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Yeah, so, remember how the train workers wanted to strike because they knew the way things were going, there would be more train derailments and accidents, and Biden quashed it? About that.
This is always the argument that people bring up around this, and its woefully misrepresented. Biden signed a bill that 75% of the railroad unions agreed on. The bill was designed to be the bare minimum needed by the unions to continue their work. He stated after signing the bill that work still needed to be done, and that the fight for the unions for better wages and safety was not over, but he was signing this bill to prevent a total shut down of the economy that relies heavily on railroad infrastructure. Biden never said that the unions couldn’t continue to address the shortcomings of the system. He didn’t take away their rights to strike, or force them into compliance. He merely signed a bill (again, approved by the majority of the unions) to make sure that the railways stay open. If there is a continued failure of the railways, it’s not on him, it is because nothing has changed since then. There is still work to be done, it was only ever meant to be a stopgap to avoid a much larger crisis. If you think the writer’s strike and SAG-AFTRA was a big deal because movies couldn’t be made, imagine what would happen to the US if food supply lines were completely severed. Do you think the produce you get in the grocery store was all farmed within walking distance?
Hey maybe if it’s such a point of national security, and halting the trains would have such catastrophic consequences, maybe it’s time we nationalized the rail systems? Maybe having these rails in the hands of greedy profiteers who have demonstrated that they are willing to shirk on safety regulations is a terrible idea?
“The government is corrupt, and they can’t be trusted to run things. Our infrastructure should be in the hands of the people.”
“The people are corrupt, and they can’t be trusted to run things. Our infrastructure should be regulated by the government.”
Pick a side, but in either case, the only way that we overcome these obstacles is with oversight. It doesn’t matter who controls anything, all that matters is how much we hold them accountable for the greater good. You want to really solve the problem, figure out how to get everyone to agree on what’s best. Until then, we’ll have milquetoast regulations, oligarchs too preoccupied with someone’s sexual orientation to actually do anything, and allegiances that change depending on the signature line on the checks.
I’ve never heard someone say the government is corrupt and infrastructure should be in the hands of the people. The government is the people. Most people say it should be taken out of the hands of private companies and put into the hands of the people, managed by the government. Workers controlling the means of production and all that.
Apparently you have not met many people from eastern Europe.
Why did such legislation come at the expense of the workers?
It was the company that built every one of these problems. It was the company that was responsible. It’s the company that has the resources and power to make changes.
But when Biden stepped in to keep the economy open, he punished the workers instead.
He didn’t “punish” anyone. He made a decision with two bad options, of which he had to pick one. That’s what being President is.
He also worked after this bill was passed and got them what they wanted anyway.
https://www.ibew.org/media-center/Articles/22Daily/2208/220917_thanks
So there’s an option to support the working class and option to support the rich, and he chose to support the rich, and only came back for workers later.
Why can’t we just expect him to do better for the workers in the first place?
The people who would have been negatively impacted by the strike would be working class people. If trains shut down, people die.
Every city is less than 48 hours from a starvation crisis, all the time.
It’s that bad, and he didn’t just give the workers what they wanted immediately? If they’re that important, why is it even a debate? If the country depends on them, give them what they want.
It’s that bad, and he didn’t just give the workers what they wanted immediately?
A) it’s not “bad” it’s just the way cities work. Always has been, and will be the case until we truly master vertical farming.
B) Presidents aren’t kings. There is a sizable portion of Congress that is extremely anti-Union.
Edit: lmao it should read “union” with lower-case but fuck it because those people tend to be anti-Union too
Biden signed a bill that 75% of the railroad unions agreed on.
You keep saying this like a majority of people agreeing to something somehow prevents them from being fleeced.
Thank you capitalist scum and their precision scheduled railroading bullshit. Profits over people till the end of goddamn time.
As an aside, why do I always see you crying about Biden? There is far more to it yet you seem to love reducing it all down to Biden
Who is crying about Biden? It’s not clear who you’re replying to.
Imagine a railroad company evacuating your town but promising to provide you with Thanksgiving dinner… What hell
And most Kentuckians will continue to vote for Republicans who don’t want to improve their infrastructure (or “Democrats” who don’t aim to transition them into jobs which will be applicable in the future and to help them feed their families during this transition but say the words progressives want to hear).
Propaganda is a hell of a drug. It works especially well when you undereducate your populace. Oh wait, I wonder which states are doing that.
So after the last derailment I was watching some YT channel and they said that the railway company brought 3rd party lab to test the water and my immediate thought was “why would you trust a company paid by the culprit to asses the damage?” I mean it’s USA, of course it’s corrupt. Week later they were talking about this big company that bought all the labs and is now making tons of money by always getting results favourable to the corporations ordering tests.
The most amazing part of all this is that the American channel didn’t pick up on this at first and all the people drinking contaminated water trusted the results. The entire country was taken over long time ago and they still didn’t realize it. Insane.
Almost like you get what you vote for.
I know the history. Both parties are pro business though so I’m struggling, in this case, to see how any Republican would have handled it differently.
I don’t see where my choice comes into it in this case.
Trump removed all sorts of regulations for railroads.
And Biden fixed all that?
My point is neither have the incentive to do so because both are pro business.
Great deflection. Whataboutisms are so lazy. I hope you get better.
You might be focusing on the reaction rather than precautions.
We don’t know what caused this derailment, but I’d wager it’s some corner being cut so business owners can make just a little bit 🤏 more profit.
You know, based on history.
Oh that’s interesting. I didn’t know that either Republicans or Democrats improved regulation in such a way that might prevent this kind of accident. Not sarcastic
Born and raised in Kentucky, as were my parents and their parents – fuck the government in that shit ass state. The governor is pretty decent but every other level of government is ass clowns all the way down. Glad I moved to a rational state when I did.
And what are the twats in power going to do about the hundreds of “minor derailments” every day.
Nothing. They got elected to do nothing.
The real question is, what is their constituency going to do next election cycle?
Alright, McConnell, ball’s in your court, fuckface!
Speaking of balls, doesn’t his neck look like a scrotum?
If it’s mummified, sure
