In comments that ought to be regarded as another one of his notorious “gaffes,” Vice President Joe Biden is selling unionization as a way to grow the middle class.
Among his pearls of wisdom are the phrases “level the playing field,” “roadblocks on the way to organize,” and lots of bland references to the eroding “middle class.”
Of course, Biden’s illogical and stale remarks won’t be considered gaffes at all.
Instead, he’ll likely be hailed as a visionary – a common man who understands common men, extraordinarily ordinary.
Never mind that he’s preaching to the choir … he was, after all, speaking Tuesday to a conference of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees – a gigantic labor union.
And never mind that unions are, in reality, aristocratic – a tool to stratify.
Now, this doesn’t mean that the aristocracy – “the man,” in union parlance – actually benefits from unionization. But neither do working people benefit from unions, despite the “us versus them” branding.
Seriously, did no one pay attention to Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ On A Prayer?”
I was barely alive when that song was released, and still I got the message: Labor unions hurt labor workers.
Biden, in his support of the Employee Free Choice Act, sells the dream of a stratified America – in which people have their place, and in which people know their place.
The dream is presented through the sepia prism of days-gone-by, but the truth is that those particular yesteryears never existed.
Unions, even in their heyday, were a friend to no one. Don’t believe it? You will …
By louis May 13, 2009 at 10:56 am
GM (now run by Obama and paid for on the backs of our kids) has announced plans to construct plants in CHINA to produce cars to be sold in AMERICA.
So who’s selling out our manufacturing base now? eh?
By Pat Hendrix May 13, 2009 at 12:33 pm
Sepia prism? A cuttlefish prism?
Too bad those unionized states didn’t follow the example of SC and stay union free. If they did they could have enjoyed the same level of prosperity that Sandlappers have come to expect. Afterall, though we rank at the bottom of the nation in a variety of statistical categories, including education, infant mortality and standard of living, we can always be thankful we didn’t end up like Maryland, New Hampshire or California – you know, states with a medium income almost 30k a year higher than ours. What a nightmare.
By louis May 13, 2009 at 3:38 pm
Hmmm…So Obama’s exporting of manufacturing JOBS (from Detriot) to CHINA is a good thing for our economy, Pat?
By confused May 13, 2009 at 4:49 pm
what’s a medium income? like a clairvoyant’s income? i had no idea they made even $30K per, much less $30K MORE than anything.