with which we approach it.
There is a lot employers can do, however, to stop taking advantage of and demeaning the people who do the work. Organizing work so that people have opportunities to learn and build skills, to make choices, and to offer better ways of doing things are examples. Acknowledging in meaningful ways what people have done instead of trivializing or ignoring it is another. Not displaying an attitude that everyone is easy to replace with someone just as competent, particularly when it simply is not true, is another.
There is a lot employers can do, however, to stop taking advantage of and demeaning the people who do the work. Organizing work so that people have opportunities to learn and build skills, to make choices, and to offer better ways of doing things are examples. Acknowledging in meaningful ways what people have done instead of trivializing or ignoring it is another. Not displaying an attitude that everyone is easy to replace with someone just as competent, particularly when it simply is not true, is another.
2
Men and women who have more than moderate intelligence denied Ms Clinton the opportunity to lead our nation in favor of a man who has little qualification to perform that service.
Why? Cut, slice and dice the result anyway wanted and it still comes down to the fact she is a woman and it appears the average person who voted for Mr Trump is fearful of a woman's leadership if not at heart misogynistic.
The voters of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan along with the rest of our nation will soon find out the consequence of this decision which I still hope will, if nothing else, prove to be tolerable.
Why? Cut, slice and dice the result anyway wanted and it still comes down to the fact she is a woman and it appears the average person who voted for Mr Trump is fearful of a woman's leadership if not at heart misogynistic.
The voters of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan along with the rest of our nation will soon find out the consequence of this decision which I still hope will, if nothing else, prove to be tolerable.
5
You lost me with the statement, "To create wealth in America, we make it, we grow it or we mine it." That's the economy of the past, not the present or future. Wealth and prosperity today depend on specialized education, knowledge and brainpower. I've worked for more than 40 years and it astounds me that there are no more jobs for the majority of people who want to work hard for a decent pay and then go home to their families. Those jobs are gone along with the steady income, health care and pensions and lives of dignity that came with them. And nobody, not even Donald Trump, can bring them back unless there is a complete retraining of America with direct links between education and jobs and an ethical turn-around that values people over profit.
1
Congress Brown you are so very right that we must respect the "dignity of work" and avoid such derogatory terms as "the rust belt." Too many in power have been distant and disrespectful of those who work with their hands. What puzzles me is why does anyone worker think that Donald Trump, who opposes increasing the minimum wage, born with a sliver spoon in his mouth and has "stiffed" worker after worker in one bankruptcy after another, is there candidate of choice?
Knowing that Hillary Clinton had no such advantage of being born into a wealthy family, supported the increase in the minimum wage and free tuition to public universities, among other policies in support of our working class is then rejected by those she pledged to help. Never mind that she gave over thirty years of her life to public service, starting early on with her work in the Children's Defense Fund. When comparing the two candidates, there was no choice. It was a mandate. I still can't believe this con man will be our next POTUS.
Knowing that Hillary Clinton had no such advantage of being born into a wealthy family, supported the increase in the minimum wage and free tuition to public universities, among other policies in support of our working class is then rejected by those she pledged to help. Never mind that she gave over thirty years of her life to public service, starting early on with her work in the Children's Defense Fund. When comparing the two candidates, there was no choice. It was a mandate. I still can't believe this con man will be our next POTUS.
8
The facts of the matter are that we just don't need work as much as we used to, and that reality has not penetrated the mainstream.
Millennia, even only centuires ago, probably 70% of the population were farmers (or farm families). We were essentially a subsistence economy. A bit over a century ago we were around 30% farmers. Today we are at about 3% farmers. We have machines and chemicals and improved processes to provide the food we all need.
Over the last few decades this improvement in productivity has penetrated much of the rest of our economy. How many telephone receptionists and payroll clerks and retail associates have been replaced by voicemail, automated time clock systems, and on-line purchasing? And what's happened to the middle managers who used to be needed to oversee these functions? Even six-figure computer engineers and their managers are being replaced by their own software and hardware. Global outsourcing has been exacerbated by improvements in international mobility and shipping capacity.
We need to restructure our political economy to account for the fact that we can create MUCH more than we need, with fewer workers. This does not demean the "surplus" workers. However, it should drive us to recognize that we no longer need a 40-hour work week, but we do need to provide a living wage for those who do work, and a better safety net for those who don't.
Taxing automation the way we presently tax workers would be a good start.
Millennia, even only centuires ago, probably 70% of the population were farmers (or farm families). We were essentially a subsistence economy. A bit over a century ago we were around 30% farmers. Today we are at about 3% farmers. We have machines and chemicals and improved processes to provide the food we all need.
Over the last few decades this improvement in productivity has penetrated much of the rest of our economy. How many telephone receptionists and payroll clerks and retail associates have been replaced by voicemail, automated time clock systems, and on-line purchasing? And what's happened to the middle managers who used to be needed to oversee these functions? Even six-figure computer engineers and their managers are being replaced by their own software and hardware. Global outsourcing has been exacerbated by improvements in international mobility and shipping capacity.
We need to restructure our political economy to account for the fact that we can create MUCH more than we need, with fewer workers. This does not demean the "surplus" workers. However, it should drive us to recognize that we no longer need a 40-hour work week, but we do need to provide a living wage for those who do work, and a better safety net for those who don't.
Taxing automation the way we presently tax workers would be a good start.
4
Since since the 70s, real income for workers has stagnated or regressed while globalization has spurred corporate profits and executive income. Trade pacts per se are not the culprit: theoretically, more people will be hired if you sell your better mouse traps to 3 billion people rather than to 300 million. But trade pacts are negotiated in such a way as to promote corporate profits, value on Wall St., and executive benefits. Workers are partly to blame because we want to retire early on reasonable incomes, and pension funds rely on good value on Wall St. Thus exporting production to low wage economies would seem to make sense as it causes a rise in corporate profits. This works well for a very small minority of people and unmasks the real problem: who is sitting at the table when these deals are made. I say to American workers: you as a group must be represented at the negotiting table where the economic elites making the real decisions. We are naive to think that Trump will betray his own interests for ours. Join a union, a church group, a real political party. Make your voice heard
106
We are all subject to broad socio-economic/demographic/technological forces that have been globalized in recent years. Despite that, personal choices matter. There are a few places in this country that are crying out for skilled and semi-skilled labor. Why aren't those jobs being filled? Yes, government should soften the blow of market forces and spread the burden to a certain extent, but labor needs to do its part - be ready to work, be ready to move for a better job, stop feeling entitled to and aggrieved about what others have, be prepared to keep learning and re-skilling throughout your career. If you can be replaced by a robot, you will be. Period. That is the lesson of technology. Grim? Yes. Will I be replaced one day? Yes, certainly so. Am I going to demand redress from the government or subsides from my fellow citizens for something I can clearly foresee -- certainly not. While my ability to influence broad forces is nil, I have complete control over my response to threats to my livelihood and well-being.
1
In the wake (and many will believe the term to be used advisedly) of the recent election, some newspapers have asked readers to submit ideas of what they would like to see the President-elect accomplish. Among predictable responses like Resign or Convince Us The Belligerent Petulance That Characterized Your Campaign Was Just Playacting, a number of people expressed a hope that Mr. Trump somehow will manage to prop back up the incredible shrinking middle class.
It's well and good to raise minimum wage, but that won't help the economy in the long run if mid-level wages continue to stagnate or go down. (Which would you rather do, flip burgers for $15 an hour or have to commute into town all dolled up to sit in an office and answer phones and poke statistics into a computer for $16 an hour? Particularly considering that neither is adequate for paying rent and buying food.)
As for dignity, much of the loss of that is the fulfillment of what the late Paul Fussell called "prole drift" 25 years ago. The middle class is expected to be Good Sports with patronizing supervisors, service people who promise more than they deliver (because it's easier and cheaper to apologize than to provide good service), and a lower, albeit more expensive, living standard; lest they be accused of thinking they're "better" than anyone else. Simple human dignity now carries the stigma of snobbery, elitism, and even--subtly--racism. It's just exacerbated in the modern workplace.
It's well and good to raise minimum wage, but that won't help the economy in the long run if mid-level wages continue to stagnate or go down. (Which would you rather do, flip burgers for $15 an hour or have to commute into town all dolled up to sit in an office and answer phones and poke statistics into a computer for $16 an hour? Particularly considering that neither is adequate for paying rent and buying food.)
As for dignity, much of the loss of that is the fulfillment of what the late Paul Fussell called "prole drift" 25 years ago. The middle class is expected to be Good Sports with patronizing supervisors, service people who promise more than they deliver (because it's easier and cheaper to apologize than to provide good service), and a lower, albeit more expensive, living standard; lest they be accused of thinking they're "better" than anyone else. Simple human dignity now carries the stigma of snobbery, elitism, and even--subtly--racism. It's just exacerbated in the modern workplace.
7
Such a beautiful and needed essay.
I work with immigrant students who face- and will face- the same shrinking opportunities for dignified work in the near future.
It is heartening to know that there are state representatives - and hopefully- federal ones- who understand deeply what is happening.
Bernie understands and so does Elizabeth Warren, and, of course, there are others. But the common person feels so powerless to act at the Federal Level.
It is disgusting how I feel- and many I know feel - that our representatives betray us for money and power. How do we move this situation?
Working people cannot spend the hours required to be activists, but we will if our representatives encourage- us -- by being true activists themselves.
Thank goodness for Bernie and Elizabeth- and many in my state of Minnesota.
I think many are ready to rise.
I work with immigrant students who face- and will face- the same shrinking opportunities for dignified work in the near future.
It is heartening to know that there are state representatives - and hopefully- federal ones- who understand deeply what is happening.
Bernie understands and so does Elizabeth Warren, and, of course, there are others. But the common person feels so powerless to act at the Federal Level.
It is disgusting how I feel- and many I know feel - that our representatives betray us for money and power. How do we move this situation?
Working people cannot spend the hours required to be activists, but we will if our representatives encourage- us -- by being true activists themselves.
Thank goodness for Bernie and Elizabeth- and many in my state of Minnesota.
I think many are ready to rise.
8
We cannot have an honest discussion about work and jobs until we confront race. Trump knew he didn't have much to run on, having no experience, knowledge, or policy chops. He had to find a way to form a base and from there attract voters. He used racism and xenophobia, mixed with his constant misogyny, to fire up voters and unleash their resentment, bitterness, and yes, racial hatred.
Jobs, entitlements, and race are now conflated in a messy brown puddle that is seriously hurting this country. If you feel "others" are taking what's "yours", and are focused on hatred that has simmered for possibly generations, you will not have the clarity of mind to see the con job Republicans continue to perpetrate on the American worker.
Trump depended on this, as have countless past Republicans. It is why the middle class, knowing that trickle down economics does not work, voted for a candidate who clearly advocated this debunked strategy. It is why, faced with Trump's public refusal to raise wages, voters who need higher wages voted for him. It is why voters could support him even though he has stiffed and exploited exactly workers like them. It is why they rejected a candidate whose proposals were on the side of protecting workers and increasing wages.
Work is essential for human dignity. But, we cannot talk about dignity without facing the massive disrespect and indignity Trump incited, and still passively encourages. Many voters overlooked foundational dignity in electing Trump.
Jobs, entitlements, and race are now conflated in a messy brown puddle that is seriously hurting this country. If you feel "others" are taking what's "yours", and are focused on hatred that has simmered for possibly generations, you will not have the clarity of mind to see the con job Republicans continue to perpetrate on the American worker.
Trump depended on this, as have countless past Republicans. It is why the middle class, knowing that trickle down economics does not work, voted for a candidate who clearly advocated this debunked strategy. It is why, faced with Trump's public refusal to raise wages, voters who need higher wages voted for him. It is why voters could support him even though he has stiffed and exploited exactly workers like them. It is why they rejected a candidate whose proposals were on the side of protecting workers and increasing wages.
Work is essential for human dignity. But, we cannot talk about dignity without facing the massive disrespect and indignity Trump incited, and still passively encourages. Many voters overlooked foundational dignity in electing Trump.
8
Dear Senator Brown,
The DNA of this malaise was in place well before WWI, put there by Wall Street and the robber barons to further their narrow interests for power and wealth. The post WWII era created the illusion that America had the best interests of the middle class at heart through the GI Bill and the fact that America was he only game in town for manufacturing. For a brief moment, high school educated men (not women) could go to work at the GM plant down the street and make enough to enjoy a better lifestyle than their parents and grandparents. But even then the seeds of globalization were sprouting as major corporations realized the potential and the need for foreign markets and cheaper goods. My entire career as an engineer/manager/executive in the high-tech industry was spent teaching foreign workforces to take jobs away from Americans as we outsourced our supply chain and then our entire manufacturing operation and finally even our engineering and all but the most creative aspects of design. We did this because Wall Street demanded consistent growth quarter after quarter after quarter. We did this because the execs and board of directors had a fiduciary responsibility to the shareholders of a publicly traded company and could be sued if they didn't. This is simply a feature of modern economic life, not a problem to be solved unless you want to foment rebellion and world-wide economic collapse. Maybe that's where we're all headed.
The DNA of this malaise was in place well before WWI, put there by Wall Street and the robber barons to further their narrow interests for power and wealth. The post WWII era created the illusion that America had the best interests of the middle class at heart through the GI Bill and the fact that America was he only game in town for manufacturing. For a brief moment, high school educated men (not women) could go to work at the GM plant down the street and make enough to enjoy a better lifestyle than their parents and grandparents. But even then the seeds of globalization were sprouting as major corporations realized the potential and the need for foreign markets and cheaper goods. My entire career as an engineer/manager/executive in the high-tech industry was spent teaching foreign workforces to take jobs away from Americans as we outsourced our supply chain and then our entire manufacturing operation and finally even our engineering and all but the most creative aspects of design. We did this because Wall Street demanded consistent growth quarter after quarter after quarter. We did this because the execs and board of directors had a fiduciary responsibility to the shareholders of a publicly traded company and could be sued if they didn't. This is simply a feature of modern economic life, not a problem to be solved unless you want to foment rebellion and world-wide economic collapse. Maybe that's where we're all headed.
4
A vital corollary to the GOP's corrosively effective Southern Strategy has been the quite accidental "labor strategy" which they blundered upon during the blue collar opposition to the anti-Vietnam War and allied societal change movement. Through it, a vast, defining segment of America willingly and quite obliviously put aside their own closest self-interests in voting for the party which adapted and adopted a grab-bag of tangential, largely emotional issues as opposed to those issues which would have been vastly more personally and economically. Well into the 1980's, they turned upon their own labor movement and closest self-interests while continuing to help their corporate bosses pump up profits by building lousy cars, digging filthy coal and inefficiently manufacturing steel until those industries began crumbling. Then they willingly joined in blaming unions bad trade deals and immigrant labor for the consequences which they, not their bosses, bore - job losses, stagnating wages and the demand that both spouses would have to work hard at one, two or three jobs to eke by while their families strained and often broke. Through all this, they were duped into complicity by a party which defended and gave them their god, guns and patriotic glory - along with a stream of others to blame and look down upon - liberals, the intelligence, immigrants, African Americans and the lazy poor. And the Democratic Party failed miserably in debunking this message and its results.
16
Politics develops causes in response to changes in society created by economic waves and technological innovations. Both parties were happy to redistribute U.S. labor wage wealth to U.S. shareholder profit by exporting high-paid jobs to low-wage economies through trade agreements until Trumped. Unfortunately whatever counter-measures taken now will pale into insignificance next to the impact of the tsunami of unemployment coming soon from robotics, nanotechnology, electric self-driving vehicles, artificial intelligence, etcetera. The challenge will be how to structure and reward members of a free society at a time when maybe a third will be employed. Where will the dignity be for the others?
12
Senator Sherrod Brown provides an excellent description, not only of the average Ohio or Midwestern laborer, but of the American Worker. But, there is no such thing as an "Average" Worker. Many Americans grew-up in lower middle-class families and, with the help of parents, teachers and others, they were able to grow, and survive, in the World today.
Some might call it "passing the torch", with each hand-off at a somewhat higher notch above the one that went before it. Many of us grew up, the children of those who came of age during The Great Recession. And for those of us who are quite anxious over what the next four years may bring, just reflect back on the 30s--and what our forbearers had to endure.
Life will surely have its ups and downs, and that is an important lesson to teach your children. That's part of passing-the-torch. Life cannot, and will not, always be that proverbial bowl-of-cherries. Endurance and working through tough times will always make us tougher. That's why the top of those hills--the tough part of the course--will just lead to the much easier downhill part afterward. In other words: This too shall pass. Let's hope so!
https://thetruthoncommonsense.com
Some might call it "passing the torch", with each hand-off at a somewhat higher notch above the one that went before it. Many of us grew up, the children of those who came of age during The Great Recession. And for those of us who are quite anxious over what the next four years may bring, just reflect back on the 30s--and what our forbearers had to endure.
Life will surely have its ups and downs, and that is an important lesson to teach your children. That's part of passing-the-torch. Life cannot, and will not, always be that proverbial bowl-of-cherries. Endurance and working through tough times will always make us tougher. That's why the top of those hills--the tough part of the course--will just lead to the much easier downhill part afterward. In other words: This too shall pass. Let's hope so!
https://thetruthoncommonsense.com
3
There are too many places where people make 12000 annually and are considered above the poverty line. And yes, greed has many forms. One CEO refused to pay for the certification expenses of three mid-level managers, basically because he counted the dimes into his private account. Certification means you learn the standards and you learn to market yourself, and he did not want that at all. It was just fine for him where things were. He had inherited his position by being a son of a founder. He knew nothing more about the products than any layman on the street. He sold the company within a few months, spread word how much he had gained, and basically retired. There is no demand for heirs a.k.a. the utterly underqualified, overrated, narcistic, arrogant, dishonest, entitled and disinterested decision-maker. Nobody misses him, be assured, especially not those dozens of employees who got laid off. The real tragedy is that he took down an incredibly creative, state-of-the-art software company that remains far ahead of anything on the market today, decades later. Individual greed of shareholder can destroy a lot more and have negative consequences for decades to come, not just for employees, or the immediate community, but the entire country.
17
Opinion from a man, whose party has taken yet another political shellacking; losing the Executive branch, and ceasing to gain control of either house of Congress. Furthermore, 31 states have republican governors. And this political shift has all occurred within the past decade.
To bring this closer to home, I believe 12 Reps from Ohio are republican; 4 are democrat. You share the Senate with Mr. Portman; a republican. It's humorous to read criticism from someone whose party has been effectively thrown out of Washington and State government for not listening, and then smugly wants me to listen.
Americans aren't stupid: income has stagnated for many Americans, and wages aren't competitive because the value of labor has been devalued.
The two most observable factors I see as a voter are: population (which includes illegal immigration) and trade (which includes NAFTA). Democrats have done nil about either of the two, other than make both worse; with amnesty and sanctuary, relative to illegal immigration, and inaction regarding trade with other countries. Couple that with regulations from the unilateral EPA, regulations resultant from PPACA, one of the highest corporate tax rates, etc. and businesses both large and small can't compete with companies overseas; who reside in countries that don't put these same regulatory burdens on their economy.
Tell me that I'm parroting talking-points, but I see the effect of both of these factors every day; working at a fortune 500 company.
To bring this closer to home, I believe 12 Reps from Ohio are republican; 4 are democrat. You share the Senate with Mr. Portman; a republican. It's humorous to read criticism from someone whose party has been effectively thrown out of Washington and State government for not listening, and then smugly wants me to listen.
Americans aren't stupid: income has stagnated for many Americans, and wages aren't competitive because the value of labor has been devalued.
The two most observable factors I see as a voter are: population (which includes illegal immigration) and trade (which includes NAFTA). Democrats have done nil about either of the two, other than make both worse; with amnesty and sanctuary, relative to illegal immigration, and inaction regarding trade with other countries. Couple that with regulations from the unilateral EPA, regulations resultant from PPACA, one of the highest corporate tax rates, etc. and businesses both large and small can't compete with companies overseas; who reside in countries that don't put these same regulatory burdens on their economy.
Tell me that I'm parroting talking-points, but I see the effect of both of these factors every day; working at a fortune 500 company.
3
This is no longer merely a problem for factory works; this also applies to many academics these days and probably many other places.
Is it right that administrative staff have very stable employment yet many university professors are often adjunct professors; employable only as long as there are funds available and paid essentially as contract workers at much lower wages no job security? In principle, the professors are the educators. How about vulnerable postdocs and even graduate students who do a large portion of the serious work?
If that were not enough, administrators often evaluate science on false measures like impact factor and seem to think that discovery can be scheduled like clockwork. Presumably, some research can, but there are no guarantees. All the risk is on the researcher. Such madness has encouraged the rise of spiv scientists,
Though maybe even more vulnerable, blue collar workers are only one facet of this picture.
Is it right that administrative staff have very stable employment yet many university professors are often adjunct professors; employable only as long as there are funds available and paid essentially as contract workers at much lower wages no job security? In principle, the professors are the educators. How about vulnerable postdocs and even graduate students who do a large portion of the serious work?
If that were not enough, administrators often evaluate science on false measures like impact factor and seem to think that discovery can be scheduled like clockwork. Presumably, some research can, but there are no guarantees. All the risk is on the researcher. Such madness has encouraged the rise of spiv scientists,
Though maybe even more vulnerable, blue collar workers are only one facet of this picture.
3
On a macro level, I agree with your every word and I hope that President Trump heeds the warning.
On a micro level, I say to those workers something else: It's time to be an independent thinker.
Here are some uncomfortable truths:
1. Opportunities for blue collar jobs have shrunk
2. Blue collar work does not sustain a family in 2016 America
3. .....and white collar work doesn't fall too far behind.
4. Americans have fallen into the trap of paying massive amounts for educational degrees that neither educate nor pay for themselves.
It's time to think about things differently.
Now, for the record, I am ALL about education. I think education is the great equalizer and I think education opens door. However, a fancy class in Microeconomics 101 or History of the Sapiens is not going to give anyone the edge. If I think to the best education I got, it was in the workplace. But my real point is this: we have to stop hoping government will provide as long as we follow the rules and look instead to the most direct path up.
That path up begins with this:
1. Not getting into debt--looking for low cost/high value education.
2. Relocating to geographical areas where there are job matches
3. Opening up small businesses.
4. Saving and investing.
Sounds simple but of course it's not. But neither is treading in place and going nowhere.
Our forefathers had it hard and they thrived; this is our test here today.
And it requires fortitude. Intelligence...and education, of the right sort.
On a micro level, I say to those workers something else: It's time to be an independent thinker.
Here are some uncomfortable truths:
1. Opportunities for blue collar jobs have shrunk
2. Blue collar work does not sustain a family in 2016 America
3. .....and white collar work doesn't fall too far behind.
4. Americans have fallen into the trap of paying massive amounts for educational degrees that neither educate nor pay for themselves.
It's time to think about things differently.
Now, for the record, I am ALL about education. I think education is the great equalizer and I think education opens door. However, a fancy class in Microeconomics 101 or History of the Sapiens is not going to give anyone the edge. If I think to the best education I got, it was in the workplace. But my real point is this: we have to stop hoping government will provide as long as we follow the rules and look instead to the most direct path up.
That path up begins with this:
1. Not getting into debt--looking for low cost/high value education.
2. Relocating to geographical areas where there are job matches
3. Opening up small businesses.
4. Saving and investing.
Sounds simple but of course it's not. But neither is treading in place and going nowhere.
Our forefathers had it hard and they thrived; this is our test here today.
And it requires fortitude. Intelligence...and education, of the right sort.
8
This is all very true Mr. Brown, and it applies to almost all workers these days, not just blue collar ones. I think that blue collar workers have been more severely abused though and I clearly understand their disgust with American politics.
Over the last 15 years I watched my benefits fade away from what I consider a very good white collar job. We even lost our dedicated sick days, just as every other white collar worker I know did. Then the job cuts and involuntary layoffs began and the only people still doing well are the very top executives. I hear this over and over from many friends and acquaintances and it seems to be the norm in most companies today.
This started with the Reagan administration's attack on organized labor and I find it ironic in the extreme that frustrated people turned to Republicans for a remedy to their woes. As long as wealthy people, such as the Koch brothers can buy elections this will never end. As long as our government remains in total Republican control this will never end. I see little hope for the future of labor in this country and I will be amazed if Trump represents the critical turning point.
Over the last 15 years I watched my benefits fade away from what I consider a very good white collar job. We even lost our dedicated sick days, just as every other white collar worker I know did. Then the job cuts and involuntary layoffs began and the only people still doing well are the very top executives. I hear this over and over from many friends and acquaintances and it seems to be the norm in most companies today.
This started with the Reagan administration's attack on organized labor and I find it ironic in the extreme that frustrated people turned to Republicans for a remedy to their woes. As long as wealthy people, such as the Koch brothers can buy elections this will never end. As long as our government remains in total Republican control this will never end. I see little hope for the future of labor in this country and I will be amazed if Trump represents the critical turning point.
9
We have made great strides in recognizing the worth of people regardless of their color, creed, or sexuality. These have not been small victories, but while winning on social issues, we have consistently lost on economic issues. Reaganism (tax cuts, reduced services, deregulation, anti-labor unionism and free trade) has dominated the economic sphere for far too long. It is time for the Democratic party to leave its infatuation with conservative economics in the rearview mirror and take up their old post as defenders of labor.
8
A wave of cognitive dissonance swept over me as I read this piece. Sherrod Brown writes as if there is actually some hope that Ohio workers will see benefits from a Trump administration -- with a Republican-controlled House and Senate working in the background for all of their billionaire backers who have no interest in promoting workers' rights. Ohio workers would have to be living under a rock since before the Reagan years to think that a Republican Washington will work to their benefit. Ohio workers would have to be totally conned to think that Trump will conscientiously follow up on his campaign promises to the working class, or that the Republican leadership will hold his feet to the fire. Ha! Trump is about power, not about governance, as is the Republican Party. I also don't believe that Ohio workers voted entirely for economic reasons. If they were able to stomach the hatred that Trump spewed for his entire campaign, then enough of them had no major problem with his racism, misogyny, xenophobia, contempt for special needs people and so on, and this will be their shame. I hope they aren't waiting for Trump to order some corporation to build some state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in their home town, because they are almost certainly going to be very disappointed when they realize they fell for one of the biggest cons in US history.
7
I was down in Trump Land last week, and it was so ugly. There were pockets of small-town charm and energy, but there was so much more that was shuttered, tumble-down, and unkempt, and so many of the people were obese and poorly groomed and seemingly adrift, reflecting the poverty and lack of opportunity besetting these areas. I rode by several factories that no longer hum; one had been turned into a flea market. And I wondered, what could these communities do to turn their economies around without help from policy makers in Atlanta and Washington? I don't know, but I think they need to start working on it. With Republicans in the state house and White House, they are deluded to actually think help is on the way. In fact, what help they currently get is liable to be taken away as the 1 percent continue to reap the benefits of tax and labor policies.
9
Although corporations are creating jobs for robots, computers and offshore employees, little is being done to create well-paying jobs for Americans. The private sector either is no longer able or no longer willing to do so. Many of us, rightly or wrongly, believe that the enhancement of shareholder value and executive compensation are now the main objectives of corporate enterprises. Workers’ interests seem to be enthusiastically sacrificed to secure these goals.
Technological advances, rather than increasing opportunities for workers, too often render humans obsolete. No amount of re-education and job-training will counter this trend.
While watching the movie Shane with the young Billy Chrystal (the comedian), the late, great Billie Holliday turned to the boy, as the wounded Shane rode off into the distance, and said: "Son, he ain't coming back no mo'."
If job creation is left solely to the private sector--a sector wherein the enhancement of shareholder value is the chief measure of economic efficiency--the same will be true concerning good jobs in America.
Technological advances, rather than increasing opportunities for workers, too often render humans obsolete. No amount of re-education and job-training will counter this trend.
While watching the movie Shane with the young Billy Chrystal (the comedian), the late, great Billie Holliday turned to the boy, as the wounded Shane rode off into the distance, and said: "Son, he ain't coming back no mo'."
If job creation is left solely to the private sector--a sector wherein the enhancement of shareholder value is the chief measure of economic efficiency--the same will be true concerning good jobs in America.
3
The detailed, argument-from-pity evasion of The Octopus of govt economic controls is despicable. Man's independent mind is the basic cause of production. Despite Leftist university frauds, slavery is poorly productive. While businessmen increases production, govt decreases it and taxes it as much as possible. Man's independent mind needs freedom from the initiation of force, whether from criminals or govt. Our rational Enlightenment Founders recognized this. But modern and religious thinkers are terrified by man's independent mind. They hate businessmen as powerful examples of something they claim is impossible, the mind is practical. Both want totalitarian controls to force that mind into obedience. See Atlas Shrugged for more.
Mr. Brown (whom I admire) effectively explains Mrs. Clinton's loss, but doesn't do as well when trying to explain Mr. Sanders' primary defeat. I suspect that politician's longstanding indifference to working people (in every part of the country, not just the industrial middle) partially explains Mr. Trumps crude appeal, but I don't think the democrats have much of an answer.
Large re-distributive social programs, long advocated by the left (including Mr. Sanders), are not popular among working Americans. Middle class working Americans want a chance to compete fairly against large well capitalized businesses, not a handout from the state. Democrats should revise the complex legal rules and patent and competition laws which favor existing wealth over new entrants into the marketplace. They should also use federal moneyreduce the cost of community college and targeted technical education so that non-wealthy Americans can enter growing, technology dependent industries where innovation is likely to occur. The democrats should advocate for what Americans have always done well (and Republicans abandoned in 1980): refuse to protect existing interests in favor of new entrants and greater competition and low cost, targeted education to offer ambitious Americans a pathway into new markets.
Fair competition in existing markets and low cost education for future innovation would reconnect the democratic party to working Americans all over the U.S.
Large re-distributive social programs, long advocated by the left (including Mr. Sanders), are not popular among working Americans. Middle class working Americans want a chance to compete fairly against large well capitalized businesses, not a handout from the state. Democrats should revise the complex legal rules and patent and competition laws which favor existing wealth over new entrants into the marketplace. They should also use federal moneyreduce the cost of community college and targeted technical education so that non-wealthy Americans can enter growing, technology dependent industries where innovation is likely to occur. The democrats should advocate for what Americans have always done well (and Republicans abandoned in 1980): refuse to protect existing interests in favor of new entrants and greater competition and low cost, targeted education to offer ambitious Americans a pathway into new markets.
Fair competition in existing markets and low cost education for future innovation would reconnect the democratic party to working Americans all over the U.S.
6
Work does indeed have a moral value. And it is one that is shared by us on the coasts as well. I'm tired of being demeaned as some 'liberal elite' by armchair laborers from middle America.
I did not grow up with servants, I did not go to a private school, I did not get a million dollar dowry from my father. Middle America has just rewarded that elite pseudo-royal upbringing.
Instead I worked my way through school to get a better job. A job that vanished after 9-11. I then had to re-school to get another not-quite-as-good job.
My path through life has been similar to that of my cousins who farm in Minnesota. We all get up early, we all work hard, we all want better for our children, and we all deserve respect.
What we don't do is expect that some giant welfare system will turn our jobs into a protected entitlement.
I did not grow up with servants, I did not go to a private school, I did not get a million dollar dowry from my father. Middle America has just rewarded that elite pseudo-royal upbringing.
Instead I worked my way through school to get a better job. A job that vanished after 9-11. I then had to re-school to get another not-quite-as-good job.
My path through life has been similar to that of my cousins who farm in Minnesota. We all get up early, we all work hard, we all want better for our children, and we all deserve respect.
What we don't do is expect that some giant welfare system will turn our jobs into a protected entitlement.
3
Few elected officials are willing to honestly discuss the ways in which America's policies and structures create systems of opportunity and disadvantage. Thank you for reminding us that we can discuss policy without degrading or dismissing any category of workers.
However, I am not at all convinced that trickle-down economics was discredited. Rather, it was repurposed through policies enabling a massive sucking up of wealth from the bottom to the top.
Interestingly, your concerns about the devaluing of work are echoes of Marx's prescient claims that workers have no intrinsic value in economies where profit, and only profit, matters.
However, I am not at all convinced that trickle-down economics was discredited. Rather, it was repurposed through policies enabling a massive sucking up of wealth from the bottom to the top.
Interestingly, your concerns about the devaluing of work are echoes of Marx's prescient claims that workers have no intrinsic value in economies where profit, and only profit, matters.
3
I earn twice what my parents did but the economy chose my career. My high school classmates took it for granted that they could be whatever they wanted, but how many dancers do we need? The boy I married has worked around the world. He would rather live here but ability matters less than connections.
The Grapes of Wrath may be fiction, but it describes a family willing to follow work. Income inequality and taxation policy hasn't improved under either party, so we're on our own.
The Grapes of Wrath may be fiction, but it describes a family willing to follow work. Income inequality and taxation policy hasn't improved under either party, so we're on our own.
3
The Democrats sure do manage to talk a good game, reality is far different. If Clinton would of won Obama would have pushed TPP through during the lame duck session and handed the economy over to the multi national corporations for the foreseeable future. No political party has done more to undermine workers in this country that the Democrats. And that is quite an accomplishment considering the GOP is the blatant big business party.
5
Donald Trump will not betray his own class. He'll slash the tax rates of the wealthiest and call it a jobs-creation plan. Then he'll get to work with Paul Ryan on dismantling Medicare and Social Security. Yes, Sen. Brown, the Ohio voters will respond -- by lashing out even more harshly at women and minorities.
11
AT&T has 85 billion to buy another company. This means two things, they have overcharged us for services and underpaid their workers. How do we fix that?
16
Thanks for an insightful article, Sherrod. Your hometown of Mansfield (and mine) used to be a bustling, productive city with many manufacturing plants, large and small, a great place to shop and many choices of entertainment. Now General Motors closed their manufacturing plant, ending employment for thousands, many other businesses shut down, the mall is a shell of what it used to be, and our young people no longer want to live here. This is what our government has done to us. It's very sad.
58
"If President Trump takes the likely path that almost all Washington Republicans hope — tax cuts for the rich, an easing up on Wall Street, more voter suppression — Ohio workers will feel betrayed. Again. And they will respond."
I believe that the workers who voted for Trump mistakenly will be quite angry when he doesn't get them their jobs back. Carrier is not going to give them their jobs back, and that is just the nature of the global economy.
I believe that the workers who voted for Trump mistakenly will be quite angry when he doesn't get them their jobs back. Carrier is not going to give them their jobs back, and that is just the nature of the global economy.
10
Many of the ones complaining about stagnant wages have been voting for the anti-labor, anti-union Republican platform for the last 40 years.
63
Unfortunately, those are the ones that believe that had nothing to loose by voting for Trump. The number of economically and politically uneducated citizens is a fundamental problem in the USA.
1
And for 60+ years the Trump voters have not cared one whit that women and minorities were paid less than all the white males of ever stripe, along with being horribly harassed in the workplace by those same males endlessly boo-hooing and voting Republican against their and every American's interests.
These same Ohio blue collar workers are the very same element that voted for Trump, and put us all in the unenviable position we now find ourselves in. Now they're worried he won't represent their interests? A little late for that consideration, one would think.
Pride and important. You suddenly see it when you need it.
It was a young man, his first time, who revived my mother in the hospital when her heart stopped. He'd never done CPR before. His job was to stock the linen closet. He was new at that.
Yet he came in to stock it in the middle of the night, and found her as she failed. He jumped to and did it, calling for help while he started.
He told me later he was very scared.
He saved her. It is something in which seconds count, and he was on the spot and did not hesitate. Without him, she'd have had brain damage before anyone found her, or just died.
Stocking the linen closet does not pay much. It does not have a great future either. But when you need the guy, you may really need him.
A lot of life is like that. We save each other, and not just the doctors. All workers deserve respect. They earn their pride. They ought to be paid more fairly than in our newly, extremely unequal economics.
It was a young man, his first time, who revived my mother in the hospital when her heart stopped. He'd never done CPR before. His job was to stock the linen closet. He was new at that.
Yet he came in to stock it in the middle of the night, and found her as she failed. He jumped to and did it, calling for help while he started.
He told me later he was very scared.
He saved her. It is something in which seconds count, and he was on the spot and did not hesitate. Without him, she'd have had brain damage before anyone found her, or just died.
Stocking the linen closet does not pay much. It does not have a great future either. But when you need the guy, you may really need him.
A lot of life is like that. We save each other, and not just the doctors. All workers deserve respect. They earn their pride. They ought to be paid more fairly than in our newly, extremely unequal economics.
88
Work has not lost its dignity. People have lost there dignity. When a candidate for President mocks someone who is handicapped, values women only for their looks, makes vulgar statements about being a sexual predator, brags about his wealth, claims he would commit war crimes by torturing people, makes bigoted statements about blacks, Mexicans, and Muslims; anyone who would vote for President for someone who does those things, that person has no sense of honor or dignity. No. Work has not lost its dignity. People have lost their dignity.
158
Excuse me, the Democrats have no one to blame for President-elect Trump's victory but themselves. The Democrats have become a bi-coastal professional class party ignorant of the needs and concerns of the rest of the country. 1/3 of the House of Representatives Democrats represent two states New York and California.
Add the suppression of freedom of speech across all venues and the overwhelming bias of the media and the only place you can debate the issue is the voting booth. The Democrats ran one of the worst campaigns in American history victims of their own hubris and delusions and somehow that's Donald Trump's fault. Really?
Add the suppression of freedom of speech across all venues and the overwhelming bias of the media and the only place you can debate the issue is the voting booth. The Democrats ran one of the worst campaigns in American history victims of their own hubris and delusions and somehow that's Donald Trump's fault. Really?
40
You need to ask what was first. Work lost its dignity with the demonization of unions and with the hiring of 'cheap' labor abroad. Wasn't it Karl Marx who wrote: Being/existence determines consciousness.
1
its called Free Speech. People`s Actions should have more value then what they say. Unless you have Lead Poisoning, then unsavory oral tales are all that registers
As a 18 year old, I was working in a cast iron foundry, learning the craft from hand casting to lancing the 4 ton cupola furnace.
The article is overwhelmingly correct, until it gets to a relative unimportant point, overtime rules, compared to the big picture, the loss of jobs that once paid good wages and provided dignity, to attack Republicans.
It was Brazilian and then Chinese steel , made a low wages , that killed the industry in the US.
Trade agreements signed by both Democrats and Republican. President Obama still tries to pass the TTP.
The Democrats need to take their share of the blame. They once represented the working class described, but then deserted it for a coalition of the urban needy, immigrants, and Wall Street
The article is overwhelmingly correct, until it gets to a relative unimportant point, overtime rules, compared to the big picture, the loss of jobs that once paid good wages and provided dignity, to attack Republicans.
It was Brazilian and then Chinese steel , made a low wages , that killed the industry in the US.
Trade agreements signed by both Democrats and Republican. President Obama still tries to pass the TTP.
The Democrats need to take their share of the blame. They once represented the working class described, but then deserted it for a coalition of the urban needy, immigrants, and Wall Street
36
You are chasing the wrong bogeyman. Trade did not cause a loss of jobs; globalization is inevitable. You might as well ask the sun not to rise in the east. The error which continues is not to recognize the solution. Some jobs can and will be outsourced, but some cannot. We need to focus on jobs that cannot be shipped overseas. We need to build and repair our infrastructure, improve our public schools, and invest in basic research. These are all things that Obama has tried to do but has repeatedly been blocked by a Republican Congress who does not want to spend the required money or raise the required money through higher taxes on the wealthy. The irony is that public, the ones who are hurting most, are so dumb they keep electing the same Republicans to Congress.
106
Of course global trade causes the loss of jobs. It also creates jobs, just in another part of the world. The job market was not destroyed by workers. It was destroyed by laws that allow multi-nationals to freely whisk jobs and profits off shore richly rewarding CEOs for their "bold" moves creating share holder value. Our government thought nothing of the impact of closing factories, packing up the equipment and reassembling the same in Mexico, China or some other country with low wages and no environmental laws. They thought nothing of retraining a steel worker or equipment assembler to flip burgers, as if that were somehow equivalent.
All the talk about rebuilding infrastructure glosses over the fact that we are living off the labor and taxes of generations before us. They paid forward so we would have all the essentials that a first world nation enjoys. Yet once again government is primed up to fail us by saying we can have all that by simply handing the bill to our kids. Taxes (especially on the rich) are "BAD"! Borrowing is "GOOD"! Kick the can down the road. Don't look back. Don't look forward. Don't look to the sides because you might have to see the path of destruction the Republican-Trumpian economic plan has in store for the working class. "We don't inherit the earth from our ancestors. We borrow it from our children" has never been so true.
All the talk about rebuilding infrastructure glosses over the fact that we are living off the labor and taxes of generations before us. They paid forward so we would have all the essentials that a first world nation enjoys. Yet once again government is primed up to fail us by saying we can have all that by simply handing the bill to our kids. Taxes (especially on the rich) are "BAD"! Borrowing is "GOOD"! Kick the can down the road. Don't look back. Don't look forward. Don't look to the sides because you might have to see the path of destruction the Republican-Trumpian economic plan has in store for the working class. "We don't inherit the earth from our ancestors. We borrow it from our children" has never been so true.
1
A large part of the problem that no one wants to address is that the U.S. population has nearly doubled since the 1960s, mostly with the undereducated and underskilled - many, many of whom are immigrants, both legal and not. That is who the working class white, black and brown Americans have been competing with. At more than 1 million immigrants per year, as mandated by federal immigration law in 1965, that's 50 million people Americans are competing with and that's just about the number of unemployed/underemployed Americans.
2
I work as an engineer in a unionized manufacturing plant in Mr. Brown's Ohio. 20-30 years ago, the union represented a group of low skilled laborers, but not today. Today half of the workers are doing high skill jobs that require apprenticeships or a 2 years college degree, while others are doing the same low skill jobs from 30 years ago, filling drums or driving forklifts. The union insists that all of these workers get paid very close to the same wage. We can't keep our high skill workers, who go to non-union shops, and we grossly overpay our low skill workers. This same union insists that jobs be awarded on a seniority basis, which does not allow us to place workers where their skills are needed. This is not 1970; not every job can be done by every worker. Finally the union insists on a gold-plated health plan with no deductibles, at the expense of wages, which is great for the older workers who run the union, but terrible for younger workers, who get ripped off and frequently leave. We have all of these problems despite paying our workers wages that add up to $50-90K annually, including overtime.
Those, like Mr. Brown, who feel that traditional unions are the solution to a better workplace in the 21st century are sadly mistaken. This is not 1970; we need better answers, and a more flexible and skilled workforce.
Those, like Mr. Brown, who feel that traditional unions are the solution to a better workplace in the 21st century are sadly mistaken. This is not 1970; we need better answers, and a more flexible and skilled workforce.
25
If we are going to say unions are not needed, then we need worker protections built into the law. With at will employment the norm, you can be fired if the boss doesn't like the haircut you just got, or the color of your shirt. Oh yes, in addition we need mandatory paid vacation and sick time. Something unions pioneered against the wishes of the moneyed class.
1
The party with the best propaganda machine won the election. Donald Trump convinced enough hard working underpaid citizens to play Russian Roulette with their economic circumstances to vote to skew the electoral to for vote him and the republican party. Given the party platform and the goals of republican conservatism conjoined with the erratic thought processes of the president elect there is little certainty that a media confused by the differences between fact and fiction will be able to inform citizens accurately about what is happening to them as a conservative ideology that comes directly from the late eighteen hundreds and early nine nineteen hundreds to change the economic reality of citizens lives. What many citizens do not realize is that, when republicans are in control, they will have to repeat every economic and civil rights battle that their parents and grandparents fought throughout the twentieth century. The new media, as it stands today, cannot encompass that factual history; therefore, there is every chance that republicans by redoing mistakes they made the past can lock in change that will have more negative results for ordinary citizens than what they were expecting when they voted for Donald Trump and republicans. The rich and powerful will not give up the notion that they are entitled.
16
Having grown up in the Cold War era, I learned that, ostensibly, there was a reciprocal relationship with work as far as dignity was concerned. Yes, self-esteem and value came from being a worker in and of itself. However, there was an agreement that by participation in a company or institution, the very value that one added to the company, market, or institution was passed back to the worker in the form of the American dream: two cars in every garage, a solvent Social Security program, a seat at the table in the form of strong unions, equality protected under the law...
In today's globalist regime, a wealth generating individual in a vacuum is rewarded rather than punished for returning nothing. Jobs are sent overseas and money is hidden in offshore accounts with no reprisal. A billionaire passes off $900 million in debt to the public for his failure and never pays taxes again. The message is clear. One is rewarded for taking and giving back nothing and passing.
I agree with Mr. Brown, if our future is more tax cuts to the rich and deregulation then nothing will change.
In today's globalist regime, a wealth generating individual in a vacuum is rewarded rather than punished for returning nothing. Jobs are sent overseas and money is hidden in offshore accounts with no reprisal. A billionaire passes off $900 million in debt to the public for his failure and never pays taxes again. The message is clear. One is rewarded for taking and giving back nothing and passing.
I agree with Mr. Brown, if our future is more tax cuts to the rich and deregulation then nothing will change.
27
Sherrod Brown is one of the leaders in the Ohio Dem Party who I respect and trust as a Dem leader who hasn't lost touch with the basic allegiance to the working class in America and particularly here in Ohio. But the working class he admires so much bear much of the responsibility for where they have put themselves. Their refusal to demand hard facts instead of "feel good promises" from a con man like Trump; the belief in wacky conspiracies that the federal government is out to get them; Obsession with Benghazi and the email nonsense; the list just goes on.
Mr. Brown needs to quite defending these people who put Trump in the White House. They did this to themselves. And when, perhaps two years from now, all the promises of economic prosperity to Trump's "uneducated" true believers fail to materialize and these same Trump voters are taxed more, the rich pay even less taxes like Trump, deregulation of federal protection agencies such as EPA all in the name of creating even more wealth of Trump and the rich, Trump's gullible, uneducated class of workers will still find irrational beliefs to support Trump and the Republican Party that has no use for the working class in America.
Mr. Brown needs to quite defending these people who put Trump in the White House. They did this to themselves. And when, perhaps two years from now, all the promises of economic prosperity to Trump's "uneducated" true believers fail to materialize and these same Trump voters are taxed more, the rich pay even less taxes like Trump, deregulation of federal protection agencies such as EPA all in the name of creating even more wealth of Trump and the rich, Trump's gullible, uneducated class of workers will still find irrational beliefs to support Trump and the Republican Party that has no use for the working class in America.
41
It's easy and right to vilify Republicans but impossible to defend Democrats. Trump didn't so much win this election as the Democrats and their anointed one lost the election. If Democrats, like Brown cared so much about the working class then they need to explain why they chose Clinton as their standard bearer.
The answer is, as it always is - elections are bought and paid for by the wealthy donor class. The rich buy a seat at the table to make sure Congress protects their best interests. Politicians spin it all they want but you can't explain away the fact that 1% controls 90% of the wealth and income, stagnant wages, and ever increasing prices on everything
The working class in America, Gary Behun, doesn't have a party that represents them.
The answer is, as it always is - elections are bought and paid for by the wealthy donor class. The rich buy a seat at the table to make sure Congress protects their best interests. Politicians spin it all they want but you can't explain away the fact that 1% controls 90% of the wealth and income, stagnant wages, and ever increasing prices on everything
The working class in America, Gary Behun, doesn't have a party that represents them.
2
The Millionaire Solution
I agree that you should, “build a society and an economy from the middle class out” but this has never been done.
It would be cost effective to guarantee flexible transitional jobs to all in need with charities at a little below business sector pay rates. The transitional jobs would range from entry level to professional, part time or full time. The transitional rates, and benefits provided, would become the de facto minimum wages.
In the bigger picture the government should help families become millionaires over a lifetime and let multimillionaires fend for themselves. Government support for education, health care and housing should be based on need determined by a combination of both wealth and income. The inverse taxation of wealth and income would achieve this with a clever formula that lets taxpayers choose what is best for them. Consider the effect of a taxpayer choice of an income tax rate between 8% and 28% paired with a wealth tax rate of 2% decreasing to zero. Each taxpayer would also be able to save up to $500,000 wealth tax free for retirement, health care and education. The job killing combined payroll taxes (now fixed at 15.7%) would be eliminated. Social Security would be funded by a 4% VAT and 8% C corporation tax with no tax expenditures. Cumulative wealth taxes could be used to offset estate and gift taxes (set at 28%) – finally making the Estate Tax fair to anyone that pays a fair share of his or her wealth over a lifetime.
I agree that you should, “build a society and an economy from the middle class out” but this has never been done.
It would be cost effective to guarantee flexible transitional jobs to all in need with charities at a little below business sector pay rates. The transitional jobs would range from entry level to professional, part time or full time. The transitional rates, and benefits provided, would become the de facto minimum wages.
In the bigger picture the government should help families become millionaires over a lifetime and let multimillionaires fend for themselves. Government support for education, health care and housing should be based on need determined by a combination of both wealth and income. The inverse taxation of wealth and income would achieve this with a clever formula that lets taxpayers choose what is best for them. Consider the effect of a taxpayer choice of an income tax rate between 8% and 28% paired with a wealth tax rate of 2% decreasing to zero. Each taxpayer would also be able to save up to $500,000 wealth tax free for retirement, health care and education. The job killing combined payroll taxes (now fixed at 15.7%) would be eliminated. Social Security would be funded by a 4% VAT and 8% C corporation tax with no tax expenditures. Cumulative wealth taxes could be used to offset estate and gift taxes (set at 28%) – finally making the Estate Tax fair to anyone that pays a fair share of his or her wealth over a lifetime.
4
American business and mercantile interests are killing off the sources of their wealth by cheating workers out of fair pay and decent wage increases. At the end of this road there are few left to buy what America designs, produces and hopes to sell. With emerging markets with what appear to be almost unlimited opportunities for growth, like India, corporate America is unconcerned about its future. The mega rich even now often have a foot on foreign soil (houses) and there appears to be an escape plan ready as America declines: leave. There is no better place to be rich than in a poor country and if America declines fatally, the mega rich can easily disembark these shores in 500 MPH corporate jets.
Sound extreme? This is the underlying potential in Wall Street's incessant demand to grow or die. America's economic system can be compared to taking a wonderful race horse and insisting that he run often, beyond his capacity to recover and stay healthy. Eventually, he will die. In business, executives either obey the commands or lose everything. There are no more, or very few, steady-as-you-go corporations.
The concentration on short term gains, and the massive wealth that can follow for executives, represent too much temptation for mortal beings. The money at the top has spiraled upward while those down below are consistently cheated. We are draining the incentive to work as people realize no matter how much they contribute, the rewards will pile up for others, not themselves.
Sound extreme? This is the underlying potential in Wall Street's incessant demand to grow or die. America's economic system can be compared to taking a wonderful race horse and insisting that he run often, beyond his capacity to recover and stay healthy. Eventually, he will die. In business, executives either obey the commands or lose everything. There are no more, or very few, steady-as-you-go corporations.
The concentration on short term gains, and the massive wealth that can follow for executives, represent too much temptation for mortal beings. The money at the top has spiraled upward while those down below are consistently cheated. We are draining the incentive to work as people realize no matter how much they contribute, the rewards will pile up for others, not themselves.
61
Senator Brown
Your heart is in the right place. However, the old way of manufacturing is finished as that is driven by a low cost mentality where people are the most expensive piece of that equation.
The way forward is through education in math and science that creates the competencies to perform high value manufacturing where people are an asset.
The incoming administration, the congress, the majority of state legislators do not believe in education but rather dumb down everything to point where we are trying to maintain a 19th century mindset while more educated and nimble countries pass us by.
Your heart is in the right place. However, the old way of manufacturing is finished as that is driven by a low cost mentality where people are the most expensive piece of that equation.
The way forward is through education in math and science that creates the competencies to perform high value manufacturing where people are an asset.
The incoming administration, the congress, the majority of state legislators do not believe in education but rather dumb down everything to point where we are trying to maintain a 19th century mindset while more educated and nimble countries pass us by.
276
"The way forward is through education in math and science that creates the competencies to perform high value manufacturing where people are an asset."
How many workers are able to absorb math and science? Those who can't will comprise a vast seething underclass. I wish I knew the answer to this.
How many workers are able to absorb math and science? Those who can't will comprise a vast seething underclass. I wish I knew the answer to this.
1
As this write says, you cannot succeed in science if you believe any old argument you construct should be "treated with respect." The natural sciences and mathematics are not a moot law courtroom. Nature does not care what you think. Take a container of Morton Salt and a full glass of water. Add a bit of salt and stir. The salt will dissolve in the liquid. Now keep adding salt. Eventually, no matter had hard you stir, the salt will not dissolved. The solution is saturated. Now imagine the atmosphere of the earth. It is a very large but finite volume. Add carbon dioxide. No problem. Now keep adding carbon dioxide, lots and lots of it. Eventually, the system can not remain in any sense an atmosphere to support all forms of life. There is just too much pollution in it.
When too many people don't accept this line of reasoning because it doesn't agree with your beliefs, then the whole world is in trouble.
When too many people don't accept this line of reasoning because it doesn't agree with your beliefs, then the whole world is in trouble.
1
Excellent and obviously heartfelt piece, Senator.
Living as we do in the age of the 'selfie', and with the rise of Trump and his egocentric posturing, it is hard to imagine that those in power will give up even a small amount of their good fortune for the public good.
Ohio and all industrial workers have been betrayed both by leaders who ignored their real plight and by rapid advances in technologies that diminished or made redundant their skills.
Starting with education and wealth redistribution, our society needs to look outward again and to insure that through understanding of the effects of rapid change, we provide support and resources to create opportunities at least for the workers' children to climb the progress ladder.
The current focus on celebrity and money are not the answer. We need to return to the values of generosity and humanism, real democratic values.
Living as we do in the age of the 'selfie', and with the rise of Trump and his egocentric posturing, it is hard to imagine that those in power will give up even a small amount of their good fortune for the public good.
Ohio and all industrial workers have been betrayed both by leaders who ignored their real plight and by rapid advances in technologies that diminished or made redundant their skills.
Starting with education and wealth redistribution, our society needs to look outward again and to insure that through understanding of the effects of rapid change, we provide support and resources to create opportunities at least for the workers' children to climb the progress ladder.
The current focus on celebrity and money are not the answer. We need to return to the values of generosity and humanism, real democratic values.
20
I agree that terms like Rust Belt lend a negative connotation that just encourages division. I also agree that from what President-elect Trump has stated of his plans, they would not appear to be capable of addressing the real issues for people in manufacturing. In my opinion, what is really needed is education to train for the more technical skills expected to be in demand. Change is uncomfortable, but has a potential for greater success (depending on the type of change). I do feel though that often when the term elite is used there is not a real understanding of who the elite is. A CEO of a Fortune 500 company may earn millions a year. But how many people are at that level? Is the elite just the 1% in America? Most of us who seem to get tossed into the elite bucket are also hard working. We work 7 days a week with no overtime because we're on salary. We start work at 6 AM and sometimes don't finish until midnight because our work is global. We are always on call, an email or text away. And we don't all earn million dollar salaries. Although I live in what could be considered an elite part of CT, I live in a 3 bedroom house. I buy a new car once every 10 years- and it's a basic sedan not a high-end sports car. So why is there this huge divide between many in middle America and the East Coast "elite"?
10
I'm in the same boat as you and see what you are saying. But someone has to drive the forklifts and dig the ditches, even if it is low-skill. And that someone really does deserve to be compensated.
2
The destructin of labor unions, started by Reagan but also supported by many American workers who thught that unions protected incompetence, was a major factor in reducing the lifestyle of the American worker.
So too is automation--which will continue to grow in importance as a force destroying the American worker's lifestyle.
So too is the bloated pay for executives and wall streeters.
But the major problem is there are not enough good jobs in the world for all of the people in th world. This fact drives down pay for people without highly developed skills.
We can solve the first three problems, but there is no solution to overpopulation when all of those billions of people want good jobs and lives.
So too is automation--which will continue to grow in importance as a force destroying the American worker's lifestyle.
So too is the bloated pay for executives and wall streeters.
But the major problem is there are not enough good jobs in the world for all of the people in th world. This fact drives down pay for people without highly developed skills.
We can solve the first three problems, but there is no solution to overpopulation when all of those billions of people want good jobs and lives.
13
The destructin of labor unions,.... was a major factor in reducing the lifestyle of the American worker."......The reason unions have declined is that jobs have declined. You can only have strong unions when there are more jobs than workers. When there are more workers than jobs, labor looses its leverage. The only way to restore unions is to increase the number of available jobs. The law of supply and demand works everywhere all the time.
2
Work has lost its dignity for more than the rust belt blue collar workers. Workers are commodities little different than manufactured widgets. Wells Fargo set impossible sales goals for the widget/tellers to perform and like a defective widget, the tellers were thrown out with the trash if they failed to pass the quality control inspection. All that matters now is profits, not the well being of the community that hosts the company nor the well being of the people without whom profits would not be generated.
Trickle down economics has been a failure, but we've just elected a millionaire con man who is surrounding himself with Tea Party proponents who continue the cut taxes on the rich and corporations, can the social safety net, and privatize everything (somebody might as well make a buck or two of suffering). One only needs to look at Kansas to see what we will all soon face.
Trickle down economics has been a failure, but we've just elected a millionaire con man who is surrounding himself with Tea Party proponents who continue the cut taxes on the rich and corporations, can the social safety net, and privatize everything (somebody might as well make a buck or two of suffering). One only needs to look at Kansas to see what we will all soon face.
392
I once worked on the coke oven at Republic Steel and Wire in the flats in Cleveland Ohio. It's long gone now, replaced by a river front promenade. I'm also long gone from that work. College and graduate school gave me better opportunities.
But American workers have lost a lot more than dignity on the job. About half of our manufacturing jobs have been lost to new technology. But the other half have been lost to the plans concocted on Wall Street and Washington that financialized our economy. Laws were changed, trade deals made, currency rules changed, anti-union legislation passed and low and behold the American worker suddenly had to compete with their counterpart in Asia who was paid $10 a day for work that we did for $10 and hour.
The profits from globalization have been tremendous, 5-6 trillion in the last ten years by some estimates. But 95% has gone to the top 1%. This didn't 'just happen.' And ultimately this isn't about dignity, it's about how our capitalist system is run, by whom and for whose benefit?
A banker couldn't maker a toothpick if their life depended on it. But they make decisions everyday that determine whether 30 years of stagnant wages will remain the same, or bump up slightly in an election year. They decided that our first class country would have an expensive, second class health system. They raised tuition at those junior colleges and turned our kids into debtors. And now we will see whose side our politicians are on. Joe Hill knew, do you?
But American workers have lost a lot more than dignity on the job. About half of our manufacturing jobs have been lost to new technology. But the other half have been lost to the plans concocted on Wall Street and Washington that financialized our economy. Laws were changed, trade deals made, currency rules changed, anti-union legislation passed and low and behold the American worker suddenly had to compete with their counterpart in Asia who was paid $10 a day for work that we did for $10 and hour.
The profits from globalization have been tremendous, 5-6 trillion in the last ten years by some estimates. But 95% has gone to the top 1%. This didn't 'just happen.' And ultimately this isn't about dignity, it's about how our capitalist system is run, by whom and for whose benefit?
A banker couldn't maker a toothpick if their life depended on it. But they make decisions everyday that determine whether 30 years of stagnant wages will remain the same, or bump up slightly in an election year. They decided that our first class country would have an expensive, second class health system. They raised tuition at those junior colleges and turned our kids into debtors. And now we will see whose side our politicians are on. Joe Hill knew, do you?
30
Our society is capitalistic; so, capital will always trounce labor; the problem has been, and is, the gross and mounting inequality towards the middle class, and the inequities engendered; unless there is paradigm, where the 'rich and powerful' are willing to share the pie, upheaval is to be expected. Some sort of re-distribution is an urgent matter, so a living wage can be secured, to restore dignity to human labor. The old adage expressed by Louis Bland (attributed to Marx) comes close to the Golden Rule: "from each according to his/her talents, to each according to his/her needs". And government has a key role to play, thus far somewhat neglected due to a Congress impervious to the needs and wants of the common man, a social distance that can be improved only if we walk in his shoes, live on his salary, and exercise some empathy for a change.
8
There is an old joke that you can lock two naked bankers in a room with nothing but their hats and that they will trade their hats back-and-forth until they come out fully clothed.
Part of the loss of dignity comes from the fact that labor (value added) to goods has now been replaced as a way to gain wealth. So much is now gained through "swaps" of equities, speculation (betting on the rise of "values"), and outsized salaries, benefits, perks, and bonuses. "Unearned income" now is more profitable than "earned income," and the compensation a worker gets in exchange for his or her time, sweat, injury risk, and skills are taxed more than income derived from invested money. The Common Man is now so common that he is no longer needed --- he is useless. Hence, any paltry compensation is, well, charity and welfare. He's a "taker" as opposed to the 1% that are "giving" him a job.
Those who took $trillions out of our economy in the engineered bubble that burst in 2008 were bailed out, allowed to keep their jobs and bonuses on "ill-gotten gains," and protected from prosecution by the Obama Administration. The investors of these corporations later paid $billions in fines, as the government, did, indeed, have the "goods" on them. The criminals walked, yet few were outraged enough to do anything.
Are we really witnessing a total reversal of human values? It would seem that way.
Part of the loss of dignity comes from the fact that labor (value added) to goods has now been replaced as a way to gain wealth. So much is now gained through "swaps" of equities, speculation (betting on the rise of "values"), and outsized salaries, benefits, perks, and bonuses. "Unearned income" now is more profitable than "earned income," and the compensation a worker gets in exchange for his or her time, sweat, injury risk, and skills are taxed more than income derived from invested money. The Common Man is now so common that he is no longer needed --- he is useless. Hence, any paltry compensation is, well, charity and welfare. He's a "taker" as opposed to the 1% that are "giving" him a job.
Those who took $trillions out of our economy in the engineered bubble that burst in 2008 were bailed out, allowed to keep their jobs and bonuses on "ill-gotten gains," and protected from prosecution by the Obama Administration. The investors of these corporations later paid $billions in fines, as the government, did, indeed, have the "goods" on them. The criminals walked, yet few were outraged enough to do anything.
Are we really witnessing a total reversal of human values? It would seem that way.
18
Well articulated, but from a different time period in the evolution of our society. It is true that " all work has dignity and importance, whether done by a street sweeper, Michelangelo or Beethoven.", but the nature of contributing to society is changing at a rapid rate. This is being caused buy the dislocation produced by an ongoing technological revolution. There is little the politicians can due to influence this, but they can try to make the system of government and its rules more accommodating. The dignity of work has already changed to the dignity of participating in society in different and unforeseen ways. Hang on for the ride, we will emerge as something different.
6
In addition we need: Good day care so that single parents or families where both parents need and want to work (most families) can raise their children and work. We need pre-school programs and excellent schools. Health care for all at reasonable prices (whether through taxes for a single-payer, or through premiums adjusted to earnings until single-payer can begin). High schools that teach history and literature and chemistry and biology as well as skills -- shop classes for all, computer classes for all. It might mean a longer day and more teachers. But that is the cost of doing it right. Good housing that is safe, comfortable, and uplifting.
We have the wealth in this country for this, and incentives are easy to build in for creativity, entrepreneurship, and economic fairness. It is not a zero-sum game.
We have the wealth in this country for this, and incentives are easy to build in for creativity, entrepreneurship, and economic fairness. It is not a zero-sum game.
7
In 1965, the average CEO compensation was 20 times the average worker compensation. Today the ratio is more than 300. Let Trump offer a deal to corporations of all sizes: make the ratio of pay of highest to lowest paid worker, on a per hour basis, to 20. In return, your corporate tax rate can drop to 20. If it twists the CEO to think they can't make more than a $1,000,000 annual salary, because that would mean paying the receptionist or janitor $50,000, then be greedy and pay a higher corporate tax. The compensation ratio should apply to ALL forms, including benefits and stock options, deferred or not. In fact, take this further: if the ratio of pay is 10, pay only 10% corporate tax. Every board of directors and every stockholder can determine if this is the best long-term course of action for their company. And every citizen can determine if this is the best course of action for their fellow workers and their country. Since the winning cohort of the electorate wants to turn history back, let's do it.
322
Great article. That's changed since the 60's and 70's, even though there's much happening now to remind us of those days. All you have to do is look at TV shows to see what's happened. Urban professionals' lifestyle is amply represented, and upper class suburban life, and African Americans are now represented in a number of socioeconomic classes, as are all sorts of previously marginalized groups in everything from sitcoms to heavy hitting drama (a good thing), but white working class and rural people have all but disappeared except in harsh stereotype - we all know the Honey Booboo and that buffoonish type, and the criminal low-lifes identifiable by regional accent and stringy hair, and the other caricatures. I'm a liberal and a progressive, and I also recognize that this is a very real and deeply damaging thing.
In the 60's we had Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger and the whole folk music revival - whatever the political differences, there was deep love, respect and nostalgia for the hard working, straight talking, blue collar/rural man. But then came Archie Bunker, signalling the beginning of the great divide.
I'm old enough to remember the first TV series, The Life of Riley, about a blue-collar family, and then years of shows in which that class seemed the American norm - and The Waltons, which celebrated not just a disappearing way of life but a deep-rooted ideal and an ethic now mocked by "urban elites". We need to pay attention; we've abandoned something of great value.
In the 60's we had Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger and the whole folk music revival - whatever the political differences, there was deep love, respect and nostalgia for the hard working, straight talking, blue collar/rural man. But then came Archie Bunker, signalling the beginning of the great divide.
I'm old enough to remember the first TV series, The Life of Riley, about a blue-collar family, and then years of shows in which that class seemed the American norm - and The Waltons, which celebrated not just a disappearing way of life but a deep-rooted ideal and an ethic now mocked by "urban elites". We need to pay attention; we've abandoned something of great value.
3
As one of the owners and managers of a small manufacturing company in Southern Ohio, here's my comment. Our company has survived because it has changed to meet the requirements of the times, shifting away from production of commodity items, embracing new technology and becoming more efficient. We don't even start new hires at anything like minimum wage and those of us who own and manage don't take earnings anything like 300:1 over those who work on the production floor. We still offer the benefits manufacturing companies have traditionally been know to offer - health insurance, retirement savings plan, overtime on a fairly regular basis, bonuses every month the company sales go over a minimum. The feedback I get is that this company is a good place to work. We are hindered by a system that provides the greatest benefits NOT to the companies and people who grow or make things in the USA but to those who can play financial pyramid games and shift their tax burdens from one venue to another. That's not even to broach the tax avoidance and manipulation strategies of, say, the Trump businesses. If America wants to see employment opportunities in companies like ours, it's no longer enough to say "level the playing field and get out of our way". We've been hindered for so long and are so far behind our offshore competitors, it's going to take something very different from what's been going on the past 40 years to make a change. Nothing I've heard addresses the change needed.
23
It’s taken forty years of neo-liberalism to create a society of vast inequality, financial instability, democratic corruption, rampant job insecurity, permanent austerity for the many and runaway wealth for the few.
And not just in the Rust Belt, but everywhere - on the planet!
Financial de-regulation, suppression of wages, longer hours, substitution of wage rises with credit cards and pay day loans, tax havens, tax holidays, tax avoidance, tax reductions, smashing unions, destruction of workers rights, temporary contracts, agency work, privatization of state assets, state subsidies of low wages, monopoly media, mass surveillance, secret courts, curtailing of dissent, perpetual war, the creation of perpetual fear etc. have all been achieved with BIPARTISAN agreement.
However, I fear that neo-liberalism isn't as dead as it should be.
Most of the Democratic Party's establishment, who conspired to sabotage the populist Sanders's campaign, still dominate the party, and they, in turn, are controlled by the giant corporations who fund their campaigns.
Unfortunately, we need to remove these corrupt neo-liberals from all party leadership positions, which will be very difficult and take years to accomplish, before the party can offer a meaningful alternative to the 'Washington consensus' for the next elections in 2020.
But there is a mobilisation of anger and a refusal to accept the fictions spun by the ruling class that can potentially be harnessed for permanent change.
Let's go!
And not just in the Rust Belt, but everywhere - on the planet!
Financial de-regulation, suppression of wages, longer hours, substitution of wage rises with credit cards and pay day loans, tax havens, tax holidays, tax avoidance, tax reductions, smashing unions, destruction of workers rights, temporary contracts, agency work, privatization of state assets, state subsidies of low wages, monopoly media, mass surveillance, secret courts, curtailing of dissent, perpetual war, the creation of perpetual fear etc. have all been achieved with BIPARTISAN agreement.
However, I fear that neo-liberalism isn't as dead as it should be.
Most of the Democratic Party's establishment, who conspired to sabotage the populist Sanders's campaign, still dominate the party, and they, in turn, are controlled by the giant corporations who fund their campaigns.
Unfortunately, we need to remove these corrupt neo-liberals from all party leadership positions, which will be very difficult and take years to accomplish, before the party can offer a meaningful alternative to the 'Washington consensus' for the next elections in 2020.
But there is a mobilisation of anger and a refusal to accept the fictions spun by the ruling class that can potentially be harnessed for permanent change.
Let's go!
12
We need an economic revolution based on cooperatives. Senator Brown notes the enormous difference between CEO and worker pay, the devaluation of the minimum wage and a stripping down of benefits as part of the problem. Part of the solution is local and state governments enacting policies that support workers owning the company. Cooperatives are already successful in banking (credit unions), agriculture, retail grocery stores, utilities and child care centers. They should be encouraged and expanded upon. Imagine an energy cooperative for every block in the country where neighbors come together to create solar, wind or geothermal renewal energy! Rather than shopping at Walmart or Sam's, local box store consumer and producer cooperatives can provide higher wages and better working conditions while sharing wealth. We need fundamental change to 40s years of "greed is good
capitalism that has left too many behind.
capitalism that has left too many behind.
6
The path for the Democratic Party looks very clear to me. It is the path not taken (narrowly) in 2016. The party chose centrist policies that jived with the interests of liberal corporate backers of the party i.e. the latte and green tea people with heavy backgrounds in software development and environmental science. Not that these things are bad, but they overshadowed the issues directly related to the decimation of the white working class. Sure, working class minorities suffered every bit as blue collar non Hispanic whites but there was a seat at the table for the former and not for the latter.
I think if you analyze the video record of the 2016 nominating convention in Philadelphia you will see a very prominent place for minority groups and corporate liberals, blue collar whites, not so much. So Trump got them.
Remember, the Democrats lost Pennsylvania this year, despite the full court press from the White House, Hollywood, the national press and the presumably unbeatable Democratic Party GOTV. They also lost Ohio by a staggering 9 points and Iowa by 10. We know about Michigan and Wisconsin but what about Minnesota? How could the Dems lose Minnesota? They almost did, winning by just 2 percentage points when they should have had a double digit victory. The Democrats needn't fool themselves, their party's strategy and their candidate were unmitigated disasters.
The only path forward is the one forged by the Sanders campaign.
I think if you analyze the video record of the 2016 nominating convention in Philadelphia you will see a very prominent place for minority groups and corporate liberals, blue collar whites, not so much. So Trump got them.
Remember, the Democrats lost Pennsylvania this year, despite the full court press from the White House, Hollywood, the national press and the presumably unbeatable Democratic Party GOTV. They also lost Ohio by a staggering 9 points and Iowa by 10. We know about Michigan and Wisconsin but what about Minnesota? How could the Dems lose Minnesota? They almost did, winning by just 2 percentage points when they should have had a double digit victory. The Democrats needn't fool themselves, their party's strategy and their candidate were unmitigated disasters.
The only path forward is the one forged by the Sanders campaign.
5
You are absolutely right about work and workers, Mr. Brown. So why did they elect a tax-evading, sexual predator, ADD and maniuc-depressive on steroids, lies every time he opens his mouth, midas-pretender as their "leader"?
I defies reason.
Unless, of course one watches fox so-called news, listens to hate radio, and believes the lies and hate being spread on social media. Hate and plain old stupidity won.
I defies reason.
Unless, of course one watches fox so-called news, listens to hate radio, and believes the lies and hate being spread on social media. Hate and plain old stupidity won.
30
IT defies reason, not me.
2
What I find most interesting is how little is written about the day-to-day lives of the huge number of modern white-collar workers. These guys make modest salaries, and many of them put in long hours without any overtime pay, but what they do and how they live is never talked about. Every day, in the NYC metro area, hundreds of thousands of men and women pour off the subway and the PATH and march into their offices. Most of them are not big executives, but have modest roles in large companies, doing things no one has heard of or cares about.
Back when I worked at the big bank, I used to joke that if we had a Vice Presidents Union, and marched down Fifth Avenue ten abreast on Labor Day, our parade would stretch out for six miles.
Back when I worked at the big bank, I used to joke that if we had a Vice Presidents Union, and marched down Fifth Avenue ten abreast on Labor Day, our parade would stretch out for six miles.
89
So true. There is this perception that everyone who works in the city in an office has some cushy high salary job with an expense account and big bonuses. Ironically, all the people I know out here who work as plumbers, roofers, contractors are actually doing much better than my friends who work in offices. Sure the work is more physically demanding, but when you pay someone $900 for 45 minutes of patchwork on a roof or $500 to service a boiler, also done in under an hour, you start to feel like maybe your in the wrong line of work.
29
@Wedessert Girl - You have to understand the expenses these guys have, in terms of licenses, fees, and overhead. The man who services your boiler has to cover the cost of the truck full of tools and parts that he maintains, his liability insurance, his office expenses, and many other items. There is no guarantee that he will spend 8 hours a day on jobs, but those costs have to be met even on days when he does only two or three boilers.
28
I do understand @Jonathan, but I am self-employed and have to pay many fees and overhead as well. But I still work very hard and pay a lot of bills, including student loans and in my so-called "white collar" work I cannot charge anywhere near that much for my services. All I am saying is that there is a perception that if you work in an office and wear a suit your life is easier than blue collar workers and that is not the case. Most of the people I know struggling to pay their bills are white collar workers, who can barely make the rent. But almost every contractor, roofer, plumber, or boiler man I know owns a home.
12
Work has lost its dignity for more than just the inhabitants of the Rust Belt. Anyone working today is subject to demeaning rules, demands, and is doing an enormous amount of work for not enough compensation. I'm an inhabitant of the East Coast, a metro area that is suspected of being extremely elitist and where most people are considered liberals but that doesn't mean I am either. Calling Ohio and that area the Rust Belt is far from demeaning. I understood it to mean the area where a good deal of heavy manufacturing was done, where a person without a college degree but a good work ethic could make a decent living. That has changed but your state is not the only one caught up in this metamorphosis. Blue states and red states have been affected.
We all feel the pain of wage stagnation, of housing costs that outstrip our ability to pay, of going without needed medical care because we cannot afford it, insurance or not. Yet when people vote against their own interests for candidates or a party that has shown over and over again that they do not care about their constituents it's hard to see why anyone should sympathize. The GOP is the party that refused to govern for the last 8 years. The GOP is the party that has consistently voted against the interests of the average American.
Voting for a GOP candidate is like voting to cut off your dominant hand because someone says you don't need it. That's what the GOP has been doing for over 30 years to all of us.
We all feel the pain of wage stagnation, of housing costs that outstrip our ability to pay, of going without needed medical care because we cannot afford it, insurance or not. Yet when people vote against their own interests for candidates or a party that has shown over and over again that they do not care about their constituents it's hard to see why anyone should sympathize. The GOP is the party that refused to govern for the last 8 years. The GOP is the party that has consistently voted against the interests of the average American.
Voting for a GOP candidate is like voting to cut off your dominant hand because someone says you don't need it. That's what the GOP has been doing for over 30 years to all of us.
226
hen3ry
Indeed.
One of the more disturbing trends is corporate spying on employees. Phone conversations, emails, and messaging are all monitored under the guise of "meeting goals".
Even venues of higher education have adopted these demeaning methods.
Indeed.
One of the more disturbing trends is corporate spying on employees. Phone conversations, emails, and messaging are all monitored under the guise of "meeting goals".
Even venues of higher education have adopted these demeaning methods.
2
hen3ry -- wrt "where a good deal of heavy manufacturing was done, where a person without a college degree but a good work ethic could make a decent living"
Those jobs were not fun jobs, and the really terrible thing is that this big haze of nostalgia is for something that actually was rough at best and downright awful at worst.
Factory jobs were hard, working conditions often dangerous, usually under a lot of pressure to speed-up, cut corners, etc.
I worked in the airframe industry in the early 70s before going back to school to get out of that line of work. Building airplanes is cleaner and has a lot more safety and quality control than most manufacturing -- but getting out of that was the best thing I ever did.
Job security was terrible, worker-management relationships were rock-bottom, and the whole industry was in what amounted to a musical-chairs game of what would disappear next.
Airframe work sure beat assembling alternators or producing tires -- a great deal of the "rust belt" work was auto components and the like -- or primary steel.
Those jobs were not fun jobs, and the really terrible thing is that this big haze of nostalgia is for something that actually was rough at best and downright awful at worst.
Factory jobs were hard, working conditions often dangerous, usually under a lot of pressure to speed-up, cut corners, etc.
I worked in the airframe industry in the early 70s before going back to school to get out of that line of work. Building airplanes is cleaner and has a lot more safety and quality control than most manufacturing -- but getting out of that was the best thing I ever did.
Job security was terrible, worker-management relationships were rock-bottom, and the whole industry was in what amounted to a musical-chairs game of what would disappear next.
Airframe work sure beat assembling alternators or producing tires -- a great deal of the "rust belt" work was auto components and the like -- or primary steel.
2
Yes. The Democrats were equally concerned with their constituents as well. Like letting the president skirt around federal laws with executive orders to keep illegals in the US so they could work cheaper and without benefits and undercut American workers especially Black workers who have now been dislaced in all the construction trades and starter jobs.
Or who were ineligible for Medicaid because they had too much earned but not eligible for assistance either. Or who had Medicaid or insurance but couldn't use it because few doctors would take it. Or the un-affordable copays and deductibles either.
And they did their best to add more people to the entitled list, people who think they deserve anything they want without working for it.
I could work at something with one less hand but if I don't have the desire to work two hands wouldn't do me any good.
Or who were ineligible for Medicaid because they had too much earned but not eligible for assistance either. Or who had Medicaid or insurance but couldn't use it because few doctors would take it. Or the un-affordable copays and deductibles either.
And they did their best to add more people to the entitled list, people who think they deserve anything they want without working for it.
I could work at something with one less hand but if I don't have the desire to work two hands wouldn't do me any good.
1
Senator Brown, I hate to say it, but you just don't get it. The working people you talk about ALLOWED the GOP to kill their unions, by voting Republicans in for Governors, State Senators, Assemblymen, Congressmen and US Senators. Your fellow Ohio Senator, a Republican who, like all Republicans, is ultimately anti-union and pro-corporation, just got re-elected in a landslide as did GOP anti-union Senators in all the nearby "rust belt" states--Wisconsin, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky.
Yet, somehow, unlike you and your fellow Democrats, these people have convinced those very working men and women to vote against what you and I see as against their welfare and best interest. And I hate to say it, sir, but YOU don't have a clue, and neither does most of the Democrats elected to public office. In your House and caucus, only Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren actually seem to "get it".
You need to be asking yourselves "Why?" and find out the answer quickly because after 35 years of running on New Deal, New Frontier and Great Society momentum and nothing else, the momentum is GONE.
Remember Einstein's definition of insanity: Repeating an action that fails with hope of a different outcome. Laundry lists of facts and programs nobody listens to--who reads laundry lists fail in the face of blatant, obvious lies by Republicans: "We'll bring back coal and manufacturing!" How? Coal is dead and you don't just "bring back" factories and vendable products made in them!
Yet, somehow, unlike you and your fellow Democrats, these people have convinced those very working men and women to vote against what you and I see as against their welfare and best interest. And I hate to say it, sir, but YOU don't have a clue, and neither does most of the Democrats elected to public office. In your House and caucus, only Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren actually seem to "get it".
You need to be asking yourselves "Why?" and find out the answer quickly because after 35 years of running on New Deal, New Frontier and Great Society momentum and nothing else, the momentum is GONE.
Remember Einstein's definition of insanity: Repeating an action that fails with hope of a different outcome. Laundry lists of facts and programs nobody listens to--who reads laundry lists fail in the face of blatant, obvious lies by Republicans: "We'll bring back coal and manufacturing!" How? Coal is dead and you don't just "bring back" factories and vendable products made in them!
53
In a scenario where illegal worker are tolerated and free trade is not only possible, but protected by law, private sector unions have absolutely no power. Zero. You go on strike, who cares? We were shutting you down next month anyway.
3
You write: "only Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren actually seem to "get it"." Well, what exactly do Sanders and Warren say that is different than what Brown says. He is one of their closest allies.
...and telling a lie 1,000 times does not make it true!
Mid-level workers on the east coast are experiencing the same degradation. Many "exempt" workers have been told to be on call evenings and weekends with no extra compensation. Most do not earn 6 figure salaries, or anything close to what high level management earns.
28
It is the same in the midwest. Forcing IT staff to do on-call rotation 7x24 is the norm.
1
We can't control how much more CEOs make.
BUT
We can control how much they are taxed.
Fair taxation, with higher tax rates for higher earners, is the only way to create successful, prosperous middle class. Reagan's great lasting achievement was to get middle class workers to vote in favor of our short term interests: small tax breaks for the middle class; instead of voting for our long term interests: higher taxes for the very wealthy. Wealthy politicians have been chortling to the bank ever since. Trump ain't gonna change that.
BUT
We can control how much they are taxed.
Fair taxation, with higher tax rates for higher earners, is the only way to create successful, prosperous middle class. Reagan's great lasting achievement was to get middle class workers to vote in favor of our short term interests: small tax breaks for the middle class; instead of voting for our long term interests: higher taxes for the very wealthy. Wealthy politicians have been chortling to the bank ever since. Trump ain't gonna change that.
39
Sure you can effect how much CEOs get paid, invest in companies and be engaged in making sure any CEO earns their pay.
Big business created the middle class. Since big business contributes the most to the economy, there should be no taxes for anyone earning a million dollars or more. Just think of the new investments and shrinking govt!
Everything written here, or anything said by a politician, is nonsense and irrelevant as long as the support for illegal alien workers continues. We working class citizens and legal immigrants do indeed find ourselves competing with tens of millions of foreign nationals who disobeyed the very laws that were designed to prevent the blue collar sector from being saturated by the billions of people around the globe who would surely like to live and work in a developed nation. That's what immigration law does. It is not mean, racist, draconian or unfair. It is simply necessary on a planet populated with nearly seven billion people.
19
The politicians of both parties have followed in Reagan's foot steps and provided the business elite with the functional equivalent of slaves, whose meager wages have to be "topped off" with taxpayer-funded social services.
Our leaders have simply replaced black slaves with brown ones, while pushing millions of black, brown, and white citizens down into an expanding underclass.
Our leaders have simply replaced black slaves with brown ones, while pushing millions of black, brown, and white citizens down into an expanding underclass.
2
refugees".
Our govt's economic controls, not foreigners, are the problem. Nationalism is a rationalization for the evasion of man's independent mind.
I remember those days a bit differently.
The era you are recalling was an era with strong labor unions. By their votes, based upon their hatred of the New Left and their support of the Vietnam War, the steel and automotive workers actively joined with those who dismantled the labor unions. I remember the scenes of the "hard hats" fighting the hippies in the streets. I wonder how that could have worked out differently.
Perhaps decline in those industries in the US was inevitable, but strong labor unions may have helped.
I also recall my father buying a brand new 1972 Chevy Bel Air to replace his 1959 Bel Air and to park next to his 1964 Bel Air. The car was never out of the shop, the fit and finish were awful, even the dealer admitted that they could never fix it. My father never bought another American branded car.
The days you romanticize, sir, are never coming back. Caught among the forces of globalization, the reduction of corporate responsibility to only maximize profit, and government indifference (by design) to their plight, the workers you describe never had much of a chance. They lived in a true "hot house" climate of US economic domination and a lack of competition. By their votes and choices the workers did not do much to help themselves, either.
The era you are recalling was an era with strong labor unions. By their votes, based upon their hatred of the New Left and their support of the Vietnam War, the steel and automotive workers actively joined with those who dismantled the labor unions. I remember the scenes of the "hard hats" fighting the hippies in the streets. I wonder how that could have worked out differently.
Perhaps decline in those industries in the US was inevitable, but strong labor unions may have helped.
I also recall my father buying a brand new 1972 Chevy Bel Air to replace his 1959 Bel Air and to park next to his 1964 Bel Air. The car was never out of the shop, the fit and finish were awful, even the dealer admitted that they could never fix it. My father never bought another American branded car.
The days you romanticize, sir, are never coming back. Caught among the forces of globalization, the reduction of corporate responsibility to only maximize profit, and government indifference (by design) to their plight, the workers you describe never had much of a chance. They lived in a true "hot house" climate of US economic domination and a lack of competition. By their votes and choices the workers did not do much to help themselves, either.
36
Yes but the era of strong labor unions is past. Why you might ask, the answer is that the government now insures many of the things that unions provided, business has decided some of them are quite valuable, and globalization has reduced their jobs. Many would like a national right to work law so any unions that represent workers must earn their place.
1
@Philip: Strong labor unions might have provided a slight boost in wages but nothing would have undone the import and off shoring that the Democratic Party has declared as the progressive way forward.
At least now we know the Democrats favor the globalization movement so the "Buy American" slogan is dead. Go GLobalization!
At least now we know the Democrats favor the globalization movement so the "Buy American" slogan is dead. Go GLobalization!
2
As a "just" pre-WWII baby, I could not say it better! Thank you, Philip Aronson.
A job guarantee program like the one proposed by good old Tom Paine in 1797 would be the way to go. The federal gov would become the employer of last resort. It would guarantee a decent job or paid training for such a job to everyone able to work.
There are plenty of things that need to be done--fixing roads & bridges, education, research etc. BTW there are plenty of support jobs in education and research that do not require a degree. As with unemployment benefits today, you could require each worker to show that he had applied for a comparable private sector job periodically.
How would we pay for it?
A) It would to a certain extent pay for itself.
1. When people are working, producing, & spending, they pay more taxes than when they are out of work. The money they spend provides jobs for others who also spend & pay taxes.
2. We could reduce much of what we currently spend on welfare.
3. *It would raise private sector wages and thus taxes.*
B) We could raise income tax rates on the Rich as we did during the Great Prosperity of 1946 - 1973. This would not only raise revenue, it would reduce inequality and financial speculation, both of which are bad for the economy.
C) We could sell Treasury bonds both to the public locking in low interest and to the FED which returns the interest.Since we would be producing more, there would be little inflation.
See http://www.levyinstitute.org/topics/job-guarantee
There are plenty of things that need to be done--fixing roads & bridges, education, research etc. BTW there are plenty of support jobs in education and research that do not require a degree. As with unemployment benefits today, you could require each worker to show that he had applied for a comparable private sector job periodically.
How would we pay for it?
A) It would to a certain extent pay for itself.
1. When people are working, producing, & spending, they pay more taxes than when they are out of work. The money they spend provides jobs for others who also spend & pay taxes.
2. We could reduce much of what we currently spend on welfare.
3. *It would raise private sector wages and thus taxes.*
B) We could raise income tax rates on the Rich as we did during the Great Prosperity of 1946 - 1973. This would not only raise revenue, it would reduce inequality and financial speculation, both of which are bad for the economy.
C) We could sell Treasury bonds both to the public locking in low interest and to the FED which returns the interest.Since we would be producing more, there would be little inflation.
See http://www.levyinstitute.org/topics/job-guarantee
18
And what about the manufacturing base? That jobs engine drove the post war boom years for the middle class. In the 1950's 90+ % of vehicle sold in this country were assembled here primarily of US manufactured components. Now the figure is closer to 40% with a large percentage of imported and off-shored components. The Democratic party has declared in this election cycle that this is the way forward.
When the lower middle class finds that stimulus boost in their wallets watch the balance of trade for durable goods skyrocket. The sound you will hear is the sound of those dollars flowing to importers. The US consumers have made their choice and as the Democrats say, we are not going back to the 1950s.
When the lower middle class finds that stimulus boost in their wallets watch the balance of trade for durable goods skyrocket. The sound you will hear is the sound of those dollars flowing to importers. The US consumers have made their choice and as the Democrats say, we are not going back to the 1950s.
2
Sounds a lot like Scandinavia...
1
How, other than markets, will govt know which industries and firms to subsidize? Tea leaves, ouija boards, econometrics? Have you heard of the Soviet Union? North Korea. Cuba? Venezuala? Your bizarrely unrealistic contempt for man's independent mind and submissive respect for the guns of govt is noted.
1
We need to hear more opinions like this. These are the stories the news has been overlooking and why huge populations of our citizens feel disenfranchised and tragically voted for Trump. I grew up in Maine where many timber industry jobs have disappeared. We need more vocal advocates for the working class like the Senator from Ohio.
23
Primitive farms and hunting-gathering have vanished from the economy. We weep for unemployed buggywhip and whale oil lamp makers. Perhaps hula hoops could have been subsidized. Or we can return to the stagnation of church-approved and state-enforced, medieval guilds. There was a time, in a vanished capitalist America, when "It's always been done this way" was regarded with contempt.
1
Reality check - Voting for Sanders was not an option given how the DNC actively promoted and supported the nomination of the out-of-touch HRC. I've been a Democratic voter for some 40 years, and have never before seen our Presidential candidate taking in $Millions in speaking fees from the global banking interests that have taken over the former working class roots of the Dem Party. Its time for the Dems to have a honest "autopsy" of this loss to understand how they could have lost the election to the most unprepared, unqualified GOP candidate in decades.
31
I agree. And a group of us who met last night are planning to do just that. We hope to make a change in how the Democratic Party approaches elections and to make a change in its agenda. We need to get back to our roots, i.e. fighting for the working man and woman.
1
thank you for this letter from a former moderate republican now a center independent. Your points are helpful and I agree that the terminology Rust Belt should be eliminated. I encourage Congress to look for solutions to the labor/productivity economic balance.
13
> I encourage Congress to look for solutions to the labor/productivity economic balance
Markets balance the economy. Govt has guns, but no transcendental revelation.
Markets balance the economy. Govt has guns, but no transcendental revelation.
The question for the American worker over the coming decades will be "can you work faster and cheaper than the robot". Eventually the answer is going to be "NO" for almost anyone doing manual labor, and even for many who think they are "creative" or "technical". This process will be painful for everyone and we will probably make a lot more rash political decisions while we come to grips with the automation economy and it's displacement of humans.
41
Luddites were ignorant about the vast employment increase in the steam-powered, textile industry as prices declined and sales increased. Robots, like all machines, lower costs, making more and new production, requiring more employees. Marx is a fool. Man's independent mind, not machines, is the basic cause of production.
1
Finally, someone addressed the elephant in the room! More than 80% of manufacturing jobs lost were not shipped overseas, but rather lost to manufacturing efficiencies, especially robots.
If it's true that more jobs are created than lost in the process, it's definitely true that they require a different skill set and education. In many categories, employers are struggling to find qualified workers for jobs requiring STEM skills.
We must pay more attention to our limping educational system at all levels as well as mitigating the effects of job loss and wage stagnation on working people.
If it's true that more jobs are created than lost in the process, it's definitely true that they require a different skill set and education. In many categories, employers are struggling to find qualified workers for jobs requiring STEM skills.
We must pay more attention to our limping educational system at all levels as well as mitigating the effects of job loss and wage stagnation on working people.
83
Or can you repair and operate the robot. And yes we need way fewer humans in the US, that is why illegals need to leave.
If this election hasn't made clear that most of us are sick of fattening frogs for snakes, to use the blues metaphor, nothing will, until we storm the gates. Let it not come to that. There must be something for regular people to do to contribute, and there must be food on the table for people we allow or encourage to come into the world.
11
Marxists murdered 200M in the collectivist 20th century. Not enough for you?
1
We've seen these dignity-seekers at their rallies, read the disgusting slogans on their signs and chests, watched them bully and harass people who don't look American to them.
Do they have legitimate grievances? Probably. Do I care anymore? Sure. I will work to help them right after I finish working to preserve the rights on non-whites, non-Christians, and all of us threatened by impending environmental and civil liberties disasters.
Do they have legitimate grievances? Probably. Do I care anymore? Sure. I will work to help them right after I finish working to preserve the rights on non-whites, non-Christians, and all of us threatened by impending environmental and civil liberties disasters.
54
For 40 years you and all of your fellow elite Democrats have said you will get around to helping working people someday. You never did. You called them names and spit on their culture and their non-racist, non-sexist traditions, sent their jobs to Mexico and China, and allowed 11 million people to illegally invade their homes and work places.
Meanwhile you and your self-righteous kind feathered your nests and protected your kids, and set up a New Aristocracy. You will get around to helping working people on the 12th of Never.
They know that and so you shouldn't expect any help from them.
Meanwhile you and your self-righteous kind feathered your nests and protected your kids, and set up a New Aristocracy. You will get around to helping working people on the 12th of Never.
They know that and so you shouldn't expect any help from them.
2
Senator Brown is the finest leader in the Senate. I have been an Ohio resident for 20 years and he has consistently advocated for the people that made America great. No slogans. Just hard work predicated upon fairness and dignity.
I fear the Trump administration will be a Reagan redux. More trickle down economics that are a smokescreen for the agenda that allows the 1% to siphon off the remaining wealth. The illusions of this campaign pushed Ohio into the "red state" column. Let's not forget that we can't rely on magic to succeed. We need to make real things and be represented by the "real deal" people like Senator Brown.
I fear the Trump administration will be a Reagan redux. More trickle down economics that are a smokescreen for the agenda that allows the 1% to siphon off the remaining wealth. The illusions of this campaign pushed Ohio into the "red state" column. Let's not forget that we can't rely on magic to succeed. We need to make real things and be represented by the "real deal" people like Senator Brown.
69
Of course it will Mark. After all, it's the same demographic that put him into office, having forgotten how hard the 1980s actually were for the working class (anyone else remember "Allentown" and "My Hometown"?) and having blown the opportunity they had in the 1990s to give their kids a boost before college got too expensive.
2
Here's a question that I asked myself several times during this past year: Where the heck was Senator Brown when Bernie Sanders was articulating a genuinely progressive vision for American workers, while Hillary was spending time and money undermining Bernie's campaign and polling, instead of articulating a vision --- other than what she co-opted from Bernie? Why was Jeff Merkley the only senator in the progressive caucus to "stick his neck out," rather than genuflecting before an obviously corrupt DNC?
3
Mr Brown seeing the writing on the wall from this past election is attempting to save his butt by editorializing his less than honest opinions. He has no dignity, his (so called) leadership is non-existent. Had he been running for the Senate this cycle he would have lost and that would be good for Ohio. Anyone that believes or sees otherwise is deluded and not truly aware of his record. Taking credit from other viable representatives work, he is a professional politician and will be replaced in four years because Ohio knows he only cares about his Union benefactors. There is no other platform for this individual who never held a "real job" for any extended period in his life and has passed no legislation to truly improve the lives the people of Ohio in his two terms as Senator. I am truly embarrassed to have him as one of the Senators of this great state of Ohio.
2
"Ohio workers will feel betrayed. Again. And they will respond."
The Ohio workers DO feel betrayed and President-elect Trump got them to respond by identifying a list of "others": illegal immigrants; Muslims, the "liberal elites"; the Chinese leaders who "cheated" by rigging their currencies and stealing our jobs; government regulations: and "corrupt politicians" like Hillary Rodham Clinton. Mr. Brown and members of his party need to help those who are disaffected to see that government is NOT the problem. The reason jobs left our country is that the billionaires elected politicians who support a system that rewards businesses for paying as little as possible, makes it extremely difficult for workers to organize, want to have unfettered trade, and do not care about the long run degradation of the workplace or the environment. That means that the Democrat party needs to walk away from the supporters who paid their candidate hundreds of thousands of dollars to give speeches behind closed doors and make it abundantly clear that only a small percentage of her opponent's supporters are "deplorable and irredeemable". Democrats also might want to work on their email protocols...
The Ohio workers DO feel betrayed and President-elect Trump got them to respond by identifying a list of "others": illegal immigrants; Muslims, the "liberal elites"; the Chinese leaders who "cheated" by rigging their currencies and stealing our jobs; government regulations: and "corrupt politicians" like Hillary Rodham Clinton. Mr. Brown and members of his party need to help those who are disaffected to see that government is NOT the problem. The reason jobs left our country is that the billionaires elected politicians who support a system that rewards businesses for paying as little as possible, makes it extremely difficult for workers to organize, want to have unfettered trade, and do not care about the long run degradation of the workplace or the environment. That means that the Democrat party needs to walk away from the supporters who paid their candidate hundreds of thousands of dollars to give speeches behind closed doors and make it abundantly clear that only a small percentage of her opponent's supporters are "deplorable and irredeemable". Democrats also might want to work on their email protocols...
47
Check out this article: Provides a concise summary of the impacts from Mergers & Acquisitions (or as many in the industry refer to as "Merge & Purge"). This is why so many jobs have been lost and why more jobs will be cut. There is NO incentive for companies to retain workers while they can control the market by buying up the competition (smaller companies and in many cases this is where those startups and mid-size companies owners are becoming instant millionaires...). Someone has to pay for that consolidation of wealth and it's going to be the workers. Their lost salaries go to pay for the mergers and the justification is to eliminate redundancy. Well, redundancy in the market is good for competition not consolidation. Prices and quality rarely improve through the M&A process. Jobs are not being shipped overseas as much as they are simply being eliminated (shipped to the street). If you want to raise employment than the legislative branch is going to have to penalize companies for shedding workers (and that will never happen as long as special interests get their way.)
> a system that rewards businesses for paying as little as possible
From gnats to oxen, living organisms necessarily seek survival with as little cost as possible. Only man, with his independent mind, can choose to destroy himself with a vicious, blood-drenched, poverty-sustaining corruption of morality called altruism. Either America discovers Ayn Rand's rationally selfish capitalism or our productiveness will gradually decrease.
For the intellectually paralyzed victims of Progressive education who have not discovered the science of economics, the competitive search for increased profits requires business to increase wages to retain and hire employees. In capitalism, which vanished in the late 19th century, there are more jobs than employees. Employees don't need govt or unions. They need businessmen politically free to produce, trade, and pursue profit.
From gnats to oxen, living organisms necessarily seek survival with as little cost as possible. Only man, with his independent mind, can choose to destroy himself with a vicious, blood-drenched, poverty-sustaining corruption of morality called altruism. Either America discovers Ayn Rand's rationally selfish capitalism or our productiveness will gradually decrease.
For the intellectually paralyzed victims of Progressive education who have not discovered the science of economics, the competitive search for increased profits requires business to increase wages to retain and hire employees. In capitalism, which vanished in the late 19th century, there are more jobs than employees. Employees don't need govt or unions. They need businessmen politically free to produce, trade, and pursue profit.
As did too many affected voters who bought into the idea that Mrs. Clinton was a "corrupt politician" -- a fact not in evidence -- WF Gersen failed to remember mother's old saying: don't cut off your nose to spite your face! ...a politician who has paid not federal income tax on billions of income for how many years? ...the support of a crazy, delusional old man who himself was paid 10.1 million dollars in a year of closed-door speeches to Qatar and Venezuela? ...and while you are at it, consider the saying "a lie told a thousand times does not make it true."
1
The notion that America is somehow going to be reindustrialized is the disingenuous new promise of a "chicken in every pot". Clinton however, couldn't sell that lie because she is one of the architects of the TPP and is married to the godfather of NAFTA. Trump on the otherhand got away with it because delusion, to the desperate is as good as hope and he won't be held to account because, as Trey Crowder pragmatically reminds us, when they fail they only have to invent a fiction for why it's not their fault. A piece of cake to a con who artfully convinced the electorate he's not a sexual predator, he isn't in cahoots with the Russians, he didn't defraud students at his Trump U., he doesn't have conflicts of interest in his financial arrangements with foreign gov'ts and a wink is the same as a blind trust.
34
I really don't think it was about deindustrialization except in the minds of liberals (I'm one). It was about social identity. I've been mocking that idea for months and calling it the resurgence of white male power, etc. And to some extent it is. But I've also been searching deep into my own childhood (I'm 65), and remembering how differently we perceived working class males (my wonderful grandfather worked in a hardware store and sold bait on the Eastern shore), the dignity they were afforded and the decency that governed their lifestyle. So much has changed, and to the extent that that group also decided against civil rights and feminism and all of those changes way back in the 1960's, they're left behind by necessity. But things need to change, not just economically, but in our views of one another, or we might as well split into two nations.
2
Thank you, Mr. Senator, for articulating the plight of manufacturing workers. As a former advanced manufacturing engineer turned consultant, I have been dismayed by the closure of factories located in small towns across the Midwest. The Democrats under former President Bill Clinton promised that NAFTA would usher in an era of prosperity. Instead, since 1994 we have been a silent witness to dismantling of our industrial capability. To add insult to the injury, the current Democrat administration under President Obama tried to rush the passage of TPP.
As you correctly mentioned, sustained wealth and jobs can be created by innovation and nurturing manufacturing in our country. Along with rebuilding basic infrastructure, we need to focus on rebuilding our manufacturing supply chain that has been destroyed by short term, profit seeking CEOs' off-shoring of manufacturing.
As you correctly mentioned, sustained wealth and jobs can be created by innovation and nurturing manufacturing in our country. Along with rebuilding basic infrastructure, we need to focus on rebuilding our manufacturing supply chain that has been destroyed by short term, profit seeking CEOs' off-shoring of manufacturing.
8
Mr. Trump is for only going to do what Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell let him do. He will be called Rubber-Stamp Donny before it is all over with. And that means tax cuts that help mostly the wealthy. Repeal Obamacare with no replacement. Turn Medicare into a voucher system. And yes cut payments to Social Security, you know so we can pay for them tax cuts that help mostly the wealthy.
8
One thing Democrats need to wake up to is that automation, not Mexico or China, is the biggest challenge to labor value. True, manufacturing jobs were lost when companies moved their plants to low-wage labor markets. But those goods had to be shipped back here, and transportation costs ate into profit margins; now plants are coming back to the U.S.—but with robots doing the work that American workers once did. When robots do the work, wealth flows to the people who own the robots. The more we let machines do and the less value is added by human workers, the more wealth is sequestered from labor and captured by capital. Tech cheerleaders like The Times's Thomas Friedman overstate the "new economy" jobs created by automation—clearly, tech jobs are not making up for the loss of jobs done by real people. I confess that I have no idea what kinds of policies would reverse this trend; there may not be a policy that can do it. But at least we can be 'mindful' about what we are doing when we summon a ride from Uber—we are putting a cab driver out of work. It is hard to argue against automating truly dangerous or dehumanizing occupations, but from toll booth attendants to office secretaries to assembly line workers to mechanical artists and typesetters and draftsmen, skilled crafts that were meaningful and life-sustaining are disappearing forever. Instead of celebrating each new gadget in its "tech" section, The Times might well announce the latest 'app' in a "Jobs Obituary."
15
Drivel. Workers have not been ignored by Washington. Washington is well aware of working people. Especially at election time. Washington however does not bother itself for working people beyond election time. Is it some state secret that the poor and middle class working people have been diminished since Reagan? Of course not. If working people want attention in Washington they will have to pay for it like everyone else. That or make it politically dangerous for politicians to ignore the working man's plight.
Well don Ohio. Michigan. Pennsylvania. Methinks you have their attention not.
Well don Ohio. Michigan. Pennsylvania. Methinks you have their attention not.
11
Both left and right have been preaching a message about how bad the US economy is and this helped create a situation where a big tough guy was able to sweep to power promising to clean up the mess. Viewed from France the US economy doesn't look that bad - your unemployment rate is half ours and median salaries actually increased last year. There was even a slight dip in income inequality (i.e. working class and middle class salaries are increasing more than the rich). Here are the official figures:
http://www.census.gov/library/publications/2016/demo/p60-256.html
Moreover all this talk about the decline of the American working class ignores the fact that thanks to President Obama virtually everyone now has health insurance. So even if your cash salary were to decrease (which is NOT the case) you might still end up better off, especially considering we are all living longer and older people use health care more. Health care needs to stop being considered as an expense and should be factored in as a positive contribution to workers' salaries. A worker in Ohio might have a smaller paycheck than his father but if there is a safety net providing him with health coverage in case of an accident he could nevertheless be better off.
http://www.census.gov/library/publications/2016/demo/p60-256.html
Moreover all this talk about the decline of the American working class ignores the fact that thanks to President Obama virtually everyone now has health insurance. So even if your cash salary were to decrease (which is NOT the case) you might still end up better off, especially considering we are all living longer and older people use health care more. Health care needs to stop being considered as an expense and should be factored in as a positive contribution to workers' salaries. A worker in Ohio might have a smaller paycheck than his father but if there is a safety net providing him with health coverage in case of an accident he could nevertheless be better off.
24
Yes, perhaps "vitually everyone now has health insurance." With crushing deductibles and insanely high monthly premiums
4
You seem to be missing an awful lot of clues. If you didn't say you were in France, i probably would have mistaken you for a ranking member of the Democratic party. Or even an econ reporter from the NYT.
1
And yet Ohio voters went for Trump. In a big way. He's a man who has stiffed his workers here and paid his foreign workers the barest minimum allowable. What are the chances he even understands what the words "dignity of work" even mean? I wish I could share your optimism, but I think what you see is what you get. One thing he has consistently done from the time he entered the race is to lie. It got him what he wanted. Why would he stop now?
38
The Democrats, including the one Mr. Brown supported for President last week, abandoned the middle class twenty-five years ago, sat idly by as it spiraled downward, and ignored its suffering.
And now this country is on a path to revolution.
And now this country is on a path to revolution.
14
And the Republicans came up with a National Health Care plan for the poor and middle class. They poured millions of dollars into our schools and library's. They funded our public universities. They felt we were spending too much money on the military and wanted to redirect those dollars to the nations infrastructure. You are writing in the New York Times to a highly educated readership. Go spew your fiction to the Trump supporters... you know the uneducated white people he so dearly loves. Don't insult our Times readers with your mindless comments.
2
I agree and I'm a Democrat. Both parties have a lot to answer for. I definitely did not vote for Trump because I knew he would be a disaster.
1
If they don't vote, none of this matters. The voter turn out continues to plummet. Americans need to quit claiming to be hard working, when they are too lazy to take a few hours out of one day every two years and pull a lever that more drastically affects their lives than anything else they can do.
27
I prefer that the uninformed/disengaged/uninterested not vote.
Imagine if you were being tried for a crime, and at the end of the trial portion the prosecution grabbed 4 people off the street (they have no real knowledge of the case) and sent them back with the jury and the judge tells these 4 they must vote one way or the other.
This is how I feel about high voter participation rates (like 2008 -64% - that gifted us Pres Obama) .
Imagine if you were being tried for a crime, and at the end of the trial portion the prosecution grabbed 4 people off the street (they have no real knowledge of the case) and sent them back with the jury and the judge tells these 4 they must vote one way or the other.
This is how I feel about high voter participation rates (like 2008 -64% - that gifted us Pres Obama) .
Well if you are not willing to become informed and vote for the country's interests it is best that you stay home. And for most nothing that government will or could do will have much effect, other than at the local level.
Lazy is not the reason for the downturn in voting. Many people have seen our politics as rigged for a long time. Many don`t vote because they think the rich have it all locked up. There are ways to improve turnout such as making it easier to vote, no long lines. Make election day two days, make these days a national holiday and start NOW to make sure EVERYONE has the proper credentials to vote. And mandate the number of polling places and their location by population and or the number of miles to that location. We must thwart disenfranchisement now not later.
1
Was Trump's declaration to the wealthy diners at the 21 Club that he will cut their taxes another marketing feint, or an admission of his real agenda?
23
Neither, it was a campaign promise.
Did Trump declare his opposition to 100+ years of increasing Progressive controls? Will he kill Antitrust and the Fed?
But how will they respond? Their vote for Trump was their response to the injustice of the GOP for the past 35 years and look at what they have voted for, less fair government, more taxes for the themselves, fewer taxes for the rich, a good possibility that the best jobs their children and grandchildren will have is as a soldier fighting wars of revenge for the moneyed class. This while having their pensions taken away by poor fiscal management and social security gutted by privatization.
Your loyal hardworking voters were taken for a ride by an unjust government and economic system that was created by both parties. They have reached out to a demagogue from a party that does not respect them and are about to be disappointed yet again. Then, what will they do Sharrod? How are you going to save them? You and Bernie and Elizabeth have the right words, but have not been effective in getting the power. What are you going to do? Are you going to allow them to get so angry that brothers serving in law enforcement are going to have to make the decision to shoot their brothers rioting in the streets on the orders of the elite or join their brothers in the street? Corner a badger and get ready for a fight.
Your loyal hardworking voters were taken for a ride by an unjust government and economic system that was created by both parties. They have reached out to a demagogue from a party that does not respect them and are about to be disappointed yet again. Then, what will they do Sharrod? How are you going to save them? You and Bernie and Elizabeth have the right words, but have not been effective in getting the power. What are you going to do? Are you going to allow them to get so angry that brothers serving in law enforcement are going to have to make the decision to shoot their brothers rioting in the streets on the orders of the elite or join their brothers in the street? Corner a badger and get ready for a fight.
33
I completely agree with you Kirk. The options to correct the rapid slide to the bottom for most of these people are very limited. I also know you can't cure stupid. Many of the people who voted for Trump sacrificed their own best interests to do so. They chose the emotion of anger and hate over the logic of voting for the Democrats who have consistently represented social safety nets, the middle, and lower class. Now these same angry people must live with their poor choices. If past practice is any indicator of future behavior, the Republicans will drain the swamp....not of Washington insiders.... but of resources and options for the poor.
1
Kirk - less government is better for the people. More government has only hurt the people, as has been proven over the past 8 years.
1
Ohio and the other Rust Belt states are the losers in a trend not seen before--outsourcing manufacturing while firing people to increase profits. There is no comparable point in history for how this will turn out.
15
Ah, but the profits, the bonuses that have come about! Concentrated wealth has a dignity all its own. The author must be some kind of socialist lefty to want anything to be left on the table except bare subsistence for those that toil and sweat. After all, if they're not desperate, they might get ideas. Thankfully, they have been successfully bamboozled by the Right into electing Trump, and that has put the seal on the start of a new golden dawn, a second Gilded Age. Robber barons of the 21st century, arise!
9
Senator Brown has obvious;y listened to the workers of Ohio. So has Bernie and Elizabeth Warren. Much of the leadership of the Democratic Party wouldn't know a blue collar worker if they tripped over one of us.
10
If you want a good historical analogy, think of Ireland during the Victorian period.
The rich were off by themselves and didn't really spend a lot of time thinking about the "other" people.
Trump claimed to be the champion of these "other" people. Watch what he does and raise hell if he doesn't do what he said he would do.
The rich were off by themselves and didn't really spend a lot of time thinking about the "other" people.
Trump claimed to be the champion of these "other" people. Watch what he does and raise hell if he doesn't do what he said he would do.
7
Sorry, Senator, but your Ohio workers voted for Trump, despite his avowals of giveaways to the rich and awful treatment of his own workers, largely because of bigotry and xenophobia.
And his promise to privatize of SS will destroy the only prayer most of these guys will ever have for a tolerable old age.
The bigger question for you in service to your constituents is, why do they always vote against their own self-interests, and what is wrong with public education in your state that makes them continue to do so?
And his promise to privatize of SS will destroy the only prayer most of these guys will ever have for a tolerable old age.
The bigger question for you in service to your constituents is, why do they always vote against their own self-interests, and what is wrong with public education in your state that makes them continue to do so?
16
Swing voters in a swing state, who were strong Obama supporters, are now bigots because they weren't impressed by Hillary? That makes them xenophobic?
Whatever Trump does for the working class it will be more than Obama has done, which is absolutely nothing.
6
Are you aware of the soon-to-be reversed change to the rules for overtime?
1
We know that, you are teaching to thoise who know the score. As a possible learder of the Democratic Party you have to go out and talk to the people not at them as you ae doing in this article. You have be detailed with your words but not with words that the average guy/woman can understand. Small precise words that they can understand can mean the difference. All residences of all 50 states needed to be talked to.
6
I hope this is a wake up call, but not only against an ideology we find repugnant and dangerous, but also for a house that's been burning for more than 30 years, much of it with the help of Democrats.
We didn't need Trump to de-regulate Wall Street, or destroy welfare as we knew it, or to set the stage for private prisons and the explosion of black and brown people to populate them, to bail out Wall Street but not homeowners or people with 401k's, to jail the people who exposed war crimes but not those who committed them, to expand spying on Americans, or to suspend habeas corpus-- yes, Obama did that-- or go to Flint and drink the water (!) to reassure its citizens, or crack the heads of Native Americans protesting a pipeline through their lands, or drop bombs on five countries at the same time. Identity politics and our own ideology put Democrats to sleep, and when that happens, Democrats are the best at getting Republican agendas signed and into law.
You can't tell people to be afraid of someone because he will wreck their lives when their lives are wrecked already. You can't break what's already broken.
While I agree with much of what you are saying, let's not ignore the circumstances that put him there, and be ever vigilant against our own party when they abandon principles we hold dear. Ideology, set above principles, can blind anyone. I realize this is an unpopular observation right now, but the truth is like poetry, and most people hate poetry.
We didn't need Trump to de-regulate Wall Street, or destroy welfare as we knew it, or to set the stage for private prisons and the explosion of black and brown people to populate them, to bail out Wall Street but not homeowners or people with 401k's, to jail the people who exposed war crimes but not those who committed them, to expand spying on Americans, or to suspend habeas corpus-- yes, Obama did that-- or go to Flint and drink the water (!) to reassure its citizens, or crack the heads of Native Americans protesting a pipeline through their lands, or drop bombs on five countries at the same time. Identity politics and our own ideology put Democrats to sleep, and when that happens, Democrats are the best at getting Republican agendas signed and into law.
You can't tell people to be afraid of someone because he will wreck their lives when their lives are wrecked already. You can't break what's already broken.
While I agree with much of what you are saying, let's not ignore the circumstances that put him there, and be ever vigilant against our own party when they abandon principles we hold dear. Ideology, set above principles, can blind anyone. I realize this is an unpopular observation right now, but the truth is like poetry, and most people hate poetry.
12
Why on earth is the word "union" never mentioned in any of the political conversations? Throughout the entire campaign "union" was missing - but the Scott Walkers of the world destroyed unions and working people with one fell swoop - along with the entire Republican party destroying the union class. Democrats abandoned unions - that's how they lost this election, but it's still the elephant in the room that no one acknowledges.
26
The Democrats were right there with the Republicans in deciding the U.S. taxpayers, that is, the middle-class, will feed the world, protect the world & develop pharmaceuticals to make the world healthy. As a result, wealth has been transferred out of the U.S. to the benefit of people throughout the world, while the middle-class is stuck with the bill. It's one thing to be generous & Americans are, but it's another to doom us to low wage jobs with no benefits so billions in China & third-world countries can have a better life. The Democrats turned over power to the corporations just like the Republicans did & for the same reasons - campaign contributions.
9
Absolutely agree, June, We need to clarify that around, say, 50-100 trillion dollars have been sucked out of the country that were originally the US middle class asset base. It may well exceed 100 trillion. Much of this was Democrats doing, but not all. What is clear is that Clinton was wrong for her entire political career about this. And that Trump, whatever his reasons may be, articulated this problem -- which is well known throughout middle America -- quite well. The US middle class has been extraordinarily generous with their immense former wealth. That much is very clear.
Do Americans endorse pan-nationalism, where all workers on Earth make 6 dollars an hour, no. We do not. Instead, the American worker endorses borders. I don't know why Trump is the one to do it - but one theory is that left wing politicians foresaw that they could rule eternally, buoyed by formerly foreign voters. In doing so they can swamp their original constituency.
Do Americans endorse pan-nationalism, where all workers on Earth make 6 dollars an hour, no. We do not. Instead, the American worker endorses borders. I don't know why Trump is the one to do it - but one theory is that left wing politicians foresaw that they could rule eternally, buoyed by formerly foreign voters. In doing so they can swamp their original constituency.
1
Yes, yes...all well and good....for 20 years ago. What's needed is for Democratic leadership to admit that in their rush to embrace trade deals, champion technology and globalization they dealt away the working class, advising them to get and education...or get left behind. That cruel deal has now left Democrats out in the cold as they left blue collar workers for years and years.
I voted for President Obama - twice- but it stings when he says that globalization has lifted millions out of poverty around the world without acknowledging that globalization and the financial crisis has plunged millions in the U.S. into poverty. Trump is not the answer, he's the backlash - and until Democrats admit their part in this fiasco...nobody's listening.
I voted for President Obama - twice- but it stings when he says that globalization has lifted millions out of poverty around the world without acknowledging that globalization and the financial crisis has plunged millions in the U.S. into poverty. Trump is not the answer, he's the backlash - and until Democrats admit their part in this fiasco...nobody's listening.
14
This is a prophetic article. When (not if) Trump betrays the working class who elected him, then the genuine left will be reborn in America. But between now and that moment lies a long and painful education.
20
All you Democrats looking down your noses at the working class who elected Mr. Trump are the people who turned their backs on this foundation of your party 50 years ago. You passed the taxes and regulations that drove their employers out of the country, making the largest percentage of the American work force since the Great Depression unemployed for the past eight years.
You ignored them, making them "The Silent Majority. Your president dismissed them as just "clinging to their guns and religion." Your candidate called them "A basket of deplorables."
Turned out they weren't as silent or ignorant as you thought.
You still think it. Your superior dismissal of them here makes that clear.
I bet you won't stop even after President Trump does just what he said he would do: Bring their employers back home by cutting their taxes and the smothering regulations that drove them away and invest in new manufacturing facilities their more than 2 trillion dollars in profits they kept overseas to avoid your confiscatory taxations. All the new manufacturing jobs will increase our tax receipts so much, we will even be able to start paying off the 20 trillion dollars indebt your re-distribution policies have drowned us in.
So just keep your noses in the air. It helps avoid your smelling the swamp you have drowned us in.
You ignored them, making them "The Silent Majority. Your president dismissed them as just "clinging to their guns and religion." Your candidate called them "A basket of deplorables."
Turned out they weren't as silent or ignorant as you thought.
You still think it. Your superior dismissal of them here makes that clear.
I bet you won't stop even after President Trump does just what he said he would do: Bring their employers back home by cutting their taxes and the smothering regulations that drove them away and invest in new manufacturing facilities their more than 2 trillion dollars in profits they kept overseas to avoid your confiscatory taxations. All the new manufacturing jobs will increase our tax receipts so much, we will even be able to start paying off the 20 trillion dollars indebt your re-distribution policies have drowned us in.
So just keep your noses in the air. It helps avoid your smelling the swamp you have drowned us in.
7
Wolfjac -- when you say "you Democrats" and explode in rage and resentment -- who are you, and what are you talking about, really?
I'm a white guy, 65 years old. I've worked all my life after getting through school, am working now. Getting through school took me longer than most; I am a PhD engineer. And I'm a Democrat.
I go and look at the Wikipedia and read that "Naples is one of the wealthiest cities in the United States, with the sixth highest per capita income in America, and the second highest proportion of millionaires per capita in the US. Real estate is among the most expensive in the country, with houses for sale in excess of $40 million."
So I have a hard time imagining you as some poor not-college-educated retiree.
All of this rage about 'confiscatory taxation' and 'profits kept overseas' sure sounds like the rage of those who use the carried interest loophole, and whine about the capital gains tax rate.
All my income is taxed as wages ... etc. How about yours?
I'm a white guy, 65 years old. I've worked all my life after getting through school, am working now. Getting through school took me longer than most; I am a PhD engineer. And I'm a Democrat.
I go and look at the Wikipedia and read that "Naples is one of the wealthiest cities in the United States, with the sixth highest per capita income in America, and the second highest proportion of millionaires per capita in the US. Real estate is among the most expensive in the country, with houses for sale in excess of $40 million."
So I have a hard time imagining you as some poor not-college-educated retiree.
All of this rage about 'confiscatory taxation' and 'profits kept overseas' sure sounds like the rage of those who use the carried interest loophole, and whine about the capital gains tax rate.
All my income is taxed as wages ... etc. How about yours?
3
A plea for more ignorance by wolffjac. Not a promising start.
2
Keep telling yourself this.
Wealth in America is now mostly created by financial machinations in the market and the interest on the debt accumulated by average people just to get by as their wages cover less and less each year. I am self employed and last year I made a few thousand extra dollars with the hopes of being able to pay some extra bills and set a side a few bucks for much needed home repairs. Not only did I end up owing more taxes (not a huge amount and I have no problem paying my fair share), my husband and I also found ourselves on the hook for high health insurance premiums coupled with a high deductible.
It doesn't matter where you live or whether you are a white collar, blue collar, freelancer, ect. Work loses its dignity when you find yourself working to exhaustion just to keep up with bills and all you get is more bills. Meanwhile, an old friend from high school who works as a correction officer just got liposuction and a breast job paid for in full by her health coverage. And who do you think paid for this? The average taxpayer like me, who can't even get a free Tylenol until I reach my 6K deductible.
The frustration and anxiety we face about our present situation and our future is real. But we cannot put this all on the wealthy or the GOP when billions are being diverted to cover generous benefits and pensions for public employees at the expense of everyone else.
It doesn't matter where you live or whether you are a white collar, blue collar, freelancer, ect. Work loses its dignity when you find yourself working to exhaustion just to keep up with bills and all you get is more bills. Meanwhile, an old friend from high school who works as a correction officer just got liposuction and a breast job paid for in full by her health coverage. And who do you think paid for this? The average taxpayer like me, who can't even get a free Tylenol until I reach my 6K deductible.
The frustration and anxiety we face about our present situation and our future is real. But we cannot put this all on the wealthy or the GOP when billions are being diverted to cover generous benefits and pensions for public employees at the expense of everyone else.
8
I find it very difficult to believe that your corrections officer friend had purely cosmetic surgery fully covered by her health insurance plan. I've never heard of such a thing, and I've had breast augmentation. I suspect what was covered was reconstruction using abdominal tissue following bilateral mastectomy, very possibly prophylactic mastectomy covered due to high risk for breast cancer, an option which I a currently faced with.
1
It was purely cosmetic. There is nothing wrong with this women except she is too lazy to exercise the fat off her behind and she has been bragging about this all the while posting pictures of herself in bikinis on social media. I am not on social media, but was shown her posts by a mutual friend. And as a taxpaying and high health insurance paying person I am outraged and disgusted. She also milks the system for paid time off for the surgery.
1
Why the anger at the poor slobs who took less pay in order to get benefits and pensions? Shouldn't that envy be aimed at the wealthy who took that away from you and every other worker? The wealthy have channeled that "pay" to themselves. Direct your anger at the ones that have stolen your future.
2
As a businessman, Trump's agenda was to maximize profit. As President, he's promised to rebuild the middle class by bringing jobs back to America. Trump intends to use his business acumen to accomplish this goal. Who better to fix the system than one who knows how to take advantage of it?
-----
"In thinking so highly of work we are aberrant. Few other cultures have ever done so. For nearly all of history and all prehistory, work was an indignity….. “For the ancients, unending labour was the mark of a slave. The labours of Sisyphus are punishment. In working for progress we submit to a labour no less servile.”
John N Gray
"In thinking so highly of work we are aberrant. Few other cultures have ever done so. For nearly all of history and all prehistory, work was an indignity….. “For the ancients, unending labour was the mark of a slave. The labours of Sisyphus are punishment. In working for progress we submit to a labour no less servile.”
John N Gray
2
Trump has no idea and could give a rip about any of this. His motto...."the guy who dies with the most toys wins" The man has no soul, period.
7
They didn't vote, or voted for the wrong guy out of frustration. They made their lives worse.
Watch the tape of Trump at the 21 restaurant vowing to reduce taxes for the 1%, if you think I'm exaggerating.
It's hard to care about blind people who don't want to see.
Watch the tape of Trump at the 21 restaurant vowing to reduce taxes for the 1%, if you think I'm exaggerating.
It's hard to care about blind people who don't want to see.
6
The times you dream of are dead and will be dead further as we go along the scale of time. Jobs will be automated and those you talked to will be left unemployed. This is a good thing. However we need to prepare ourselves to address such for it to be a good thing. We need basic minimum income and to set alight the way we train are grade school kids. Instead of focusing on industrial revolution style lives we should train them how to invest so they can invest with bmi. The only thing I can only hope of Trump is that he repeals Dodd-Frank and deregulates more. Ideally legalizing insider trading and allowing for more competition within organizations (competition is the enemy of profits thus this would counter act large organizations such as Comcast and AT&T.) Eventually..maybe people can learn how to trade and spot insider trading as signals to act on and further educating themselves to the point of dual-PhDs etc. Relying on jobs is shortsighted..I look forward to the day when all jobs are automated..we put too much emphasis on the "hard days work" mentality..it's time to destroy that.
1
If all jobs are automated, what do we do to make a living? Oh, I see. A handful of us will oil the machines. LOL
Precisely why Trump won.
The Dems are so wacked-out leftist that they ignored their base. Now, Schumer, et.al. are pushing an even wackier kook as DNC chair, Keith Ellison.
The Dems are so wacked-out leftist that they ignored their base. Now, Schumer, et.al. are pushing an even wackier kook as DNC chair, Keith Ellison.
5
A sensible and compassionate column. As we begin to rethink the way we categorize people, I would suggest we put growing groups like adjunct professors in the category with the uncertain working classes as traditionally defined. Not having the security of knowing if you will have work from one semester to the next, not having respect, earning low wages and receiving almost zero benefits robs the work of dignity. Many other educated people face similar plights, be they underpaid editors or editors working from contract to contract, freelancers who have seen the bottom drop out from under them, and countless other people who received a modest but reasonable and stable income for their efforts even 20 years ago, or 15 for that matter, either from moving into stable jobs from precarious ones or being hired to decent jobs from the start. We may not go back to the 40 hour work week, 30 years in one place model, but we could put pay raises, benefits and robust unemployment insurance underneath these jobs and reemphasize their value.
5
The Senator characterizes the current minimum wage is 20% less than 1980. What exactly does that mean? 80% of the $3.10 that was the federal minimum wage in 1980: $2.48? adjusted to 2016: $7.27.
The Senator grossly understates the plight of labor in this single single figure.
The dollar goes three times less far than it did in 1980 but most workers are paid in less than 1980 dollars, even less after accounting for the healthcare and retirement preparation that had been included in that $3.10.
Deduct from that still further the removal of paid time off for sickness, vacation or anything else and erosion to "personal time" of sanctioned sick time and vacation time for wage workers.
Then there are the less quantifiable but even more corrosive to the value of a wage: wide spread independent contractor status for jobs that used to be full hire, perma-temp, as needed scheduling making every worker effectively on call making it difficult to combine 2 or more jobs to try and make up what one job no longer provides. Mass hirings and firings of hundreds of people at a time for work conditions at the new service jobs that are a revolving door with turnover as much as 70% in 2-3 months and the cost of training is still profitable because the pay is so low.
Mr, Senator, pay is far worse than you admit to here.
The Senator grossly understates the plight of labor in this single single figure.
The dollar goes three times less far than it did in 1980 but most workers are paid in less than 1980 dollars, even less after accounting for the healthcare and retirement preparation that had been included in that $3.10.
Deduct from that still further the removal of paid time off for sickness, vacation or anything else and erosion to "personal time" of sanctioned sick time and vacation time for wage workers.
Then there are the less quantifiable but even more corrosive to the value of a wage: wide spread independent contractor status for jobs that used to be full hire, perma-temp, as needed scheduling making every worker effectively on call making it difficult to combine 2 or more jobs to try and make up what one job no longer provides. Mass hirings and firings of hundreds of people at a time for work conditions at the new service jobs that are a revolving door with turnover as much as 70% in 2-3 months and the cost of training is still profitable because the pay is so low.
Mr, Senator, pay is far worse than you admit to here.
7
Before we had NAFTA and other trade "deals," we had "right to work" states. States that are perfecctly willing to steal business from states with strong union representation. Labor and taxes are cheaper in rtw states, so off business goes seeking the best bottom line it can find.
And like trade agreements, a transfer of wealth occurs: the poor get richer and the rich get poorer. It is thought that while the deal is not good for those left behind, it's very good for the planet as a whole. The more business and other global entanglements, the less there is to gain from warfare.
But while one problem may be improved, another festers in the corner. We need to pay attention to those festering corners. Job loss and worker wealth is also tied to technology. A robot welder never needs a break and works for nothing. What do we do about that? Where will jobs come from? Will we need to have a national salary? Perhaps determined by level of schooling? The more school, the more money?
The more we learn to think critically and be able to back up our ideas with more than a hunch, the better. This whole thing is much more complex than a slogan on a baseball hat
And like trade agreements, a transfer of wealth occurs: the poor get richer and the rich get poorer. It is thought that while the deal is not good for those left behind, it's very good for the planet as a whole. The more business and other global entanglements, the less there is to gain from warfare.
But while one problem may be improved, another festers in the corner. We need to pay attention to those festering corners. Job loss and worker wealth is also tied to technology. A robot welder never needs a break and works for nothing. What do we do about that? Where will jobs come from? Will we need to have a national salary? Perhaps determined by level of schooling? The more school, the more money?
The more we learn to think critically and be able to back up our ideas with more than a hunch, the better. This whole thing is much more complex than a slogan on a baseball hat
2
But there is a difference. Right to work states stealing your business are still American states with American workers, who voted for that policy, and who have a voice equal with yours in national elections too.
1
The GOP has convinced its base that unions are bad and higher minimum wages will cause businesses to close. There is evidence that shows a correlation between the decline of unions and the decline of the middle class.
I do not understand how a group of people can be persuaded to vote against their own best interest. Only one of the two major parties has consistently fought for wage increases. And only one has fought against unions.
I do not understand how a group of people can be persuaded to vote against their own best interest. Only one of the two major parties has consistently fought for wage increases. And only one has fought against unions.
10
Dear Thomas: I am not slighting you even though you may consider me a limousine liberal. I am genuinely concerned about what will happen to the workers who voted trump when they realize their jobs aren't coming back and that trump cares only for himself and the wealthy.
It's true I'm baffled as to why people chose to believe a serial liar. But I'm not gloating or crowing towards anyone.
I'm just very afraid.
It's true I'm baffled as to why people chose to believe a serial liar. But I'm not gloating or crowing towards anyone.
I'm just very afraid.
12
Serial liar? Oh, Carla, you must mean Hillary. It is alleged that George Washington famously stated he would not tell a lie. The Clintons have that beaten as they could never tell a truth. If you were so concerned about what will happen to the workers, you never should have voted Democratic.
1
This is practically incoherent.
A week after an orange-haired populist stormed across the country promising to focus on trade, ease regulation, and commit to the working class (that your party, Senator Sherrod, threw in the gutter so that you could court massive voting blocs like transgenders) you are talking about tax cuts?
Dan Henninger has it right in today's Wall Street Journal: Democrats do not really understand the economy and treat it like a natural gas pipeline that serves as a source of revenue from taxation.
If Trump wants to look at Dodd-Frank, legislation that is 7 years old and still "in process", so that we are not in the "too big to fail business" I am all-ears. If Trump wants to knock it off with all of the Left's obsession on putting coal-fired Teslas in Greenwich garages, I am listening. If Trump wants to push on trade agreements, and let employers decide how to pay their workers, I would call that addressing what the government can and getting it out of areas that are better served by business owners.
When I began your piece, I was thinking you were about to announce your move to the GOP.
Sit back and watch how people invest in their companies when they don't have Senator Warren threatening lawsuits and regulations every twenty minutes. You're about to get a lesson in economics and entrepreneurship, but it will probably make you even angrier.
There just aren't enough jobs in Washington to employ all of us, Senator. Please let us do our jobs.
A week after an orange-haired populist stormed across the country promising to focus on trade, ease regulation, and commit to the working class (that your party, Senator Sherrod, threw in the gutter so that you could court massive voting blocs like transgenders) you are talking about tax cuts?
Dan Henninger has it right in today's Wall Street Journal: Democrats do not really understand the economy and treat it like a natural gas pipeline that serves as a source of revenue from taxation.
If Trump wants to look at Dodd-Frank, legislation that is 7 years old and still "in process", so that we are not in the "too big to fail business" I am all-ears. If Trump wants to knock it off with all of the Left's obsession on putting coal-fired Teslas in Greenwich garages, I am listening. If Trump wants to push on trade agreements, and let employers decide how to pay their workers, I would call that addressing what the government can and getting it out of areas that are better served by business owners.
When I began your piece, I was thinking you were about to announce your move to the GOP.
Sit back and watch how people invest in their companies when they don't have Senator Warren threatening lawsuits and regulations every twenty minutes. You're about to get a lesson in economics and entrepreneurship, but it will probably make you even angrier.
There just aren't enough jobs in Washington to employ all of us, Senator. Please let us do our jobs.
4
Stuart -- I have never met a working man who reads the Wall Street Journal. I have never met one who writes about "invest in their companies" and rails about "Senator Warren threatening lawsuits and regulations every twenty minutes" or "get a lesson in economics and entrepreneurship."
2
Alongside a lot of good ideas, which fly around I would like to add one more. Poverty and unemployment may be battled effectively, if we rethink our approach to education.
Low wages are often result of poor education, and for poor people is hard to get a good education, especially for their children.
I think we need to reinvent our approach to education, make it more fast and dynamic. Various skillets and buckets should be created across the economy.
This also should be a corporate-government programs which will help fastly educate people, realize their talents and put them in high-paid jobs which will benefit everybody. People, businesses and society.
Low wages are often result of poor education, and for poor people is hard to get a good education, especially for their children.
I think we need to reinvent our approach to education, make it more fast and dynamic. Various skillets and buckets should be created across the economy.
This also should be a corporate-government programs which will help fastly educate people, realize their talents and put them in high-paid jobs which will benefit everybody. People, businesses and society.
3
For six years, the republican controlled Congress did nothing, nothing, nothing and the Democrats took it lying down. We were too damn nice and as a result got blamed even MORE than the Repubs for the gridlock and lack of progress. We're never going to get anywhere until the Democrats get smart about the power of propaganda. Voters respond to slogans and sound bites. If you only do the hard work (thank you Obama) but do a crappy job of marketing it, in this world you lose the argument and look like losers. Neither side has done a stellar job, but we gave it away by not playing harder. Speak up and stop with the false equivalency. The republican agenda really is deplorable. Call it what it is.
25
I am having much the same difficulty mustering sympathy. The trade deal passed were made in good faith. Those policies also invisioned a secure, stable, and interconnected world built around greater cooperation and trust. Unfortunately, like many policies they come with unintended consequences that were not unpredicted, but dismissed in zeal to pass something.
I have been personally impacted twice in my life by severe economic downturns: first after I graduated from college in the mid 80s and couldn't find work and second, when we relocated to and purchased a home in a more expensive community with limited professional employment options just prior to the burst of the housing bubble. Yes, I was angry and frustrated with the policy priorities that allowed those downturns to be so profound but it was up to me (and my husband) to do something to make our lives better. One of them, of course, was voting for people who supported legislation like Frank Dodd and the creation of the CFPB, but the other was making changes in our own lives where we could. We sold a car and biked most places we needed to go. We made the painful decision to short sell our house and move to a community with cheaper housing and more job opportunities. I also went back to school and obtained a second masters degree. Our journey was not without ups and downs, & we did accumulate new debt, but we are in a much better financial situation today. We didn't turn on other people & vote for fear and hate.
I have been personally impacted twice in my life by severe economic downturns: first after I graduated from college in the mid 80s and couldn't find work and second, when we relocated to and purchased a home in a more expensive community with limited professional employment options just prior to the burst of the housing bubble. Yes, I was angry and frustrated with the policy priorities that allowed those downturns to be so profound but it was up to me (and my husband) to do something to make our lives better. One of them, of course, was voting for people who supported legislation like Frank Dodd and the creation of the CFPB, but the other was making changes in our own lives where we could. We sold a car and biked most places we needed to go. We made the painful decision to short sell our house and move to a community with cheaper housing and more job opportunities. I also went back to school and obtained a second masters degree. Our journey was not without ups and downs, & we did accumulate new debt, but we are in a much better financial situation today. We didn't turn on other people & vote for fear and hate.
4
Republican members of Congress since the Reagan era will steamroll their own grandmothers if it means they and the 1% can get an extra dime. In their world, all you have to do is call yourself a Christian and oppose abortion and you can act like a Satanic beast and get away with it.
lynnt - "Voters respond to slogans and sound bites. If you only do the hard work (thank you Obama) but do a crappy job of marketing it,"
No they don't. I think you underestimate the voters. They want RESULTS not eight years of hope and change that lead to no hope and no change. No matter who caused the malaise the voters were disgusted with their government and did not want four more years of the same. Now it's the Republican's turn and if they fail to produce the wanted change they will also be voted out of office.
No they don't. I think you underestimate the voters. They want RESULTS not eight years of hope and change that lead to no hope and no change. No matter who caused the malaise the voters were disgusted with their government and did not want four more years of the same. Now it's the Republican's turn and if they fail to produce the wanted change they will also be voted out of office.
1
Yet Ohio is on the verge of becoming a right-to-work state according to news data. They voted for the candidate who stated "We have to become competitive with the world. Our taxes are too high, our wages are too high. Everything is too high. We have to compete with other countries." So if we are willing to basically BECOME China to compete with China's slave wages all will be good. His supporters weren't appalled by this comment, they elected it! The republicans denigrate unions, believe a minimum wage is not necessary and want to take away our health care. Cantor's "flex-time" proposal would have eliminated overtime pay. Ryan's medicare voucher will impoverish the elderly. He won handily.
I'm sorry, Mr. Brown, but when a large swath of the working class from the rust-belt states elects a con man I have very little sympathy. Industries have moved in the past. My hometown had one major employer. First they moved to TX then to Mexico. The people trained for other jobs, commuted to work, continued their education. They didn't sit back whining about how the government didn't provide for them. My husband was in a dead end job. He took an HVAC job, even though the call schedule disrupts your life. A friend, in a similar position, did not, it would disrupt his social life. My husband now works for a union utility shop making a six figure salary with a no lay-off contract. His friend works week to week fearing a lay-off in a dead-end job. He *also* votes GOP. Some just don't learn.
I'm sorry, Mr. Brown, but when a large swath of the working class from the rust-belt states elects a con man I have very little sympathy. Industries have moved in the past. My hometown had one major employer. First they moved to TX then to Mexico. The people trained for other jobs, commuted to work, continued their education. They didn't sit back whining about how the government didn't provide for them. My husband was in a dead end job. He took an HVAC job, even though the call schedule disrupts your life. A friend, in a similar position, did not, it would disrupt his social life. My husband now works for a union utility shop making a six figure salary with a no lay-off contract. His friend works week to week fearing a lay-off in a dead-end job. He *also* votes GOP. Some just don't learn.
34
Due to gerrymandering, Ohio has become known as a Red State. In reality, the population is pretty evenly divided between the parties.
I know and am related to many Ohio Republicans who refused to vote for Trump, but couldn't bring themselves to vote for Clinton. I know and am related to many Democrats who were not all that excited about Clinton. The fact is, many manufacturing jobs have left due to NAFTA and other trade agreements. Coal mining jobs are facing extinction. Politicians seem to be more worried about raising money and protecting their own jobs than helping the people who elected them. Sherrod Brown knows what he's talking about and will probably be one of the future leaders of the party. The Democratic Party would do well to listen to him.
I know and am related to many Ohio Republicans who refused to vote for Trump, but couldn't bring themselves to vote for Clinton. I know and am related to many Democrats who were not all that excited about Clinton. The fact is, many manufacturing jobs have left due to NAFTA and other trade agreements. Coal mining jobs are facing extinction. Politicians seem to be more worried about raising money and protecting their own jobs than helping the people who elected them. Sherrod Brown knows what he's talking about and will probably be one of the future leaders of the party. The Democratic Party would do well to listen to him.
1
In NYC the electrical union (Local 3) pays its workers $75-$125 per hour. Not bad for no college degree, and minimal investment in electrician's license.
9
The union pays? These electricians work for the union?
1
It's not the union that pays those wages; the businesses and individuals who need an electrician are the ones paying the electrician.
1
And you are unaware of the cost of living in NYC? Or the years of apprenticeship Education these people get and the expertise they must have? Do you really want to live or work in a building wired by amateurs? Doubtful. But expertise comes with a price. An
Thank you for this articulate article - your voice, and the voices of working people in the midwest - need to be heard, often. I understand why some people voted for Donald Trump yet I do not believe that he will do anything positive for the hard working people of Ohio or any other working class/middle class person or family. We have difficult years ahead and we all need to speak out and take action to insure that people who work are paid fairly, that they and their work are respected, and that they have opportunities to learn and grow.
347
I believe Mr. Trump will bring jobs back to the Midwest. He will do it by getting states to offer significant tax breaks and to suspend minimum and/or prevailing wage regulations. It will fulfill his promise to bring back manufacturing, but the industries will not contribute to the overall good. The states will lose money hosting them, and workers will be offered low wage jobs with few or no benefits. They will be working, but not improving their prospects for the future.
In order for workers to be paid fairly, there needs to be good jobs. As for respect, one must have self respect for themselves and the work they do. Merely raising the minimum wage accomplishes neither.
I earned a blue collar dollar
makin GM factory cars
till robot welders came online
and sent us to the bars
They say it’s not competitive
to hire us for our skills
they say if they don’t automate
somebody else will
I earned a white collar dollar
as a manager was trained
kept departments running
helped the customers we gained
but now it’s all computerized
and I don’t pay my bills
They say if they don’t downsize then
somebody else wlll
I earned a knowledge worker dollar
building high end software tools
retrained every other year
to learn all the new rules
but expert systems found a way
to duplicate my skills
they say if they don’t use them quick
somebody else will
I earned a journalistic dollar
seeking truth among the lies
tried to write the stories that
helped citizens be wise
but everyday more blogs are posting
trending spills and thrills
if you don’t get the followers
somebody else will
I earned a truck drivin dollar
loadin up for the long hauls
but now I sit at home and drink
cause no one ever calls
the big rigs that can drive themselves
are filled up to the gills
they say if they don’t ship in them
somebody else will
We had a middle class economy
distributed SOME wealth
lots of problems were not solved
but still it had some health
but now you’ve built these smart machines
that replicate our skiils
Do ya-think when we can’t purchase goods
somebody else will?
What jobless humans cannot buy do ya
think the robots will?
makin GM factory cars
till robot welders came online
and sent us to the bars
They say it’s not competitive
to hire us for our skills
they say if they don’t automate
somebody else will
I earned a white collar dollar
as a manager was trained
kept departments running
helped the customers we gained
but now it’s all computerized
and I don’t pay my bills
They say if they don’t downsize then
somebody else wlll
I earned a knowledge worker dollar
building high end software tools
retrained every other year
to learn all the new rules
but expert systems found a way
to duplicate my skills
they say if they don’t use them quick
somebody else will
I earned a journalistic dollar
seeking truth among the lies
tried to write the stories that
helped citizens be wise
but everyday more blogs are posting
trending spills and thrills
if you don’t get the followers
somebody else will
I earned a truck drivin dollar
loadin up for the long hauls
but now I sit at home and drink
cause no one ever calls
the big rigs that can drive themselves
are filled up to the gills
they say if they don’t ship in them
somebody else will
We had a middle class economy
distributed SOME wealth
lots of problems were not solved
but still it had some health
but now you’ve built these smart machines
that replicate our skiils
Do ya-think when we can’t purchase goods
somebody else will?
What jobless humans cannot buy do ya
think the robots will?
1
"Trickle-down economics was discredited decades ago."
Yes. But that doesn't stop it from forming the cornerstone of every Republican administration. Wealthy donors don't come cheap, now, do they?
I'm not sure of Ohio voters read the same papers I do, but it's been abundantly clear from the start of the Convention that Trump has been backed by the same Republican people and forces that created the dire situation Ohio workers are in.
The big con: where else but America can a proven tax cheat, corner cutter, and moral degenerate get voters to believe he's reforming his ways to help the unfortunate in Ohio? The votes have barely been counted and already the Paul Ryan Congress is lining up to work its money magic from tax reform: massive tax cuts for the wealthy and big business; tiny tax cuts for workers (average $200 per person); no increase in minimum wage; a promise to rein in offshoring, but no concrete plan for doing so; a promise to bring back coal mining and steel, both of which have been proven to be economically unfeasible; a promise to go after the world's trade charlatans with tariffs, that will likely result in higher prices for consumer goods.
If you take the time to compare the Trump laundry list with the Congressional laundry list, you'll see how empty Trumpian promises are for workers. Mr. Brown, I want to hear how your constituents feel in a year or two, or better four years.
Please keep us informed!
Yes. But that doesn't stop it from forming the cornerstone of every Republican administration. Wealthy donors don't come cheap, now, do they?
I'm not sure of Ohio voters read the same papers I do, but it's been abundantly clear from the start of the Convention that Trump has been backed by the same Republican people and forces that created the dire situation Ohio workers are in.
The big con: where else but America can a proven tax cheat, corner cutter, and moral degenerate get voters to believe he's reforming his ways to help the unfortunate in Ohio? The votes have barely been counted and already the Paul Ryan Congress is lining up to work its money magic from tax reform: massive tax cuts for the wealthy and big business; tiny tax cuts for workers (average $200 per person); no increase in minimum wage; a promise to rein in offshoring, but no concrete plan for doing so; a promise to bring back coal mining and steel, both of which have been proven to be economically unfeasible; a promise to go after the world's trade charlatans with tariffs, that will likely result in higher prices for consumer goods.
If you take the time to compare the Trump laundry list with the Congressional laundry list, you'll see how empty Trumpian promises are for workers. Mr. Brown, I want to hear how your constituents feel in a year or two, or better four years.
Please keep us informed!
41
What did Bill Clinton and Obama do for these same people?
A whole lot of nothing.
Voters went with the only person who had not been a career politician because the career politicians from both parties have failed them for decades.
It's as simple, and wonderful, as that.
Even if Trump accomplishes nothing else, at least he kept another career politician who somehow became fabulously rich after "serving" the public out of office.
A whole lot of nothing.
Voters went with the only person who had not been a career politician because the career politicians from both parties have failed them for decades.
It's as simple, and wonderful, as that.
Even if Trump accomplishes nothing else, at least he kept another career politician who somehow became fabulously rich after "serving" the public out of office.
37
I suspect Ohioans who voted for Trump will rejoice at the $200 and consider it a great victory. I cannot give them credit for much deeper judgement and thinking than that. I will seek ways to avoid spending my hard earned money on anything produced in Ohio or the other Trump enablers.
5
This is a good essay, and can be applied to many other regions which have lost their industries, and to many individuals in white collar positions who have also learned that they are, to corporations, entirely superfluous to profit. And I am not saying profit is unimportant, only that corporate interest now essentially control the "democratic" process.
Senator Brown, I am glad that someone like you is able to represent the interests of those outside of the sphere of influence moat around the Capitol. But you know that, while the current GOP has become the most mulish, fact-denying , group to serve, even your own party has lost touch with those who are on the "losing' end of the economy, and/or do not have the money to influence results.
You mentioned that union members only opt to strike when there is no other way - that they never will regain lost wages, even in a win. But there is a minority of workers even represented by unions, which are far weaker ( and a large portion of public employee unions, which are also in ever more precarious positions). So - for all purposes - the only protections for any US workers lie with their government representatives.
There are two things of importance: how can money for campaigns be limited?
How can those who feel abandoned be persuaded to reason, join forces, and vote in their own interests?
Senator Brown, I am glad that someone like you is able to represent the interests of those outside of the sphere of influence moat around the Capitol. But you know that, while the current GOP has become the most mulish, fact-denying , group to serve, even your own party has lost touch with those who are on the "losing' end of the economy, and/or do not have the money to influence results.
You mentioned that union members only opt to strike when there is no other way - that they never will regain lost wages, even in a win. But there is a minority of workers even represented by unions, which are far weaker ( and a large portion of public employee unions, which are also in ever more precarious positions). So - for all purposes - the only protections for any US workers lie with their government representatives.
There are two things of importance: how can money for campaigns be limited?
How can those who feel abandoned be persuaded to reason, join forces, and vote in their own interests?
23
Sen. Brown: I know it is early; however, please consider running in 2020.
18
But these same people who are suffering keep voting for politicians that pass anti-collective bargaining laws, bust unions, refuse to raise the minimum wage and reduce taxes for the rich every chance they get. So what did they just do?
They elected Trump who is hellbent on reducing regulations on Wall Street, repealing Dodd-Frank, killing the ACA, and reducing taxes on the super rich even more. Paul Ryan wants to get rid of Medicare and Social Security.
Oh but Trump is going to bring jobs back to the upper midwest. No he is not. He can't. Those manufacturing jobs are gone for good. Imposing a tariff on Mexican goods will just cause production to move to another low cost country. It is not possible to restrain the march of capitalism in that it always seeks the lowest cost of production. Furthermore, the robots are coming. Any new factory will be highly automated with few workers on the floor and those workers will be highly skilled technicians. Machinists are like programmers now.
Changing this economic dynamic requires restraints on the system which is decried as socialism. These voters will reject anything remotely linked to socialism as being a threat to liberty. So they elect people that exploit them and throw them under the bus, all in the name of free market capitalism. They stepped in it once again.
They elected Trump who is hellbent on reducing regulations on Wall Street, repealing Dodd-Frank, killing the ACA, and reducing taxes on the super rich even more. Paul Ryan wants to get rid of Medicare and Social Security.
Oh but Trump is going to bring jobs back to the upper midwest. No he is not. He can't. Those manufacturing jobs are gone for good. Imposing a tariff on Mexican goods will just cause production to move to another low cost country. It is not possible to restrain the march of capitalism in that it always seeks the lowest cost of production. Furthermore, the robots are coming. Any new factory will be highly automated with few workers on the floor and those workers will be highly skilled technicians. Machinists are like programmers now.
Changing this economic dynamic requires restraints on the system which is decried as socialism. These voters will reject anything remotely linked to socialism as being a threat to liberty. So they elect people that exploit them and throw them under the bus, all in the name of free market capitalism. They stepped in it once again.
310
Along those same lines, I was puzzled how older black voters could cast their ballot in the primary for HRC over Bernie. His positions were much more in line with the needs of people of color and the working-class and, yet, the lure of symbolism and ministers (e.g., Bill Clinton as the "first black president"), contributed significantly to HRC becoming our deeply flawed candidate in the general election. Her neoliberal free trade and anti-labor law reform record, along with her reluctance to embrace a living wage was antithetical to working-class Americans of all races. As it happened, in the end black voter turnout was low for HRC.
My point: when faced with two choices voters will often vote against the candidate who they know is definitely not on their side.
My point: when faced with two choices voters will often vote against the candidate who they know is definitely not on their side.
1
Trump doesn’t even own a computer. He doesn’t have ANY idea how the Internet works. “Can’t Bill Gates just turn off a switch?” Trump says at a rally.
The microchip/robotics took manufacturing jobs away--NOT NAFTA, or Mexican immigrants. Go to any vehicle assembly plant--you will see robotic arms not assembly line workers.
The coal industry will NEVER be revived, not against cheap natural gas. And coal mining hit its heyday in the 1920s. Anyway most coal is strip mined slicing off the tops of mountains with heavy duty land movers in Eastern coal country in Kentucky, WV, and Ohio. Western coal is cleaner.
Coal is dead and my mother’s side grew up in MIngo Junction-center of Appalachian coal-all my maternal relatives were coal miners or worked the rail--another lost job.
My VERY last family reunion in southeastern Ohio, discussion revolved around the workers being told..”We’re shutting this mine down. But we will give you three years of training to learn another job. Welders were needed EVERYWHERE around the world.” But my cousins, uncles REFUSED to take any classes saying that “Trump is bringing our jobs back.”
I left Ohio 40 years ago as I couldn’t listen anymore to how THEIR jobs were going to illegals etc. It’s a mindset that even Senator Brown does not get!
As Springsteen said “These jobs are goin’ boys and they ain’t coming back.”
60% of future jobs will be in healthcare and computers. In fact we’re not even sure WHAT job titles will be here in 2050!
The microchip/robotics took manufacturing jobs away--NOT NAFTA, or Mexican immigrants. Go to any vehicle assembly plant--you will see robotic arms not assembly line workers.
The coal industry will NEVER be revived, not against cheap natural gas. And coal mining hit its heyday in the 1920s. Anyway most coal is strip mined slicing off the tops of mountains with heavy duty land movers in Eastern coal country in Kentucky, WV, and Ohio. Western coal is cleaner.
Coal is dead and my mother’s side grew up in MIngo Junction-center of Appalachian coal-all my maternal relatives were coal miners or worked the rail--another lost job.
My VERY last family reunion in southeastern Ohio, discussion revolved around the workers being told..”We’re shutting this mine down. But we will give you three years of training to learn another job. Welders were needed EVERYWHERE around the world.” But my cousins, uncles REFUSED to take any classes saying that “Trump is bringing our jobs back.”
I left Ohio 40 years ago as I couldn’t listen anymore to how THEIR jobs were going to illegals etc. It’s a mindset that even Senator Brown does not get!
As Springsteen said “These jobs are goin’ boys and they ain’t coming back.”
60% of future jobs will be in healthcare and computers. In fact we’re not even sure WHAT job titles will be here in 2050!
6
I honestly believe Bernie would have beaten Donald, and many polls showed so. I know young people here who, frustrated with the "status quo" - when the chance to vote for Bernie was snatched away, chose Trump. If you look at who voted for Bernie in the primary, it was people who, for the most part, were outside the cities (that went for Clinton).
1
Thank you for this piece, Senator Brown. I agree with every word.
The economic precariousness that you describe also afflicts white collar workers. As a 50+ person trying to transition from self-employment back into the workforce, I have come to know the sadness, uncertainty and fury that comes with under- and unemployment.
This country needs to start putting employment first. While I voted for Clinton, I understand all too well the anger and frustration that led many Americans to vote for Trump.
While the headline unemployment rate is under 5%, the broader U-6 measure of unemployment, which includes the unemployed, discouraged workers, part-time workers who would prefer full-time work, and others only marginally attached to labor force stands at roughly 10% of the population, and some economists have estimated this figure closer to 12%.
It's the U-6 economy that led to Trump's victory. To fix things, I suggest that concerned Democrats, business leaders and others focus relentlessly on jobs. Most Americans want gainful employment, not handouts.
The economic precariousness that you describe also afflicts white collar workers. As a 50+ person trying to transition from self-employment back into the workforce, I have come to know the sadness, uncertainty and fury that comes with under- and unemployment.
This country needs to start putting employment first. While I voted for Clinton, I understand all too well the anger and frustration that led many Americans to vote for Trump.
While the headline unemployment rate is under 5%, the broader U-6 measure of unemployment, which includes the unemployed, discouraged workers, part-time workers who would prefer full-time work, and others only marginally attached to labor force stands at roughly 10% of the population, and some economists have estimated this figure closer to 12%.
It's the U-6 economy that led to Trump's victory. To fix things, I suggest that concerned Democrats, business leaders and others focus relentlessly on jobs. Most Americans want gainful employment, not handouts.
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The U6 was nearly 20% under Bush. Changing how unemployment is recorded only creates more false propaganda.
2
You must be a man.
I say that because as a result of the recession women became the main breadwinners in 40% of all American households. Many of us already had an occupation whether it was nursing, teaching, waitressing or running a food industry. Dad can’t find a job? Mom went back to work full time with overtime hours even it it meant night shifts. Many women just kept working these “jobs for women.”
I know women in their 50s and 60s going back for a 2 yr RN at community colleges--You can get your LPN in 9 months. RNs make $50/hr at temp agencies. Nursing assistants were making $27/hr. But these were “woman jobs” and most men stayed home. (Although I AM seeing MORE men in these programs.)
I have worked as a waitress, short order cook, bartender. Would YOU take these jobs? Would you work as landscaper for the state? How about cleaning rooms at a hotel or motel?
Teachers who went to college for four years to get an education degree or further for a post-grad were FURIOUS when these comment sections were FILLED with men back in 2009-2010 saying “Well I can always get a job teaching.” No you can’t!
I saw comments by men saying “I’d never get into nursing as it’s just being a glorified bedpan changer.” Hey way to demean an entire occupation and nurses!!--which BTW has the HIGHEST approval rating of all jobs in America.
Women can now see ALL occupations opening up to them. Why is it you males can’t do the same? We women are SICK of your complaining of “no jobs.”
I say that because as a result of the recession women became the main breadwinners in 40% of all American households. Many of us already had an occupation whether it was nursing, teaching, waitressing or running a food industry. Dad can’t find a job? Mom went back to work full time with overtime hours even it it meant night shifts. Many women just kept working these “jobs for women.”
I know women in their 50s and 60s going back for a 2 yr RN at community colleges--You can get your LPN in 9 months. RNs make $50/hr at temp agencies. Nursing assistants were making $27/hr. But these were “woman jobs” and most men stayed home. (Although I AM seeing MORE men in these programs.)
I have worked as a waitress, short order cook, bartender. Would YOU take these jobs? Would you work as landscaper for the state? How about cleaning rooms at a hotel or motel?
Teachers who went to college for four years to get an education degree or further for a post-grad were FURIOUS when these comment sections were FILLED with men back in 2009-2010 saying “Well I can always get a job teaching.” No you can’t!
I saw comments by men saying “I’d never get into nursing as it’s just being a glorified bedpan changer.” Hey way to demean an entire occupation and nurses!!--which BTW has the HIGHEST approval rating of all jobs in America.
Women can now see ALL occupations opening up to them. Why is it you males can’t do the same? We women are SICK of your complaining of “no jobs.”
2
Jobs, Jobs, Jobs! As I remember that is what Obama ran on and every republican in congress ran on and once elected, they ALL shoveled tax payer money to the already rich just as fast as they could and laughed in the faces of the gullible voters who voted for Jobs, Jobs, Jobs!
Even when Clinton and Obama were in office, they continued what started in the 1980's where the hypothesis was tax cuts and trickle down economics were supposed to be a new morning in America. Sadly, that economic hypothesis has failed the people who were supposed to benefit the most, the blue collar middle class worker and the bottom 80%. I see nothing in the economic proposals of the Republican House who will have been in power for 18 of the last 22 years that will change this. Those who think Trump will shake up Washington are sadly mistaken and the incumbents in the House and Senate were reelected. Where is the change and sadly, it will result in the same failed policies.
77
Obama is not in favor of trickle down economics. He was unable to reduce tax breaks to the wealthy passed under Bush administration because Republicans would not let him do it.
1
The *only* way for Americans to make any progress is to focus on reforming the election process.
Hillary won the popular vote, but right-wing voter suppression and likely hacking of voting machines handed the electoral college to DT.
There's no way to prove that before the dictator-in-progress is installed, but every effort must be made to prevent a crime of this magnitude from derailing subsequent elections.
For decades, corporate America has pushed out leftist elected leaders in other countries and installed right-wing dictators who easily enforce their hegemony with rigged elections. We were so naive to imagine they'd never pull that trick right here in the US. We have barely enough time to halt this travesty by 2020.
Hillary won the popular vote, but right-wing voter suppression and likely hacking of voting machines handed the electoral college to DT.
There's no way to prove that before the dictator-in-progress is installed, but every effort must be made to prevent a crime of this magnitude from derailing subsequent elections.
For decades, corporate America has pushed out leftist elected leaders in other countries and installed right-wing dictators who easily enforce their hegemony with rigged elections. We were so naive to imagine they'd never pull that trick right here in the US. We have barely enough time to halt this travesty by 2020.
56
This has nothing to do with the article and if Trump had won the popular vote but lost the electoral you wouldn`t even be bringing this up.
2
Yes. But we need to go further. We need to automatically register everyone and get them proper ID. We need to make voting mandatory civil duty to avoid a dictator being elected by less than a quarter of the voting population. The electoral process itself needs to run by a non-partisan authority funded publicly. Campaigning time limits are needed with media time donated by TV stations which use our public airwaves. Also voting districts should only be determined by population and geographic factors.
But don't look for anything happening soon.
But don't look for anything happening soon.
Oh please.
The Electoral College is not some new component to our election system.
The popular vote doesn't matter and never has. How many yards a player runs in football doesn't matter either if he doesn't score touchdowns.
I don't think you understand what the popular vote means and how irrelevant it is to our system. We have NEVER been a 1-person, 1-vote democracy because it's a bad system.
Just because the EC is news to some people doesn't mean it hasn't worked well for dozens of elections.
The Electoral College is not some new component to our election system.
The popular vote doesn't matter and never has. How many yards a player runs in football doesn't matter either if he doesn't score touchdowns.
I don't think you understand what the popular vote means and how irrelevant it is to our system. We have NEVER been a 1-person, 1-vote democracy because it's a bad system.
Just because the EC is news to some people doesn't mean it hasn't worked well for dozens of elections.
1
Not just the rust belt. Money trumps every human value everywhere in the USA. Anyone who works for a living knows that corporations matter more than people.
301
This article is about jobs but no one is writing about life after jobs. Right now most employers with retirement plans have coverage to fill in the gaps not covered by Medicare. For some it is prescription coverage or others Part B like. Paul Ryan intends to phase out Medicare. Which means that employer plans will not cover what most people need most, hospital care. A hospital stay can bankrupt a family. Ryan's plan will end Medicare as it currently works for every one not born before 1955. If you are not 65 in 2020 you must buy insurance coverage for two years then you get Part A which is the hospital part. For those younger, you will have to buy insurance on the open market with a yet to be determined voucher from the US government. Now imagine yourself a plumber with a bad back and maybe high blood pressure. You decide to retire and now you have to buy insurance you hadn't planned on buying at retirement. Is this what you had in mind when you voted for Trump. Don't expect a veto from Trump which you have with Obama and would have with HRC. The veto was all that stood between Ryan's plan becoming law now. And its gone. Add to that the GOP intends to get rid of the ACA with subsides for insurance now. Ryan has false statements or lies on his website about Medicare. Medicare is more solvent now than before Obama became president due in some part to the ACA.
BTW next stop, turn over your Social Security to the dreaded Wall Street.
BTW next stop, turn over your Social Security to the dreaded Wall Street.
442
The Ohio workers who voted for Trump voted away any chance at adequate health care in their old age. In January, Ryan is going to slash Medicare and Medicaid coverage for these workers and their families and repeal the Affordable Care Act. The chaotic and back-biting Trump administration is already barely able to tie their own shoelaces, let alone introduce programs to repair infrastructure; it talks about deporting illegal immigrants, but it is incapable of setting up a mechanism to do so. Basically, there will be only a corrupt and fumbling executive branch. Ryan and a ruthlessly efficient Republican congress will enact tax cuts or the very rich and otherwise enrich themselves and their wealthy donors.
16
It's like Alan Grayson stated on healthcare-The Republican plan:"Don’t get sick. And if you do get sick, die quickly."
My husband will be 62 in January and intended to retire at 66. With the Ryan proposal which WILL become law we would not be able to afford health insurance. I guess if we get sick we should die quickly. The problem is the ignorance of Americans in regard to what health insurance costs. They think if you give up your cable or your cell phone you'll be able to pay for insurance. In 2008 my husband started a new job with no insurance for six month probationary period. Romneycare required health insurance. A decent policy was over $1200 a month. We are both healthy. The only medication I was on was birth control, he mild hypertension. Health insurance is 5 times as expensive for the elderly as the young. What would the policy costs be per month. $4000???!!! Yet Ryan will give us a $5000 yearly allowance. He also wants to cut medicaid which also benefits the elderly, paying for in home care and services, and nursing home care. It funds meals-on-wheels. We are all dearly paying for the choice of so many to be ignorant and uninformed, oblivious to what OUR government, funded by OUR money, does for us and how easily it can be taken from us. We are in for some very dark times in the coming years. Our gains in education, labor, social programs are on the verge of being utterly destroyed. Saddest of all? A good portion of us chose this for not only themselves but all.
My husband will be 62 in January and intended to retire at 66. With the Ryan proposal which WILL become law we would not be able to afford health insurance. I guess if we get sick we should die quickly. The problem is the ignorance of Americans in regard to what health insurance costs. They think if you give up your cable or your cell phone you'll be able to pay for insurance. In 2008 my husband started a new job with no insurance for six month probationary period. Romneycare required health insurance. A decent policy was over $1200 a month. We are both healthy. The only medication I was on was birth control, he mild hypertension. Health insurance is 5 times as expensive for the elderly as the young. What would the policy costs be per month. $4000???!!! Yet Ryan will give us a $5000 yearly allowance. He also wants to cut medicaid which also benefits the elderly, paying for in home care and services, and nursing home care. It funds meals-on-wheels. We are all dearly paying for the choice of so many to be ignorant and uninformed, oblivious to what OUR government, funded by OUR money, does for us and how easily it can be taken from us. We are in for some very dark times in the coming years. Our gains in education, labor, social programs are on the verge of being utterly destroyed. Saddest of all? A good portion of us chose this for not only themselves but all.
13
Keep writing and talking, Senator - we wanted you as Hillary's running mate from the first day your name was mentioned.
We'd like to see the DNC come out with a series of ads showing working Americans like you talk about, standing in front of closed factories and mills facing the camera and asking Trumpster when he's going to fulfill his campaign promises and open those plants and factories again, bringing back jobs ?
It's the best way we know to highlight the pack of lies that were spun to get him to the White House.
We'd like to see the DNC come out with a series of ads showing working Americans like you talk about, standing in front of closed factories and mills facing the camera and asking Trumpster when he's going to fulfill his campaign promises and open those plants and factories again, bringing back jobs ?
It's the best way we know to highlight the pack of lies that were spun to get him to the White House.
526
I'll donate money to pay for those ads.
4
First of all Tim Kaine was a good man who I supported as a running mate for President Obama, alas Tim didn't get it. This past election needed Corey Booker as the Vice President for Hillary and that wood have worked better. Rememeber,
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm
“Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.
Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.
Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.
From every mountainside, let freedom ring.”
“when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:
Free at last! Free at last!”
Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm
“Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.
Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.
Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.
From every mountainside, let freedom ring.”
“when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:
Free at last! Free at last!”
Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!
1
Great idea about the ads. The time to reach voters is when they're NOT being flooded with campaign schtick. But instead of making them about Mr. Trump they should be about the old-fashioned progressive issues that could really mean something to the People.
Senator Brown's essay would be a great place to start!
Senator Brown's essay would be a great place to start!
3
Why will they feel betrayed?
Donald Trump is a lot of things - but subtle he's not. He said he was going to cut taxes for the rich - and working people voted for him. He built his fortune outsourcing work to the lowest paid countries at the expense of American workers - and he felt free to stiff his American workers if he wasn't happy with the work they did, regardless of his agreements with them. He wasn't honest and open about how rich he is or isn't - and whether he took advantage of the system to get that way. And even by the very low standards of truth in American politics, his lies were jaw-dropping.
Now that he's in, I hope he rises above it and does a good job. But if he does even half of what he said he would do, rich people are going to do very well and Ohio workers are going to be waiting on people at Wal-Mart.
Donald Trump is a lot of things - but subtle he's not. He said he was going to cut taxes for the rich - and working people voted for him. He built his fortune outsourcing work to the lowest paid countries at the expense of American workers - and he felt free to stiff his American workers if he wasn't happy with the work they did, regardless of his agreements with them. He wasn't honest and open about how rich he is or isn't - and whether he took advantage of the system to get that way. And even by the very low standards of truth in American politics, his lies were jaw-dropping.
Now that he's in, I hope he rises above it and does a good job. But if he does even half of what he said he would do, rich people are going to do very well and Ohio workers are going to be waiting on people at Wal-Mart.
696
Exactly. I'm not sure why so many Americans believed Trump was their way out of this mess, since Republicans--the inventors of trickle down economics--and their policies were the ones that created it.
I'm also a little mystified why the economic hardship faced by less educated white men seems to be everyone's greatest concern: ask minorities or women how it felt to earn less than those men for so many years; ask anyone working in the service industry how far their paycheck goes.
Corporate profits and the wages of the .01 percent are what matter to this country, not anything else. Good paying jobs for ordinary people have been declining since the Republican party began its assault on unions (wait and see how long it takes for someone to bring another lawsuit before the newly stacked Supreme Court on the constitutionality of making people pay union dues--not too long, I bet). Listen to the news: a business announces layoffs and its stock soars.
Trump and the Republicans are not the answer. Ohio workers and everyone else who voted for them to run our entire government for at least the next two years will soon find that out.
I'm also a little mystified why the economic hardship faced by less educated white men seems to be everyone's greatest concern: ask minorities or women how it felt to earn less than those men for so many years; ask anyone working in the service industry how far their paycheck goes.
Corporate profits and the wages of the .01 percent are what matter to this country, not anything else. Good paying jobs for ordinary people have been declining since the Republican party began its assault on unions (wait and see how long it takes for someone to bring another lawsuit before the newly stacked Supreme Court on the constitutionality of making people pay union dues--not too long, I bet). Listen to the news: a business announces layoffs and its stock soars.
Trump and the Republicans are not the answer. Ohio workers and everyone else who voted for them to run our entire government for at least the next two years will soon find that out.
3
And no matter how good the work was, Trump was never happy with it. That was just an excuse to avoid paying. His response was "Just sue me." NO one can afford to do that against a "billionaire." Been there, experienced that when I worked for a couple of very deep pockets people. It may be the difference between making a profit or breaking even and it can mean an actual loss.
4
"If President Trump takes the likely path that almost all Washington Republicans hope...Ohio workers will feel betrayed."
That should have been "When..." and when he takes the likely path, Ohio workers shouldn't feel betrayed but proud and vindicated...this is, after all, the government they wanted and the administration they helped elect. Surely it's still a tad early for a sense of "Oops!" to be settling in...
That should have been "When..." and when he takes the likely path, Ohio workers shouldn't feel betrayed but proud and vindicated...this is, after all, the government they wanted and the administration they helped elect. Surely it's still a tad early for a sense of "Oops!" to be settling in...
124
They all could have/should have voted for Bernie Sander, they only candidate for the worker. They didn't and they will get what they deserve.
134
These reapnses are disturbing. Democrats have consistently fought for higher minimum wages. "Bernie or bust" was just a slogan, not a truism.
4
Unfortunately, we will all get "what they deserve".
2
Bernie was a train wreck, but then again so were Hillary and Trump. In that field, maybe Bernie would have won.
2
As the fools who voted for Trump will soon find out, he is interested only in helping Donald Trump. As a Narcissist he knew what he had to say to get what he wanted. And his wants have nothing to do with American's needs.
312
Assuming we want their votes and want Democrats to make gains in the 33 states controlled by Republicans, then we shouldn't be calling them fools. Democrats will have to change if they want to win.
You sound positively hopeful that Trump fails. From my perspective I KNOW what I got with Hillary, more of the same. At least with our new orange haired president, there's a chance that opportunities will start to move farther down the economic ladder.
As the wise saying goes, I've never been offered a job by a poor man.
As the wise saying goes, I've never been offered a job by a poor man.
Just what do Trump supporters realistically think Trump is going to do for them? Erect Trump Towers everywhere and pay them top wages to erect his Towers?
La la land.
La la land.
144
They don't know. They are far more certain what Hillary would have done, which is maintain the status quo. That is what they voted against.
The Republican Party fighting for working class Americans? I'm afraid that will only happen when there are porcine pilots.
265
As any New York City resident knows, since the 1980s, Donald Trump has been staunchly anti-union. Though you, Senator Brown, give him a peace offering, never forget for a moment that he will stab you and American workers in the back the moment you turn around. You must keep vigilant. It's going to be a long 4 years - if he lasts that long.
3
The story of Henry Ford and the $5 daily wage seems appropriate here. The automaker had introduced the assembly line to auto manufacturing, to increase efficiency and thus enhance his profits. The new method, however, sharply raised the stress level for workers, who began to quit in droves. This high turnover offset some of the new method's effect on productivity, so Ford offered higher wages to retain experienced workers. While other industrialists scoffed at his relatively generous wage policy, the innovation in fact ratcheted up Ford's profits.
Ford's labor policy stemmed from a more intelligent form of the same profit motive that drove other entrepreneurs. This strange man hated labor unions and did not hesitate to intrude into the private lives of his workers. But he sensed a direct connection between the interests of his employees and his own concerns that escaped most of his competitors. While they viewed workers merely as a cost of production, to be paid as little as possible, Ford grasped the fact that higher wages could elicit better performance and thus higher profits.
It may be that some modern employers, with their penny-pinching attitude toward their work force, could learn something from Henry Ford.
Ford's labor policy stemmed from a more intelligent form of the same profit motive that drove other entrepreneurs. This strange man hated labor unions and did not hesitate to intrude into the private lives of his workers. But he sensed a direct connection between the interests of his employees and his own concerns that escaped most of his competitors. While they viewed workers merely as a cost of production, to be paid as little as possible, Ford grasped the fact that higher wages could elicit better performance and thus higher profits.
It may be that some modern employers, with their penny-pinching attitude toward their work force, could learn something from Henry Ford.
157
Ford was in a unique situation because his costs were much lower than other car makers'. He was selling Model T's as fast as he could make them and he wanted to maximize production before the others caught up. Competition usually forces employers to try to minimize wages - they will not raise wages voluntarily. Wages have to be raised by collective action in unions or by legislation.
1
The truly significant problem of our age is not mistreatment of workers per se, although that is deplorable, The problem is that the need to have workers at all is on a downward spiral. Paying living wags should be a fact but that does not address the problem of jobs disappearing. Technology will make an ever increasing range of jobs obsolete. How to create new opportunity is what must be addressed. Anything else is just treating symptoms and not the root cause.
1
Henry Ford's operations in Neuss and Reuss, two towns located in Nordrhein-Westfalen, turned out tanks and other munitions to help Hitler's war machine before and during WWII. So far from escaping punishment for aiding and abetting war crimes, Ford's German factories also used slave labor. Henry Ford was an infamous anti-Semite who applauded the Holocaust and actively participated in its genocide, so please permit me to disdain any favorable remarks on his behalf.
3
I hope that you and other Democrats are able to force Trump to make good on his promises for the middle class. Obama's infrastructure bills have been stalled by Republicans, and I hope you can get those kinds of packages through. I hope that you are able to make him renege or fail at attempting to fulfill promises to appoint a radical SCOTUS judge. I hope that Democrats come back from this in two years stronger and more dedicated, with high turnout rates. I hope that taxes on ultra-wealthy Americans are not further eroded, as Trump's own experience shows, and they are allowed to take advantage of our great wealthy country without paying their fair share. I fear none of this will happen. For now, I am in the "wait and see" mode.
57
I hope that Trump and the Republicans don't push through changes in our voting system that make the system TRULY rigged -- one person, one vote, once.
2
Once again, a limousine liberal slights us, blue collar Americans, and in all likelihood, isn't even aware of it. Some of us have actually read Camus, Faulkner, and so on, and yes, do indeed read such elevated news outlets as the NYT''s. We are capeable of abstract thinking, as opposed to linear thought, and are offended when referred to as belonging to a certain social position, especially irritating, it sounds as if we are a social experiment, just a collection of data.
Unless you have been next to me on a new high rise in NYC in the middle of February, or the end of August, please do not assume you have any idea who I am.
The DNC thought the "knew" us, hijacked the primary, and joila, look at the results. I grudgingly voted for Ms. Clinton, simply because I knew what a big blowhard the president-elect really is, from working on one or two of his projects. As I pushed the Clinton Kaine tab last Tuesday, the image of Ms.Clinton, throwing back a "ball and a beer" in her ill fated first primary attempt was etched in my mind. We are not easily fooled, and, we do not forget!
Thomas B. Franzson retired steamfitter LU 638 NYC. Brevard NC
Unless you have been next to me on a new high rise in NYC in the middle of February, or the end of August, please do not assume you have any idea who I am.
The DNC thought the "knew" us, hijacked the primary, and joila, look at the results. I grudgingly voted for Ms. Clinton, simply because I knew what a big blowhard the president-elect really is, from working on one or two of his projects. As I pushed the Clinton Kaine tab last Tuesday, the image of Ms.Clinton, throwing back a "ball and a beer" in her ill fated first primary attempt was etched in my mind. We are not easily fooled, and, we do not forget!
Thomas B. Franzson retired steamfitter LU 638 NYC. Brevard NC
189
"Once again, a limousine liberal slights us, blue collar Americans, and in all likelihood, isn't even aware of it. Some of us have actually read Camus, Faulkner, and so on, and yes, do indeed read such elevated news outlets as the NYT''s."
Are you referring to the Senator or some poster below?
Are you referring to the Senator or some poster below?
3
Tom, And your point is?
2
You working class heroes should get over yourselves.
I was raised in Mr. Brown's Cleveland and, while not blessed with the my-dad's-a-doctor privilege he describes here, my family did well enough.
Even then it was obvious how easily and effectively you-who-are-not-easily fooled-and-who-do-not-forget can be manipulated into acting against your own interests, especially if doing so allows you to demean others who are not as patriotic, as hard-working, as (just say it) White as you.
You have done it since the Civil War. It's a response that buffoons like Trump can rely on, so long as he continues to spew America-Mom-apple pie tripe and the diverse hatreds which won him the election.
Blame Democrats all you like but, to review:
Who do think neutered the Unions?
Who do you think opposes fair wages and humane approaches to health care, education, and workplace fairness? (Yes, and all those other 'Socialist' ideas that gave you the successful life you now enjoy and brag about).
Who stacked the legislative/financial deck against those who labor for their living?
Who gone on one campaign after another to deny the vote, to deny social acceptance, to denigrate the labors of entire groups of people who are not White, working class men?
You know who. Of course you do. But you continue to vote them into power because they talk a lot about being Americans and Christians, and they make it easy to blame everybody but yourselves for the fix you have been in for decades.
I was raised in Mr. Brown's Cleveland and, while not blessed with the my-dad's-a-doctor privilege he describes here, my family did well enough.
Even then it was obvious how easily and effectively you-who-are-not-easily fooled-and-who-do-not-forget can be manipulated into acting against your own interests, especially if doing so allows you to demean others who are not as patriotic, as hard-working, as (just say it) White as you.
You have done it since the Civil War. It's a response that buffoons like Trump can rely on, so long as he continues to spew America-Mom-apple pie tripe and the diverse hatreds which won him the election.
Blame Democrats all you like but, to review:
Who do think neutered the Unions?
Who do you think opposes fair wages and humane approaches to health care, education, and workplace fairness? (Yes, and all those other 'Socialist' ideas that gave you the successful life you now enjoy and brag about).
Who stacked the legislative/financial deck against those who labor for their living?
Who gone on one campaign after another to deny the vote, to deny social acceptance, to denigrate the labors of entire groups of people who are not White, working class men?
You know who. Of course you do. But you continue to vote them into power because they talk a lot about being Americans and Christians, and they make it easy to blame everybody but yourselves for the fix you have been in for decades.
13
A Democratic senator lecturing Democrats. Healing and initial moves to re-boot phoenix-like begin with such honest, self-critical lectures. Even when the lecture masquerades as something else.
Four years ago I regarded the one move of Mitt Romney’s that lost him an election that in any event was going to be too close to call until it was actually called was his “47%” rant. Not the smartest thing a former Mormon bishop and stake president might do, and Mormons usually are pretty smart people. There are those who disagree with me, but I stand by my guns. This time, I have no doubt that the single action taken by Hillary Clinton that lost her the electoral vote and thereby the presidency was her “basket of deplorables” speech.
The unforced error of her embrace of the agendas of Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren didn’t help, but that was a process, not a single event. When Republicans exploited her “deplorables” comment every bit as joyfully as Democrats exploited Romney’s “47%” comment, she set up the conditions that nudged an election that in any event was going to be too close to call until it was actually called to her opponent. There will be those who disagree with me, but I stand by my guns.
Americans who labor, or who try to, at blue-collar jobs, haven’t had an easy time of it. Whether they’re Democrats or Republicans, they deserve far more respect than being regarded as mere bowlers too much in love with their God and their guns.
Four years ago I regarded the one move of Mitt Romney’s that lost him an election that in any event was going to be too close to call until it was actually called was his “47%” rant. Not the smartest thing a former Mormon bishop and stake president might do, and Mormons usually are pretty smart people. There are those who disagree with me, but I stand by my guns. This time, I have no doubt that the single action taken by Hillary Clinton that lost her the electoral vote and thereby the presidency was her “basket of deplorables” speech.
The unforced error of her embrace of the agendas of Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren didn’t help, but that was a process, not a single event. When Republicans exploited her “deplorables” comment every bit as joyfully as Democrats exploited Romney’s “47%” comment, she set up the conditions that nudged an election that in any event was going to be too close to call until it was actually called to her opponent. There will be those who disagree with me, but I stand by my guns.
Americans who labor, or who try to, at blue-collar jobs, haven’t had an easy time of it. Whether they’re Democrats or Republicans, they deserve far more respect than being regarded as mere bowlers too much in love with their God and their guns.
24
I totally agree that Romney lost with that 47% speech. However, he did not say what liberals allege he did, and you don't refer to the actual speech here at all. Romney did NOT call that 47% "moochers" or losers. He said that they would not vote for him, which was factually correct. He said that the "47%" were dependent on some way on a government check (though it was stupid and callous and ultimately fatal to consider a retiree who paid into SS for 45 years to be "on the government dole").
Romney was NOT wrong that a system where roughly half the people work, and the other half are supported by government programs, is a system grinding its way to failure. 7.5% of that 47% were new recipients of food stamps, under Obama -- DOUBLING the number under Bush or ever before -- and even though the economy is supposedly roaring back, that number has not dropped.
What we did not know in 2012 is the degree to which the labor participation rate is dropping like a rock as well.
Romney was also taped secretly, by an unscrupulous waiter -- while HIllary made her comments openly and in public.
In any event, you'd think politicians would know better than to make such easily misinterpreted, callous remarks. Yet they keep doing so.
Romney was NOT wrong that a system where roughly half the people work, and the other half are supported by government programs, is a system grinding its way to failure. 7.5% of that 47% were new recipients of food stamps, under Obama -- DOUBLING the number under Bush or ever before -- and even though the economy is supposedly roaring back, that number has not dropped.
What we did not know in 2012 is the degree to which the labor participation rate is dropping like a rock as well.
Romney was also taped secretly, by an unscrupulous waiter -- while HIllary made her comments openly and in public.
In any event, you'd think politicians would know better than to make such easily misinterpreted, callous remarks. Yet they keep doing so.
15
Undecided voters and those who have minimal party loyalty tend to leap one way or the other in the last few days before the election.
Had Comy remained mum on the email matter and had the "Access Hollywood" tape come out on the Friday before the election, Clinton would be president elect.
Had Comy remained mum on the email matter and had the "Access Hollywood" tape come out on the Friday before the election, Clinton would be president elect.
63
That's odd because a number of exit polls seem to show that the majority of voters had made their minds up by September. Hillary lost the election because of her arrogant and elitist attitude, an attitude mirrored by her advisers who thought there was no point in appealing to many of the voters this opinion piece is about. While her handling of email should have precluded her from running, the last minute letter by Comy made no difference. The desperation of Clinton in the last few days and the unusual hustling by Obama are evidence that Clinton's internal polling showed she had blown it. One has to wonder why she cancelled her firework victory party two or three days prior to the election as well. The takeaway from this is that Trump did not win the election, Hillary lost it.
1
Interesting you should mention Dr Martin Luther King, Jr., as he was in Memphis in support of striking workers. This is something not commonly brought out and many younger Americans are largely unaware. The City of Memphis refused to even recognize the Labor Union for the strikers.
http://www.afscme.org/union/history/mlk/1968-afscme-memphis-sanitation-w...
http://www.afscme.org/union/history/mlk/1968-afscme-memphis-sanitation-w...
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Well, maybe, just finally, people will wake up to the reality that the U.S. extremist capitalist system creates more poverty than it creates wealth. Wealth is created out of nothing by a few and for the few:
If you are not a good businessman by instinct, do not have inherited wealth and do not possess a superior (also inherited) brain, you are doomed to spend your life serving the wealthy as waiters/waitresses, golf green-keepers, cleaners and other service industry professions, to be hired when needed and laid off whenever businesses need to improve their bottom lines.
Relentlessly repeated mantras such as the "Land of unlimited opportunity for all" are simply myths rotated ad aeternam to brainwash people into believing that they, and not the system, are to blame for their inability to find dignified jobs and gain some measure of security for themselves and for their families.
The "Greatest Nation on Earth" without universal healthcare, without free education for all, with crumbling infrastructure .....? And all of these things achieved with a $ 20 trillion National Debt (It's actually 10 times that amount) and an $ 8 trillion net foreign debt?
Where did the money go? To the already rich, to make them richer and enable them to thumb their noses at the less fortunate: The 'lazy incompetents' and and the 'deplorables'.
If you are not a good businessman by instinct, do not have inherited wealth and do not possess a superior (also inherited) brain, you are doomed to spend your life serving the wealthy as waiters/waitresses, golf green-keepers, cleaners and other service industry professions, to be hired when needed and laid off whenever businesses need to improve their bottom lines.
Relentlessly repeated mantras such as the "Land of unlimited opportunity for all" are simply myths rotated ad aeternam to brainwash people into believing that they, and not the system, are to blame for their inability to find dignified jobs and gain some measure of security for themselves and for their families.
The "Greatest Nation on Earth" without universal healthcare, without free education for all, with crumbling infrastructure .....? And all of these things achieved with a $ 20 trillion National Debt (It's actually 10 times that amount) and an $ 8 trillion net foreign debt?
Where did the money go? To the already rich, to make them richer and enable them to thumb their noses at the less fortunate: The 'lazy incompetents' and and the 'deplorables'.
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@Hamid Varzi
More poverty than wealth?
Excuse me?
More poverty than wealth?
Excuse me?
1
Hamid- "If you are not a good businessman by instinct, do not have inherited wealth and do not possess a superior (also inherited) brain, you are doomed to spend your life serving the wealthy as waiters/waitresses, golf green-keepers, cleaners and other service industry professions, to be hired when needed and laid off whenever businesses need to improve their bottom lines".
I find your analysis quite insulting. Did you even READ the article
"As the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. taught us, all work has dignity and importance, whether done by a street sweeper, Michelangelo or Beethoven...in making their contribution to society with a job well done."
People should be valued for performing a needed job or service not sneered at because they chose to be a plumber, a landscaper, a care-giver for the elderly, a truck driver or a shelf-stocker at the local supermarket. These workers perform necessary, if thankless, jobs. They need to be fairly compensated. Without the service workers our country would grind to a halt. Who would plow the snow, fix your machinery, your car, your heating system when it fails in the middle of a freezing night, wire your buildings, service your computers? Process your food from slaughterhouse to table or field to table? The list is endless. Your obtuseness is astounding as is your arrogance. All labor should be valued, different types of ability, be it mechanical aptitude or academic. All perform a needed service and deserve a living wage.
I find your analysis quite insulting. Did you even READ the article
"As the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. taught us, all work has dignity and importance, whether done by a street sweeper, Michelangelo or Beethoven...in making their contribution to society with a job well done."
People should be valued for performing a needed job or service not sneered at because they chose to be a plumber, a landscaper, a care-giver for the elderly, a truck driver or a shelf-stocker at the local supermarket. These workers perform necessary, if thankless, jobs. They need to be fairly compensated. Without the service workers our country would grind to a halt. Who would plow the snow, fix your machinery, your car, your heating system when it fails in the middle of a freezing night, wire your buildings, service your computers? Process your food from slaughterhouse to table or field to table? The list is endless. Your obtuseness is astounding as is your arrogance. All labor should be valued, different types of ability, be it mechanical aptitude or academic. All perform a needed service and deserve a living wage.
6
If they "realized" that, they would be wrong.
You should compare median incomes in the US to that of Europe as a whole. The US worker does far better. And that is before you even compare the lower cost of living in the US relative to Europe.
However based upon the recommendations, your post does prove that there are many uninformed NY Times readers.
You should compare median incomes in the US to that of Europe as a whole. The US worker does far better. And that is before you even compare the lower cost of living in the US relative to Europe.
However based upon the recommendations, your post does prove that there are many uninformed NY Times readers.
Don't forget banking deregulation. Trump is keen to reduce control on the banks which will hurt the middle class. It will be interesting to see if Trump betrays his class and genuinely supports the people who put him in office.
71
Decreasing senseless regulations on the financial industry is not going to hurt the middle class. In fact, overreaching regulation is what is hurting banking and the middle class.
Ask yourself this Sherrod. Did the 2.7 million Ohioans who voted republican consider your last paragraph when they voted?
37
Don't know. Don't care.
I voted for Trump for two reasons:
1. to see the heads of lefty liberals explode (mission accomplished!)
2. to deport all illegal aliens and their illegal families
If Trump fails or backs down on the second item....he's toast.
I voted for Trump for two reasons:
1. to see the heads of lefty liberals explode (mission accomplished!)
2. to deport all illegal aliens and their illegal families
If Trump fails or backs down on the second item....he's toast.
9
Oh boy! I knew I liked you. I've said the same, in these very comment sections myself-- the exploding heads are extremely satisfying. And I believe Trump was elected expressly to expel the invaders. Those two things times a million. He better come through!
1
Ah, proof of what they say about Trump voters is true, right there in living color.
The people who voted for Trump are the ones who will suffer the most under Trump.
Yesterday Trump walked into a fancy restaurant full of rich people and announced that he was going to cut all their taxes.
You will be paying more to cover what the rich won't be paying. You won't be able to pay for even that modest house when the rich decide that they don't really need to pay any worker more than $7 an hour.
There will be a glut of workers so desperate for a job that they will take anything and the ones who can't feed their families will turn to crime, just like Mexico where one family owns almost all the wealth in the whole country.
What are you going to do then?
The people who voted for Trump are the ones who will suffer the most under Trump.
Yesterday Trump walked into a fancy restaurant full of rich people and announced that he was going to cut all their taxes.
You will be paying more to cover what the rich won't be paying. You won't be able to pay for even that modest house when the rich decide that they don't really need to pay any worker more than $7 an hour.
There will be a glut of workers so desperate for a job that they will take anything and the ones who can't feed their families will turn to crime, just like Mexico where one family owns almost all the wealth in the whole country.
What are you going to do then?
13
"When you call us the Rust Belt, you demean our work and diminish who we are".
The phrase Rust Belt has been used since the 1980s (!!), reflecting industrial decline that began decades ago. Previous terms were the Manufacturing, Factory or Steel Belt.
Nobody is demeaning or diminishing who anybody is. However, to deal with problems and solve them it is necessary to face up to reality, and this applies even to Democratic Senators from Ohio.
Students want "safe places". The Senator apparently wants only "safe terms".
The phrase Rust Belt has been used since the 1980s (!!), reflecting industrial decline that began decades ago. Previous terms were the Manufacturing, Factory or Steel Belt.
Nobody is demeaning or diminishing who anybody is. However, to deal with problems and solve them it is necessary to face up to reality, and this applies even to Democratic Senators from Ohio.
Students want "safe places". The Senator apparently wants only "safe terms".
17
Joshua, yeah, that's the real issue, what term we use. Glad we solved that problem. I'm sure everyone feels better now.
5
I am a huge fan Senator Brown - but your economic analysis leaves out the ugly underbelly of the racist component to your fellow Ohioans vote. Workers have never united exclusively by class in this country due to institutional racism. Republicans have played on this racism for decades - using it to trick the working class to vote against their own interest - getting rid of unions and social safety nets. Now they have put their trust in the compulsively lying billionaire who has a 70 year record of doing nothing for anyone except himself. the ugly truth is that Trump brought out to the mainstream all the racist and sexist ideas that many of these people agreed with yet kept in the privacy of their own homes. That ugly blame of minorities and women for their loss of economic security and decent jobs. You can be a loving father, go to church on Sundays and still have an ugly hate in your heart. Trump sent the message loud and clear - that hate was valid and aimed at the right place. Sadly, by February these same people will lose obamas overtime mandate. And that's just the beginning. Then who will they blame?
396
You missed the lesson from the latest election. Jobs and the economy stupid. Race is important. Lumping all the Trump voters into the racist motive misses the most important portion of the folks that voted for Trump - Folks who just want to be able to work and afford a decent living. You get off on vilifying that most despicable part of the Trump group (dog whistle racists), while missing the only part of that group that really matters - Folks who put jobs and the economy over improving race relations.
When the democrats figure this out, then they have a chance to influence the nation in a productive way. The old liberal guard is dead, or should be. I read the Germany's government figured out a way to protect it's workers from globalization. Interesting. I wonder if there is a lesson here for us. The authoritarian Trump politicians aren't interested in anything that might not beat the old liberal guard, and dog whistle combined with lies about how to create jobs works. Dumb Democrats. Not bad Democrats. Well meaning, dumb Democrats.
"It's the economy stupid," is the old liberal trope that plays right into the fascist, authoritarian Republican trap. "It's jobs, try not to be stupid" - works today.
Give 'em jobs and race relations can be improved.
When the democrats figure this out, then they have a chance to influence the nation in a productive way. The old liberal guard is dead, or should be. I read the Germany's government figured out a way to protect it's workers from globalization. Interesting. I wonder if there is a lesson here for us. The authoritarian Trump politicians aren't interested in anything that might not beat the old liberal guard, and dog whistle combined with lies about how to create jobs works. Dumb Democrats. Not bad Democrats. Well meaning, dumb Democrats.
"It's the economy stupid," is the old liberal trope that plays right into the fascist, authoritarian Republican trap. "It's jobs, try not to be stupid" - works today.
Give 'em jobs and race relations can be improved.
6
Obviously, you are out of touch yourself. American workers have indeed lost jobs to immigrants, legal with work visas and illegal. Why do you think it is possible that there are so many illegal immigrants here in the US? Because the corporations want them to supply cheap labor and increase profits. The technology field and universities also hire them with work visas while American citizens are only hired part-time and many are underemployed. The truth is this country has become a source for jobs for the whole world, not its citizens. It's called globalization. At our expense.
4
Dana, outside the Deep South, Amercans voted substantially on the basis of class from 1932- 1964. The Democratic Party was the party of working Americans. The Republican Party was the party of business. These identities were well-establhed.
5
Washington opted to build programs of government sponsored codependency rather than focus on policies of economic growth and wealth generation. As a result we are a debtor nation that does not generate true wealth. Not to dissimilar from government policies in the U.K.
As the recent Presidential election and the U.K. Vote exit the EU prove out, most people, outside major urban areas, are disinterested in being supported by their government. They want true opportunities for the self respect of supporting themselves and their families.
As the recent Presidential election and the U.K. Vote exit the EU prove out, most people, outside major urban areas, are disinterested in being supported by their government. They want true opportunities for the self respect of supporting themselves and their families.
14
1. ALL countries have debt.
2. A government JOB does not promote dependency any more than a private sector job. Researchers at NIH, road builders, air traffic controllers, etc, all produce real wealth. And their dollars go to generate real wealth for others.
3. Most people voted for Hillary Clinton.
2. A government JOB does not promote dependency any more than a private sector job. Researchers at NIH, road builders, air traffic controllers, etc, all produce real wealth. And their dollars go to generate real wealth for others.
3. Most people voted for Hillary Clinton.
22
In the next four years, we are going to see if those policies beloved by Republicans do promote economic growth and wealth generation. It will be hard to separate out how much of any increased growth comes from government stimulus in military spending and those infrastructure projects.
Most people live in major urban areas. Undemocratic policies, like the Electoral College, obscure the fact that the people you claim to speak for are a minority of American citizens.
As a resident of a small town in upstate NY, I think you are wrong that people who live in places like this are "disinterested in being supported by their government." Most of us are senior citizens who depend on our Social Security and Medicare. Young people have moved to urban areas where the jobs are.
Most people live in major urban areas. Undemocratic policies, like the Electoral College, obscure the fact that the people you claim to speak for are a minority of American citizens.
As a resident of a small town in upstate NY, I think you are wrong that people who live in places like this are "disinterested in being supported by their government." Most of us are senior citizens who depend on our Social Security and Medicare. Young people have moved to urban areas where the jobs are.
4
William, that is adorably quaint and naive. On a recent newscast, I heard a farmer from a red state, who is already receiving federal grants, say, in almost the same breath, that the govenment needs "to do more to help" and that all he realy wants is for the government to "get out of their lives." That's your rural mindset. Red states recieve far more in federal aid than they contribute, and, despite having state GOP leadership for almost 20 years, they have done nothing to change that.
11
And enter Donald Trump's ideas.
We need to look out for the USA for awhile, a generation or so, get it back on its feet.
Trade pacts need to be modified or tossed, tariffs need to be put in place to bring jobs back.
Taxes on airlines, trains and the auto industry need to be implemented to fix our infrastructure. After all, they get rich because of the infrastructure.
So many things to do, that should have been done over the last 8 years or so.
Welcome to the USA's new turning point. Support it or get out of the way.
We need to look out for the USA for awhile, a generation or so, get it back on its feet.
Trade pacts need to be modified or tossed, tariffs need to be put in place to bring jobs back.
Taxes on airlines, trains and the auto industry need to be implemented to fix our infrastructure. After all, they get rich because of the infrastructure.
So many things to do, that should have been done over the last 8 years or so.
Welcome to the USA's new turning point. Support it or get out of the way.
14
Randy
And when the infrastructure is fixed? Then what?
And when the infrastructure is fixed? Then what?
7
Building energy efficiency retrofits and the installation of renewables, such as rooftop solar, could be the source of substantial employment. Think of energy retrofit as the new manufacturing.
And over $3 trillion in expenditure is needed to return America's infrastructure to good (not excellent) condition. This represents years worth of jobs.
And over $3 trillion in expenditure is needed to return America's infrastructure to good (not excellent) condition. This represents years worth of jobs.
10
Historical evidence shows that high tariffs REDUCE the number of jobs, Look up the Smoot–Hawley Tariffs of 1930. Do you want to go back to 1930 when people were living in tents on the Mall?
101
We wouldn't be having this conversation if you and E. Warren had endorsed the most honest and well liked politician and friend of the working class Bernie Sanders.
Instead you went with the oligarchs choice, a soul less loser with no connection to the working class but a great relationship with Wall Street, America's criminal class.
It's going to take a lot more than one op-ed to sell your party to America's forgotten many.
Instead you went with the oligarchs choice, a soul less loser with no connection to the working class but a great relationship with Wall Street, America's criminal class.
It's going to take a lot more than one op-ed to sell your party to America's forgotten many.
203
Way to call him on this, sir. Well done.
Where was the backbone of E. Warren and this author, who both failed to endorse Bernie, the one candidate who GOT this? Good question, indeed.
Where was the backbone of E. Warren and this author, who both failed to endorse Bernie, the one candidate who GOT this? Good question, indeed.
7
Thank you Tim for saying what so many of us want to say.
We all expected Clinton and the other untrustworthy, corporate democrats to betray us but it really hurt that the progressives decided to leave us hanging too.
We all expected Clinton and the other untrustworthy, corporate democrats to betray us but it really hurt that the progressives decided to leave us hanging too.
1
Mr Brown, some workers will. Trump supporters will not. They never believed him in the first place. The only promise he made that they believed was that he would raise the relative status vis-a-vis women and minorities. That is the one promise he will keep and has already.
19
Not at all. More than half of Trump voters ARE women. We are not prejudiced against OURSELVES.
Trump is not anti-minority. He is anti-illegal alien.
We elected him to deport all illegal aliens...enforce E-verify as the law of the land...and begin building a SYMBOLIC wall on our southern border.
He'd better do this, and ASAP, or he will lose our support.
Trump is not anti-minority. He is anti-illegal alien.
We elected him to deport all illegal aliens...enforce E-verify as the law of the land...and begin building a SYMBOLIC wall on our southern border.
He'd better do this, and ASAP, or he will lose our support.
17
But women can hold sexist beliefs about themselves. We can internalize sexist ideas about how women should speak, should look, should act, etc. It's not like all women were suffragists in the early 1900s, or all women agreed with the Feminine Mystique or that all US women today believe that sexism still exists. To you second point, I would like to know why the presence of undocumented immigrants is such a priority for you. Do you believe that they pose a more significant threat than climate change, or healthcare costs increases (as an example)? I genuinely want to know.
7
he never said SYMBOLIC, he said a big, beautiful wall and he would expel ALL illegal aliens. Well he's not even president yet and he's backed off on both of those promises. Of those are the only reasons you voted for this racist, mysoginist, anti-semite, you must be disappointed.
9
Many suspect that the folks you reference Sherrod, voted for Trump because he spoke the language of protest, intoning some of the same major emotional themes that you express and that have resonated with so many Americans about our congress and our president in a constant state of war... an internal battle for individual and collective partisan votes that have managed to paint our brilliant and compassionate president into a corner where he and his party have become the scapegoats for a system that is not patriotic, public service centered, and in the least of ways earning its keep by doing constructive work. When Trump gets cooperation from the Republicans and the Democrats to spend big $$$ on infrastructure, he'll score big with your constituency, and the Democrats won't be insisting on symbolic "repeal" votes as the Rep. did with the ACA.
22
If we cannot get money out of the political system, then the people who put the money in are going to dominate. The Republicans are great at mobilizing fear and prejudice against any candidate that threatens their income stream. The name of the game is to extract as much money from the donor class as possible and transferred it to the politicians. One cannot do that by helping poor people who don’t have a lot of money. If you can mobilize the poor People’s prejudice against even poorer people so that they were willing to accept less because at least there someone beneath them, I don’t see any way out of this trap.
Perhaps there will be a populist hero who wants to help the population and not aggrandize himself. I’m sure it could happen but it certainly doesn’t happen very often. Absent that, we will go from one demagogue to another and the racist ignorant people will follow. It’s not too they are economic interests. But it does make them feel better. At least there is somebody worse off then.