GRATIOT COUNTY DEMOCRATIC PARTY
  • Home
    • About
    • Membership
    • Join Us
  • Positions & Values
  • Contact
  • Our Blog & Resources

Insight & Resource Blog

The Devil is in the Details

10/20/2020

0 Comments

 
​The Devil is in the Details!
Here are some basics that may help you understand some important issues in 2020:
1.  Worker protections:  The protection of workers’ health and safety and the right to have some say in working conditions has been opposed by Republicans since at least Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal. The U.S. Department of Labor is the basic government agency originally set up to help workers.  Two parts of the Labor Department have been used by Trump to undermine worker protections:  
  • The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has been packed by Trump with anti-worker leaders, imposing rules that undermine rights to free speech on the job and the freedom of unions to run organizing campaigns. When Trump was elected, the Chamber of Commerce issued a wish list of ten “fixes” to the NLRB that would weaken workers’ rights and increase the power of those in executive suites. In just three years, Trump’s appointed NLRB has delivered on all ten. 
  • The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) under Trump has weakened both workplace standards and enforcement of the protections that remain in place. Under Trump, OSHA has the lowest level of inspections in its fifty-year history. As with so much of Trump’s record, he talks big but the devil is in the details. Democrats support critical safety protections and will substantially expand OSHA’s enforcement efforts.
2.  Trade deals: In 2016, Trump loved to attack the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) signed in 1994.  NAFTA , created by George H.W. Bush, was vigorously opposed in the election of 1992. You might recall Ross Perot criticizing the “giant sucking sound” of U.S. jobs going to Mexico if NAFTA, as negotiated by Bush, went into effect. The Clinton Administration renegotiated NAFTA and added “labor side agreements” to put some labor protections into NAFTA. Trump promised to end NAFTA.  So, what did he do?  He made a big show of the U.S., Mexico, Canada Agreement (USMCA) taking the place of NAFTA.  However, a new report by the Trade Justice Education Fund analyzing US Labor Department data reveals that from 2017 to 2019 Michigan experienced the second highest trade-related job loss in the country.  Again, the devil is in the details, but basically USMCA is NAFTA rewarmed, mostly using the same language with some weak –maybe unenforceable--labor protections.  We also know that in his businesses Trump sold and used imports.  Dems Are for Fair Trade not Free Trade.  Joe Biden has pledged to pursue a pro-American worker tax and trade strategy.
3.  Payroll tax holiday: Trump and the Republicans have used the pandemic as the newest excuse to attack Social Security, which gets its funds through the payroll tax that on average is about 7 percent.  The current payroll tax holiday idea is simply a delayed collection of the tax that all regular workers would be required to pay back in 2021.  But the big threat of the tax holiday is to start undermining the funding for Social Security and Medicare-- the devil is in the details.  Democrats focus on protecting Social Security, not stealing from it! Take a close look at Joe Biden’s Social Security proposals here.
4.  Health care: Trump and the Republicans have waged a relentless war against Democratic efforts to control the cost of health care, expand health coverage, and protect health care workers. They have also dramatically diminished the leadership of U.S. medical science in the world. Through lawsuits they are trying to end protections for young adults who can currently stay on their parents’ health insurance coverage until age 26, and they are threatening to end access to health insurance by those with pre-existing conditions.  Trump and Republicans use words like choice and freedom to gloss over changes that will undermine protections of access for working families to affordable, state of the art care – the devil is in the details.  Dems want health care access protected and support science-based health policy -- especially related to COVID. See a detailed comparison of where the Democratic and Republican presidential candidates stand on health care here.
5.  Essential workers: Trump and the Republicans repeatedly have shown disregard for the safety and family needs of workers in health care, public safety, commerce and education.  They failed to give priority to procuring or producing the massive amounts of personal protective equipment that were needed to protect frontline workers. They have not supported wage enhancements to guarantee essential workers have help for child care when schools have closed, nor have they provided support for teachers – especially for teachers who happen to be parents of school-aged children to meet the burdens from remote teaching and schooling.  Once again, they talk big about our “heroes” but the devil is in the details, and Trump and Republicans have proven they do not support these workers.    Democrats, in contrast, are prepared with a four-point plan to protect and support esse
thedevilinthedetails_w_edits_accepted.docx
File Size: 18 kb
File Type: docx
Download File

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

MONTHLY MEETINGS

Every Third Monday of the Month.
Online Using Zoom.us
Visit Our Facebook Page for Instructions On
How to Join Us Each Month

Picture
© COPYRIGHT 2017. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  • Home
    • About
    • Membership
    • Join Us
  • Positions & Values
  • Contact
  • Our Blog & Resources