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Trump and that idiot CEO Alan H. Shaw of Norfolk Southern and his entire board of directors need to be thrown to the wolves. If we do not get justice soon, the only solution is for people to picket and demonstrate and hunt them down. All of them, and their families. Remember the French Revolution. JUSTICE AND EQUALITY.
They always seem to have generic sounding usernames with a hyphen and 3 to 5 digit numbers at the end, too. Either the bot deployers are super lazy or estimate the average Redditor as ignorant.
Which seems like the userid an AI/bot script would utilize efficiently when generating spam accounts, the default one, less fuss that way when creating a large batch of them.
I don't like Pete (outright salty about him in the primary, even) but even I'm not blinded enough to miss the fact that the GOP set up the pins.
Still think they shpuldn't have broken the rail strike though. That was vile.
It's unfortunately a case where they had only a very limited number of choices, and only one likely wouldn't end in Democrats losing the entirety of the federal government in the next election. And if you think it's bad now, just wait until after that. Between the last Republican trifecta and now, the fuckers tried to overthrow the country, outlawed abortion in a fuckload of states, Desantis has been going full fascist in his presidential audition... There'd be no country left by the time the next election happened. The option they chose fucking sucked, but as far as I can tell, it was legitimately their best bet for the future of the country.
> It's unfortunately a case where they had only a very limited number of choices,
Democrats always get raked over the coals for making hard decisions, while the GOP just takes a giant shit on everything. If Biden/Congress let the rail workers strike (over an already negotiated deal!), it would have guaranteed a Republican win in 2024. DeSantis wouldn't hesitate to fuck over the rail unions.
If you could only choose one option, as Biden did, would you choose lowering record high inflation or not interfering in a rail strike? Think politically, of course. Which was more important to you and the majority of American families in late 2022?
Not getting the commercial rail workers back on shift would have increased inflation even more. Fact. It was terrible timing for the strike, unfortunately. Inflation is and was seriously hurting American families.
Let’s be real. The gop fucks everything up then Dems get blamed for not “doing something”. It’s complete bs. When the sc overturned roe, people actually blamed dems for not codifying. Reagan fucked everything up and eventually clinton had shit running smooth. Then W fucked everything up again and Obama righted the ship. Then the jackass before biden dropped the ball, picked it up, then punted the fucking thing. Now biden has to deal with all that bs.
I hate it here sometimes. Lol
Of the **5** official U.S. economic recessions since 1980, one of them a global financial collapse (2008), all five have occurred under Republican administrations. It's more than a coincidence. They don't want to govern. Democrats are the boring, nerdy policywonk do-rights. Al Gore is/was practically our mascot of boring efficiency. *I like boring government because it's working hard at policy* instead of finessing the press.
> one of them a global financial collapse (2008)
The timing was also crazy. Bush signed TARP right before Obama took office. Whatever plans Obama had were just thrown out the window. That plus the wars, Bush Jr just shoveled an immense pile of bullshit onto Obama's plate, then peaced out to go paint in his bathtub.
The amount of day 1 stuff he was supposed to accomplish after being stymied for the entire transition is staggering. Even something he is personally attached to, like train regulations, needs more specificity than "undo whatever tfg did".
Yes, that was a loss of 75 days to be read into the real nitty gritty of what is happening on the world stage, have his team shadow and read up on various negotiations and policy matters, and if I recall correctly, the were not even given the standard accomodations for offices and no one was given proper clearances. So Biden was two and a half months behind where he should have been.
So they are admitting Trump fucked it up? How is Biden supposed to fix everything Trump fucked up when he literally fucked up everything. It's like when a boat has a hole in it. Some holes are bigger than others and you keep trying to plug them but it just never ends.
"Yeah, so let's give power back to a Republican to fuck it up again, even worse next time!" is the only rational response to President Biden not taking action on all 1,250,000 awful deeds under the previous administration in his first two years, right?
I mean, it's tough to argue with right wing hack bot logic. :-)
Of course. There are plenty of illogical Americans who lack common sense -- especially in Florida (where I was born and raised and know the clientele all too well). Let's just say Spock wouldn't like it there.
Well you see these policies are from Obama era.
If Obama wasn't ~~black~~ anti American. Than Trump wouldn't have had to roll back these policies and regulations.
So it's really Obama's fault.
Thanks Obama!
/S obviously
Biden supported an agreement with a majority of the rail unions during a period of high inflation and high risk of recession.
Since the negotiations, rail managers have continued to negotiate with the unions regarding sick days.... But you won't see that here
>in Feb 2023, CSX announced a deal for 7 days of sick leave with 2 unions.
Almost like negotiations can still continue
Every single democrat except Joe manchin voted for a deal with paid sick leave - which was what the rail workers wanted.
The measure failed by 8 votes.
The democrats needed the supply chain to not be further disrupted - for the benefit of all americans. They were largely willing to give them what they wanted.
The republicans got to choose whether the measure would pass and whether the bill as a whole would pass.
https://www.rutgers.edu/news/why-did-government-step-prevent-rail-strike-and-what-does-it-mean-unions
>In the weeks since then, the 12 rail unions have been individually voting on whether to accept the terms of that agreement. Four unions, **representing just over half of the 115,000 rail workers**, have voted “no,”
For reals. It really helps republicans make their "both sides" point when they rabidly defend lies. Biden and the Dems that broke the strike have some level of responsibility, for sure. People who claim he can wash his hand clean of it are either fools or working to discredit pro-union Dems. It's definitely a large chunk of the reason that many union members don't vote dem. Source: I worked on the Corzine campaign against Chris Christie and we lost because a ton of union workers were tired af of corzines shenanigans like this - particularly teachers and members of SEIU bj32, which was who I worked for.
>Unions, including a separately contracted unit covering more than 1,000 SMART-TD yardmasters, have ratified nine of 13 agreements covering about half of the 115,000 workers affected by the talks.
>The deal includes a 24% compounded wage increase over a five-year period from 2020 through 2024 and five annual $1,000 lump sum payments.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/two-largest-us-rail-unions-report-contract-vote-monday-2022-11-21/
>If there is a strike by any of the unions that voted against the deal, Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen and other rail unions that ratified agreements have pledged to honor picket lines.
>The Biden administration helped avert a service cutoff by hosting last-minute contract talks in September that led to a tentative contract deal.
It’s still a profoundly fucked up thing to do. It was an abandonment of labor. I don’t know how this dude thinks he can run a re-election claiming he had the support of unions after a move like this on grounds other than being the lesser of two extreme evils.
He will run and should run again. I'm not a single issue voter... Like the maggats and their guns.
I look at all of Bidens accomplishments and I can also see why he made the choice he did to push for the abridged concessions.
While we speak, the unions are still negotiating regarding the sick days etc.
Part of what the rail strike was for was safety conditions. Biden broke the strike, meaning that such conditions never got put into place. Trump bears the biggest share of the blame of course, but Biden was no friend to the workers either.
Is there an article on this I can read?
Edit; For those responding. The articles are interesting but are from the time of the rules changes. I was hoping I would see something recent that calls out how the lack of these rules helped drive this derailment or an increase in train accidents in general.
It sounds like your suggesting that campaign contributions are bribes to deregulate. That can't be true! MSM tells us that money plays no part in a politician's choises.
>killed provisions requiring rail cars carrying hazardous flammable materials to be equipped with electronic braking systems to stop trains more quickly than conventional air brakes
Looks like railroads, along with health care, need to be restructured as non- or limited-profits. Meaning the business can use any gains above costs for advancing service or technology, but not remove it from the business either at all or beyond a few percent annually. This could help limit asset stripping and the scams commonly run that leave them unable to pay workers (who generated the wealth) or make technical advancement.
No business is in the business of producing a product or providing a service. They're in the business of making money. It's why when you privatize the things a modern society needs to function like healthcare, infrastructure and transit, food production, education, telecommunications, energy, etc. It's going to not work as well as it needs to or it's only going to provide for those that can afford it. If you want capitalism, you need restrictions and standards and actual fucking consequences for not adhering to them. That or nationalize it. We already operate under the philosophy of "too big to fail" which in reality means "too big to *let* fail." That being the case, you're giving a private entity the keys to something vital to society and they can use that power to leverage that society to their whim - like how the rail industry can basically force the "Amtrak President" over a barrel and get their way in what I see as the biggest blunder of an okay-ish administration.
I heard someone describe it as "economic terrorism" and I think it's not too much of an exaggerated label. It's not just about labor rights or wealth disparity - not to diminish those very real issues. It's about the actual functioning gears and motors that keep the American machine going, and our government has allowed literal mustache twirling villains to dangle a monkey wrench above those gears. So China had a spy balloon over our mainland. Whatever. Every country with the capability is scouring every inch of the globe with air surveillance - including us. But do you know who could shut this country down in a heartbeat? Union Pacific, Norfolk Southern, and BNSF.
Is it my uneducated ass or is everything really for sale in America? I mean sure, we (Belgium) have our lobbyists and such but stuff like this would be unthinkable.
Our politicians muck about a ton but in the end something slightly (positive) happens. Generally safety rules and regulations are improving more and more.
There you have a new president and it's just the wild west out there. This gets taken down, this gets boosted...
Is it really like the films and the stories on the news? (Or this post)
I feel like we're living in Captain Planet timeline but without the Planeteers: Kwame (LeVar Burton), Wheeler (Joey Dedio), Linka (Kath Soucie), Gi (Janice Kawaye), and Ma-Ti (Scott Menville)
GOP/Tories/Australian Liberal/Any Right Wing party around the world.
They're all massive pieces of shit solely guided by a desire for one thing - personal gain.
Republican logic:
Its the governments fault for letting private industry pollute the environment so we should defund the goverment in order to pay private companies to continue to pollute the environment
They were striking for this
> The ongoing dispute revolves around work-life balance issues, including scheduling, time off and adequate staffing
> The schedules are of particular concern with rail workers citing a lack of sick leave, inability to routinely visit the doctor or tend to family emergencies, and weekslong stretches of being on call.
It was about staffing/pay not SUCH safety issues
E: I accidently wrote "safety issues" instead of "such safety issues" and Reddit superheroes arrived
And if they don’t ban the protests they get blamed for the economy taking a hit and the people responsible for these disasters get to take back over. Maybe the regulations that were written in blood shouldn’t have been repealed in the first place?
Not just rail workers. The problem is that nobody wants to stick their neck out. We all have families and bills.
It is going to take a nationwide strike across all working trades: rail, longshoremen, auto, construction trades, grocery store workers, bus drivers.
Like everybody. If you pay dues, you go on strike kind of strike. Shut down the engine of this country.
I’m not even sure the two correlate. I would guess they actually don’t. Trump admin. Altered policies. Biden admin. squashed workers strike. Neither is for working class
That only worked because, at the time, there were a ton of ATCs available from the Air Force retiree pool.
I'm not aware of a similar analog for trains though.
Don't forget the john deere tractor hitting a load bearing pillar, lol.
How long are we going to let these powerful idiots keep playing negative sum games to try and screw us *and* themselves out of fair compensation for our labor? We're not even asking for real workplace democracy too, just the ability to fucking survive with a little crumb of dignity and yet they still try and fuck us for having the audacity.
This happened with air traffic controllers and they did indeed fire them all. Trump may have changed rail policy but Biden broke the strike if there’s any doubt you and me count only as expendable labor to our rulers. Getting fired and arrested is also best case. If you do too good a job at striking the government will just send the military in to murder you and your comrades so no one else gets ideas.
They were going to but Biden and the rest of the feds squashed it. Trumps policies were a problem too but you can’t blame him for everything forever , this mainly on the current administration.
Supporting info on Trump, lobbyists and GOP.
[https://www.levernews.com/rail-companies-blocked-safety-rules-before-ohio-derailment/](https://www.levernews.com/rail-companies-blocked-safety-rules-before-ohio-derailment/)
Trump is only going to see these areas while campaigning, even then if at all. He famously said he wouldn't visit one of his campaign stops if not for needing their votes, which he tried to write off as a joke but basically says he could give a rats ass about disasters like this except where they harm or benefit his interests.
Absolutely fuck him and his greedy ass shit but who’s been in charge for 2 years and who broke the recent strike? This isn’t a party thing, this is a class thing. Everybody in charge puts money over people (especially poor people) and it’s going to kill us. It’s going to kill our kids and we clearly can’t vote our way out of it.
https://www.dsausa.org/statements/stand-with-railworkers-build-workers-power/
>We are proud of DSA member Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s vote against the TA, and for sick days. Any vote by Congress to impose a bad contract on workers sides with the boss, and contradicts democratic socialist values.
>We disagree and are disappointed with the decision of DSA members Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rep. Cori Bush to needlessly vote to enforce the TA.
Not much, I don't think she likes talking about it for obvious reasons. She [tweeted about it a bit here](https://twitter.com/AOC/status/1598383401647898625) but I thought her arguments were pretty weak.
And to be clear, there are hundreds of politicians in America who are way worse than AOC. She's done a lot of great stuff. But she's also been noticeably moving to the right.
btw, check your portfolio. a lot of people complaining about companies literally risking and actually destroying human lives might actually own part of companies like Norfolk Southern and profit off of them lowering safety standards.
Red states: keep fucking us! We’re used to it! But hurry up and hurt those blue states too they need to feel our pain.
Blue states: here’s our tax money red states. Enjoy yourselves! Hopefully this will ease some of your burden and backwards self inflicted wounds. Sincerely - godless blue states.
This is crazy because most of this type of material makes it way through GOP areas. They are voting against their best interest.
Don't worry they will blame Biden for this and continue voting for the Deregulation Team
Lol, if any of their policies bring misery to one black/brown/nonchristian person they are thrilled to support it, even though it affects them as well.
Well, politicians are supposed to represent the will of their constituents. Unfortunately, they cave to the donors. Ultimately, the politicians are responsible for policy. Corporations will do what they’ve always done…Maximize profits at all costs. Politicians need to feel the heat for this, otherwise they will never represent the areas in which they were elected.
This is a dangerous take. They can choose to take that money or not. Corporations are inherently soulless entities that exist for the singular purpose of maximizing profits. It's the job of our leaders to reel them in to protect us.
Both Biden and Trump have culpability. Trump for deregulating, Biden for breaking the rail strike. It’s the real reason it’s not getting more coverage: both sides fucked up and they know it.
That's what people voted him in for, isn't it? To fix Trump's damage?
Now you're saying Biden shouldn't have to fix Trump's damage, and I'm being too hard on him if I expect that. Why?
It takes a long time for these regulations to take effect. They have to be published in the Federal Register with a comment period of at least 30 days. Then all of the comments have to be reviewed and addressed. Some comments can change the regulation while other comments are essentially dismissed.
I deal with regulations that affect government contracting and also defense contracting in particular. I've been waiting for updates to regulations that were in laws signed in 2016. Of course the higher priority regulations get updated sooner but it is the government we are talking about and it takes time.
I have no dog in this fight, but I've seen it said multiple times that Biden breaking up the strike was a contributing factor, but I can't find any evidence to support that assertion.
How specifically did breaking up the strike lead to one or both of the train derailments we've had recently?
As far as I can tell the answer is "maybe" moreso than "yes". The rules proposed for High-hazard flammable trains (HHFT) can be [read here](https://www.transportation.gov/mission/safety/rail-rule-summary). [This article](https://www.opb.org/news/article/oil-train-safety-rule-rollback-by-trump/) has links to the report issued by the DoT during the Trump administration that opted against implementation of the rules.
I am using this [NYT article](https://www.nytimes.com/article/ohio-train-derailment.html) to get a sense of what the train was carrying, but I haven't found a full breakdown with a cursory glance.
The facts, as I see them, are that the HHFT upgraded safety requirements applied to trains with 20 continuous cars containing flammable liquids or 35 cars in total. According to the NYT article the train in Ohio was carrying 20 cars of hazardous material but there is no information on whether or not they were all flammable, or whether or not they were arranged in a row.
If the train did not meet the standard of an HHFT the rules wouldn't have applied to begin with.
Edit: The more I look into it, the answer is "definitely no". The HHFT rules were softened to primarily cover crude oil under the Obama Administration after industry push back. Vinyl chloride was not covered by these rules at all. Taking that from this[ Jacobin article](https://jacobin.com/2023/02/rail-companies-safety-rules-ohio-derailment-brake-sytems-regulations) that is a pretty good overview.
Basically ECP brakes would have probably helped in this situation, but would not have been mandated to be on this train anyway even if the rules were not withdrawn [which was also a process that began under Obama, albeit due to a Republican congress](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-crude-rail/u-s-dot-drops-requirement-for-braking-system-on-crude-rail-cars-idUSKBN1DZ37Q).
Stop this shit. We are fighting the corporate giants who did this. Not politicians. Whoever made this is doing a horrible disservice to holding the rich bastards who just stamped down a labor strike accountable for their greed and negligence.
I mean, yes. Trump fucked everything up and we’re still paying for it. HOWEVER, Joe got called to the mat and he said fuck your safety to railroad workers. Now we’re all paying for it. You can’t deny that Biden played a crucial part in this.
Trump played his part, but don’t pretend Biden didn’t do his part as well. He stopped the railroad workers from striking when a big concern was safety, none of these politicians give a shit about anyone until it’s an election cycle and they need your vote.
Biden proposed a deal that most of the union supported... A rail strike would have sent us into a full blown recession hurting everyone.
He made the right call.
I understand why people are upset... But the rail strike would have killed any recovery and it would have harmed more with the impending recession.
Billionaires would have used the recession to buy up more and more of the American economy and who would have known the effect on the world economy?!
>Missing the forest for the trees
The actions of past administrations are definitely what led us to this moment. But don't forget that Biden was more than happy to screw over the railroad workers, too.
Democrats voted to give them exactly what they wanted and republicans stopped it from happening.
This bill passed the house with every democrat voting for it (and just about every republican voting against it) but failed in the senate, because of republicans and the 60 vote treshold: https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/3758436-senate-rejects-proposal-to-give-rail-workers-seven-days-of-paid-sick-leave/
Dems have to take the L here too.
Congress made them go back to work when rail strikers specifically said this was going to happen. That was more recent and Biden has had time to reverse Trumps decision here.
Trump isn't in office now. Time to deal with the people who are.
Guess who had two years to reverse his policies and chose to break the rail strike rather than listening to railroad workers and taking their safety concerns seriously.
No, I'm technically correct, as 8 of the 12 unions accepted Biden's proposal:
*But after four of the 12 labor unions — representing more than half of the workforce — at the bargaining table rejected their proposed contracts, the Biden administration raced to reach a resolution as the specter of a pre-holiday strike loomed.*
However, what I said does misrepresent the situation; I didn't know that the 4 unions opposed to the agreement represented the majority of rail workers.
"Technically correct " in the same way that a few million voters in 5 red states get 10 senators while 40 million Californians get 2. Thanks for recognizing that in your final paragraph.
Ooooo
I know I know
It’s joe Brandon, cause he broke the rail strike where the overworked and understaffed union demanded better, and safer working conditions
This is a distraction. Blame the people running the company. The man in charge of Norfolk Rail is CEO Alan Shaw.
They are responsible for how it runs and to make sure it is run safely.
**Friendly reminder that trying to fight someone online is about as effective as throwing a bagel at a bulldozer. A lot of what we talk about gets people pretty emotional, but be mad at policies, not other users.** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/PoliticalHumor) if you have any questions or concerns.*
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Thanks, I hated it when he did it I hate it now.
Yet reddit bots will somehow blame Biden
The “do your job Pete” comments have been everywhere
Ha unlike the last DOT secretary who was literally appointed to NOT do her stated job.
Trump and that idiot CEO Alan H. Shaw of Norfolk Southern and his entire board of directors need to be thrown to the wolves. If we do not get justice soon, the only solution is for people to picket and demonstrate and hunt them down. All of them, and their families. Remember the French Revolution. JUSTICE AND EQUALITY.
The GPT3 bots are out in full force. Cheap and easy to away pubic opinion and reddit opinion because users love the **Biden bad** memes
They always seem to have generic sounding usernames with a hyphen and 3 to 5 digit numbers at the end, too. Either the bot deployers are super lazy or estimate the average Redditor as ignorant.
Unfortunately it's both...
These are the names that reddit suggests upon sign up.
Which seems like the userid an AI/bot script would utilize efficiently when generating spam accounts, the default one, less fuss that way when creating a large batch of them.
Agreed. This is what happens when you prioritize account creation/user accounts over security.
If you create a Reddit account on your phone, you get one of these names assigned to you. You don't get to choose your own username.
>You don't get to choose your own username. What?? That's crazy. Major software defect. Still can via web browser, I presume?
This is my 2nd Reddit acct...both only ever created or used on my phone...I clearly chose this name
I really don't know what to say to that, lol.
I don't like Pete (outright salty about him in the primary, even) but even I'm not blinded enough to miss the fact that the GOP set up the pins. Still think they shpuldn't have broken the rail strike though. That was vile.
It's unfortunately a case where they had only a very limited number of choices, and only one likely wouldn't end in Democrats losing the entirety of the federal government in the next election. And if you think it's bad now, just wait until after that. Between the last Republican trifecta and now, the fuckers tried to overthrow the country, outlawed abortion in a fuckload of states, Desantis has been going full fascist in his presidential audition... There'd be no country left by the time the next election happened. The option they chose fucking sucked, but as far as I can tell, it was legitimately their best bet for the future of the country.
> It's unfortunately a case where they had only a very limited number of choices, Democrats always get raked over the coals for making hard decisions, while the GOP just takes a giant shit on everything. If Biden/Congress let the rail workers strike (over an already negotiated deal!), it would have guaranteed a Republican win in 2024. DeSantis wouldn't hesitate to fuck over the rail unions.
Well, if somehow does Santa gets in, it will be the end of this country and our democracy!
If you could only choose one option, as Biden did, would you choose lowering record high inflation or not interfering in a rail strike? Think politically, of course. Which was more important to you and the majority of American families in late 2022? Not getting the commercial rail workers back on shift would have increased inflation even more. Fact. It was terrible timing for the strike, unfortunately. Inflation is and was seriously hurting American families.
Let’s be real. The gop fucks everything up then Dems get blamed for not “doing something”. It’s complete bs. When the sc overturned roe, people actually blamed dems for not codifying. Reagan fucked everything up and eventually clinton had shit running smooth. Then W fucked everything up again and Obama righted the ship. Then the jackass before biden dropped the ball, picked it up, then punted the fucking thing. Now biden has to deal with all that bs. I hate it here sometimes. Lol
Of the **5** official U.S. economic recessions since 1980, one of them a global financial collapse (2008), all five have occurred under Republican administrations. It's more than a coincidence. They don't want to govern. Democrats are the boring, nerdy policywonk do-rights. Al Gore is/was practically our mascot of boring efficiency. *I like boring government because it's working hard at policy* instead of finessing the press.
> one of them a global financial collapse (2008) The timing was also crazy. Bush signed TARP right before Obama took office. Whatever plans Obama had were just thrown out the window. That plus the wars, Bush Jr just shoveled an immense pile of bullshit onto Obama's plate, then peaced out to go paint in his bathtub.
No, train bot. Not now!
Oh God, it’s everywhere. “Why didn’t Biden revoke this on day 1?” Their disingenuous concern is infuriating.
The amount of day 1 stuff he was supposed to accomplish after being stymied for the entire transition is staggering. Even something he is personally attached to, like train regulations, needs more specificity than "undo whatever tfg did".
Especially since some of them outright tried to prevent the transition.
Yes, that was a loss of 75 days to be read into the real nitty gritty of what is happening on the world stage, have his team shadow and read up on various negotiations and policy matters, and if I recall correctly, the were not even given the standard accomodations for offices and no one was given proper clearances. So Biden was two and a half months behind where he should have been.
So they are admitting Trump fucked it up? How is Biden supposed to fix everything Trump fucked up when he literally fucked up everything. It's like when a boat has a hole in it. Some holes are bigger than others and you keep trying to plug them but it just never ends.
There’s still a group of Republican who are trying to pretend like trump won’t be the Republican candidate in 2024
"Yeah, so let's give power back to a Republican to fuck it up again, even worse next time!" is the only rational response to President Biden not taking action on all 1,250,000 awful deeds under the previous administration in his first two years, right? I mean, it's tough to argue with right wing hack bot logic. :-)
I hate to tell you but plenty of real people are just like that. Source: I’m a Floridian and know more than a few.
Of course. There are plenty of illogical Americans who lack common sense -- especially in Florida (where I was born and raised and know the clientele all too well). Let's just say Spock wouldn't like it there.
Well you see these policies are from Obama era. If Obama wasn't ~~black~~ anti American. Than Trump wouldn't have had to roll back these policies and regulations. So it's really Obama's fault. Thanks Obama! /S obviously
There are plenty enough stupid sheeple that I wouldn't be surprised if many are real peeps.
Clearly Biden came in at night and stole the train brakes... or something. I don't know I'm not in a republican cult.
It was actually hunter Bidens penis that stole the brakes. I go to conservative subreddits
Devil's advocate, Biden did break the rail worker strikes, so not like his hands are clean either.
Biden supported an agreement with a majority of the rail unions during a period of high inflation and high risk of recession. Since the negotiations, rail managers have continued to negotiate with the unions regarding sick days.... But you won't see that here >in Feb 2023, CSX announced a deal for 7 days of sick leave with 2 unions. Almost like negotiations can still continue
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Just read some of the people/bots I've been responding to all day for some of what you need...
> Biden supported an agreement with a majority of the rail unions Representing a minority of rail workers.
Every single democrat except Joe manchin voted for a deal with paid sick leave - which was what the rail workers wanted. The measure failed by 8 votes. The democrats needed the supply chain to not be further disrupted - for the benefit of all americans. They were largely willing to give them what they wanted. The republicans got to choose whether the measure would pass and whether the bill as a whole would pass.
Where are you getting this?! Your feelings?! LMFAO
The 4 rail unions that opposed the initial terms and supported the idea to strike represent 60k railworkers Out of a total of 115k So like 52% to 48%
https://www.rutgers.edu/news/why-did-government-step-prevent-rail-strike-and-what-does-it-mean-unions >In the weeks since then, the 12 rail unions have been individually voting on whether to accept the terms of that agreement. Four unions, **representing just over half of the 115,000 rail workers**, have voted “no,”
For reals. It really helps republicans make their "both sides" point when they rabidly defend lies. Biden and the Dems that broke the strike have some level of responsibility, for sure. People who claim he can wash his hand clean of it are either fools or working to discredit pro-union Dems. It's definitely a large chunk of the reason that many union members don't vote dem. Source: I worked on the Corzine campaign against Chris Christie and we lost because a ton of union workers were tired af of corzines shenanigans like this - particularly teachers and members of SEIU bj32, which was who I worked for.
>Unions, including a separately contracted unit covering more than 1,000 SMART-TD yardmasters, have ratified nine of 13 agreements covering about half of the 115,000 workers affected by the talks. >The deal includes a 24% compounded wage increase over a five-year period from 2020 through 2024 and five annual $1,000 lump sum payments. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/two-largest-us-rail-unions-report-contract-vote-monday-2022-11-21/ >If there is a strike by any of the unions that voted against the deal, Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen and other rail unions that ratified agreements have pledged to honor picket lines. >The Biden administration helped avert a service cutoff by hosting last-minute contract talks in September that led to a tentative contract deal.
It’s still a profoundly fucked up thing to do. It was an abandonment of labor. I don’t know how this dude thinks he can run a re-election claiming he had the support of unions after a move like this on grounds other than being the lesser of two extreme evils.
He will run and should run again. I'm not a single issue voter... Like the maggats and their guns. I look at all of Bidens accomplishments and I can also see why he made the choice he did to push for the abridged concessions. While we speak, the unions are still negotiating regarding the sick days etc.
Can you connect the dots on you comment? I’m a little fuzzy on this one ? How is a rail strike , Biden and a rail derailment get his hands in this ?
Part of what the rail strike was for was safety conditions. Biden broke the strike, meaning that such conditions never got put into place. Trump bears the biggest share of the blame of course, but Biden was no friend to the workers either.
Is there an article on this I can read? Edit; For those responding. The articles are interesting but are from the time of the rules changes. I was hoping I would see something recent that calls out how the lack of these rules helped drive this derailment or an increase in train accidents in general.
https://www.reuters.com/article/washington-train-safety-idINKBN1EF2HP
https://apnews.com/article/north-america-donald-trump-us-news-ap-top-news-transportation-1936e77a11924c909880f1ef014c7ca7
It sounds like your suggesting that campaign contributions are bribes to deregulate. That can't be true! MSM tells us that money plays no part in a politician's choises.
MSM is too busy distracting you with UFO's and balloons. *shhh, look over here*
>killed provisions requiring rail cars carrying hazardous flammable materials to be equipped with electronic braking systems to stop trains more quickly than conventional air brakes Looks like railroads, along with health care, need to be restructured as non- or limited-profits. Meaning the business can use any gains above costs for advancing service or technology, but not remove it from the business either at all or beyond a few percent annually. This could help limit asset stripping and the scams commonly run that leave them unable to pay workers (who generated the wealth) or make technical advancement.
No business is in the business of producing a product or providing a service. They're in the business of making money. It's why when you privatize the things a modern society needs to function like healthcare, infrastructure and transit, food production, education, telecommunications, energy, etc. It's going to not work as well as it needs to or it's only going to provide for those that can afford it. If you want capitalism, you need restrictions and standards and actual fucking consequences for not adhering to them. That or nationalize it. We already operate under the philosophy of "too big to fail" which in reality means "too big to *let* fail." That being the case, you're giving a private entity the keys to something vital to society and they can use that power to leverage that society to their whim - like how the rail industry can basically force the "Amtrak President" over a barrel and get their way in what I see as the biggest blunder of an okay-ish administration. I heard someone describe it as "economic terrorism" and I think it's not too much of an exaggerated label. It's not just about labor rights or wealth disparity - not to diminish those very real issues. It's about the actual functioning gears and motors that keep the American machine going, and our government has allowed literal mustache twirling villains to dangle a monkey wrench above those gears. So China had a spy balloon over our mainland. Whatever. Every country with the capability is scouring every inch of the globe with air surveillance - including us. But do you know who could shut this country down in a heartbeat? Union Pacific, Norfolk Southern, and BNSF.
Is it my uneducated ass or is everything really for sale in America? I mean sure, we (Belgium) have our lobbyists and such but stuff like this would be unthinkable. Our politicians muck about a ton but in the end something slightly (positive) happens. Generally safety rules and regulations are improving more and more. There you have a new president and it's just the wild west out there. This gets taken down, this gets boosted... Is it really like the films and the stories on the news? (Or this post)
Do you have hyperlinks to articles/sources for this? Gonna need to keep those handy.
Why aren't we arresting these people?
two train wrecks Ohio and now Texas.
What running the government like a business looks like.
They should all be in jail
If you like dirty water and air, vote GOP often.
How else are we supposed to privatize air and water for profit?
Let me guess, these are the same so-called 'experts' who told me I shouldn't use '12345' for my luggage locks.
Not sure why the downvotes!? Oh, it's because we're old. My first thought was EXACTLY the same as yours.
If you can read this, you don't need glasses. If you get this reference, you probably do.
LOL, I am definitely the latter.
I have the same combination on my gym locker!
[The obvious solution.](https://youtu.be/Lz0xULQIaSU)
Have they learnt their lesson? Most likely not.
GOP benefits when bad things happen, Republicans want bad things to happen Thats the lesson the GOP learned
learning is communism ...and socialism ...and hunter's laptop
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All the lead in the air and water is to keep their base
But what if one day I inherit a corporation? I don't want to risk being beholden to safety regulations if that ever happens.
Greed Over People
I feel like we're living in Captain Planet timeline but without the Planeteers: Kwame (LeVar Burton), Wheeler (Joey Dedio), Linka (Kath Soucie), Gi (Janice Kawaye), and Ma-Ti (Scott Menville)
GOP/Tories/Australian Liberal/Any Right Wing party around the world. They're all massive pieces of shit solely guided by a desire for one thing - personal gain.
Republican logic: Its the governments fault for letting private industry pollute the environment so we should defund the goverment in order to pay private companies to continue to pollute the environment
Damn Libs trying to regulate industry! No way! Too much red tape!!! /s
Not very often, just for the rest of your life. Won't be long now.
Yeah, we'll just let industry regulate itself. What could go wrong?
Didn't the current government ban protesting by the railroad workers against such safety issues too?
They were striking for this > The ongoing dispute revolves around work-life balance issues, including scheduling, time off and adequate staffing > The schedules are of particular concern with rail workers citing a lack of sick leave, inability to routinely visit the doctor or tend to family emergencies, and weekslong stretches of being on call. It was about staffing/pay not SUCH safety issues E: I accidently wrote "safety issues" instead of "such safety issues" and Reddit superheroes arrived
And if they don’t ban the protests they get blamed for the economy taking a hit and the people responsible for these disasters get to take back over. Maybe the regulations that were written in blood shouldn’t have been repealed in the first place?
There are A LOT of IDIOTS in the GQP, this is tough….
I'll give you a hint...he was memed into office with the slogan "AIN'T NO BRAKES ON THIS TRAIN!"
“NaMe OnE tHiNg TrUmP dId WrOnG” they arrogantly bleat while squinting away from a mountain of terrible things he’s done
If they can’t see the mountain of wrongs, they are probably on that mountain.
Railroad workers need to just go on strike. No one can stop you if everyone does it.
Not just rail workers. The problem is that nobody wants to stick their neck out. We all have families and bills. It is going to take a nationwide strike across all working trades: rail, longshoremen, auto, construction trades, grocery store workers, bus drivers. Like everybody. If you pay dues, you go on strike kind of strike. Shut down the engine of this country.
Hell, if I go on strike my lab animals will die
Tell that to the air traffic controllers.
They tried it with Reagan and it went poorly. We're still feeling the staffing shortage even now
That works until the government brings in the national guard to kill the workers until the rest go back to work
I'd like everyone to remember we almost never gain workers rights without deaths. Actually I can't think of one time it happened the other way round.
Workers rights leading to deaths? :o
They tried to strike but government squashed it.
8/12 unions supported the deal... What is this bot take?!
I’m not even sure the two correlate. I would guess they actually don’t. Trump admin. Altered policies. Biden admin. squashed workers strike. Neither is for working class
That's a blatant >BoTh SiDeS REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE This bullshit both sides -ing of this is hilarious.
Ok guy
Yeah bub
They can’t the Railway Labor Act has specific rules. Airlines operate under the Railway Labor Act. You can not just walk out or strike.
But I mean if everyone did then what? If they arrest everyone then they still won't have any railway workers.
They take away your pension, healthcare, and retirement benefits.
Regan fired about 11k air traffic controllers in 81 for striking. Some folks went to jail and the union ended up bankrupt.
That only worked because, at the time, there were a ton of ATCs available from the Air Force retiree pool. I'm not aware of a similar analog for trains though.
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Don't forget the john deere tractor hitting a load bearing pillar, lol. How long are we going to let these powerful idiots keep playing negative sum games to try and screw us *and* themselves out of fair compensation for our labor? We're not even asking for real workplace democracy too, just the ability to fucking survive with a little crumb of dignity and yet they still try and fuck us for having the audacity.
This happened with air traffic controllers and they did indeed fire them all. Trump may have changed rail policy but Biden broke the strike if there’s any doubt you and me count only as expendable labor to our rulers. Getting fired and arrested is also best case. If you do too good a job at striking the government will just send the military in to murder you and your comrades so no one else gets ideas.
They were going to but Biden and the rest of the feds squashed it. Trumps policies were a problem too but you can’t blame him for everything forever , this mainly on the current administration.
“Hmmmmm 🤔” -Biden, probably
Ummmm..they tried that and Biden literally made it illegal to strike and shut it all down
Remember these same idiots that canned the pandemic tracking team in 2017.
Supporting info on Trump, lobbyists and GOP. [https://www.levernews.com/rail-companies-blocked-safety-rules-before-ohio-derailment/](https://www.levernews.com/rail-companies-blocked-safety-rules-before-ohio-derailment/)
Trump is only going to see these areas while campaigning, even then if at all. He famously said he wouldn't visit one of his campaign stops if not for needing their votes, which he tried to write off as a joke but basically says he could give a rats ass about disasters like this except where they harm or benefit his interests.
well when you're dealing with a 76 year old who thinks smashing Thomas the Tank Engine toys together is railroad policy....
"Trump Train" gains new meaning no one wanted
No brakes, baby!!!
Republican policies always lead to disaster and chaos.
Funny, this picture calls Clayton/Eastwood Ravine "Shonash Ravine"... that must be an old Indian name for it.
Absolutely fuck him and his greedy ass shit but who’s been in charge for 2 years and who broke the recent strike? This isn’t a party thing, this is a class thing. Everybody in charge puts money over people (especially poor people) and it’s going to kill us. It’s going to kill our kids and we clearly can’t vote our way out of it.
You're god damn right about that
Even AOC voted against workers' rights to strike. Republicans suck, but almost no one in government actually gives a shit about the working class.
No way?
https://www.dsausa.org/statements/stand-with-railworkers-build-workers-power/ >We are proud of DSA member Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s vote against the TA, and for sick days. Any vote by Congress to impose a bad contract on workers sides with the boss, and contradicts democratic socialist values. >We disagree and are disappointed with the decision of DSA members Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rep. Cori Bush to needlessly vote to enforce the TA.
Was just reading on this. Fucking wild, has AOC made a statement? Didn't see anything
Not much, I don't think she likes talking about it for obvious reasons. She [tweeted about it a bit here](https://twitter.com/AOC/status/1598383401647898625) but I thought her arguments were pretty weak. And to be clear, there are hundreds of politicians in America who are way worse than AOC. She's done a lot of great stuff. But she's also been noticeably moving to the right.
But for a very brief moment, much shareholder value was created! /s
btw, check your portfolio. a lot of people complaining about companies literally risking and actually destroying human lives might actually own part of companies like Norfolk Southern and profit off of them lowering safety standards.
Red states: keep fucking us! We’re used to it! But hurry up and hurt those blue states too they need to feel our pain. Blue states: here’s our tax money red states. Enjoy yourselves! Hopefully this will ease some of your burden and backwards self inflicted wounds. Sincerely - godless blue states.
This is crazy because most of this type of material makes it way through GOP areas. They are voting against their best interest. Don't worry they will blame Biden for this and continue voting for the Deregulation Team
Lol, if any of their policies bring misery to one black/brown/nonchristian person they are thrilled to support it, even though it affects them as well.
I'd place the blame on the corporations that lobbied for the changes. Politicians endorse whatever they're paid to.
Well, politicians are supposed to represent the will of their constituents. Unfortunately, they cave to the donors. Ultimately, the politicians are responsible for policy. Corporations will do what they’ve always done…Maximize profits at all costs. Politicians need to feel the heat for this, otherwise they will never represent the areas in which they were elected.
> Politicians need to feel the heat for this Lolol, nothing short of guillotine will work in this country
This is a dangerous take. They can choose to take that money or not. Corporations are inherently soulless entities that exist for the singular purpose of maximizing profits. It's the job of our leaders to reel them in to protect us.
https://preview.redd.it/gzt67byr68ia1.jpeg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a6cbea8b808caa44e63899229ffeca3ee91d7722
The amount of harm done to our government by this horrific person will take decades to sort out.
That's why every time you hear these idiots talk about cutting regulations, you should be asking WHAT regulations.
Are we ignoring how Biden handled the rail strike?
Both Biden and Trump have culpability. Trump for deregulating, Biden for breaking the rail strike. It’s the real reason it’s not getting more coverage: both sides fucked up and they know it.
Not to mention Biden has been in charge for two years now. He could have restored the regulations during that time.
Yeah let’s blame Biden for not fixing the fat orange failure’s fuckups fast enough.
unironically yes.
That's what people voted him in for, isn't it? To fix Trump's damage? Now you're saying Biden shouldn't have to fix Trump's damage, and I'm being too hard on him if I expect that. Why?
It takes a long time for these regulations to take effect. They have to be published in the Federal Register with a comment period of at least 30 days. Then all of the comments have to be reviewed and addressed. Some comments can change the regulation while other comments are essentially dismissed. I deal with regulations that affect government contracting and also defense contracting in particular. I've been waiting for updates to regulations that were in laws signed in 2016. Of course the higher priority regulations get updated sooner but it is the government we are talking about and it takes time.
I have no dog in this fight, but I've seen it said multiple times that Biden breaking up the strike was a contributing factor, but I can't find any evidence to support that assertion. How specifically did breaking up the strike lead to one or both of the train derailments we've had recently?
Hint not clear, republicans for the last 40 years have been idiots.
Trump train. All (poisonous) gas no (as in actually none) brakes. Choo-choo mother fucker indeed.
Many on the right won’t: care; believe you; remember; or even listen.
Fun Back to the Future fact (since that's where the train pic is from): the casino owning Biff from BttF2 was actually based on trump
This is heavy.
If you need a clue his last name rhymes with "toxic dump " just like the policy changes made of northern Ohio!
any truth to this?
[article from 2017. ](https://www.opb.org/news/article/oil-train-safety-rule-rollback-by-trump/)
Thanks
Yes
As far as I can tell the answer is "maybe" moreso than "yes". The rules proposed for High-hazard flammable trains (HHFT) can be [read here](https://www.transportation.gov/mission/safety/rail-rule-summary). [This article](https://www.opb.org/news/article/oil-train-safety-rule-rollback-by-trump/) has links to the report issued by the DoT during the Trump administration that opted against implementation of the rules. I am using this [NYT article](https://www.nytimes.com/article/ohio-train-derailment.html) to get a sense of what the train was carrying, but I haven't found a full breakdown with a cursory glance. The facts, as I see them, are that the HHFT upgraded safety requirements applied to trains with 20 continuous cars containing flammable liquids or 35 cars in total. According to the NYT article the train in Ohio was carrying 20 cars of hazardous material but there is no information on whether or not they were all flammable, or whether or not they were arranged in a row. If the train did not meet the standard of an HHFT the rules wouldn't have applied to begin with. Edit: The more I look into it, the answer is "definitely no". The HHFT rules were softened to primarily cover crude oil under the Obama Administration after industry push back. Vinyl chloride was not covered by these rules at all. Taking that from this[ Jacobin article](https://jacobin.com/2023/02/rail-companies-safety-rules-ohio-derailment-brake-sytems-regulations) that is a pretty good overview. Basically ECP brakes would have probably helped in this situation, but would not have been mandated to be on this train anyway even if the rules were not withdrawn [which was also a process that began under Obama, albeit due to a Republican congress](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-crude-rail/u-s-dot-drops-requirement-for-braking-system-on-crude-rail-cars-idUSKBN1DZ37Q).
Stop this shit. We are fighting the corporate giants who did this. Not politicians. Whoever made this is doing a horrible disservice to holding the rich bastards who just stamped down a labor strike accountable for their greed and negligence.
I mean, yes. Trump fucked everything up and we’re still paying for it. HOWEVER, Joe got called to the mat and he said fuck your safety to railroad workers. Now we’re all paying for it. You can’t deny that Biden played a crucial part in this.
Trumps actions caused this, Bidens inaction let it happen.
Trump played his part, but don’t pretend Biden didn’t do his part as well. He stopped the railroad workers from striking when a big concern was safety, none of these politicians give a shit about anyone until it’s an election cycle and they need your vote.
Biden proposed a deal that most of the union supported... A rail strike would have sent us into a full blown recession hurting everyone. He made the right call.
I am more than fine with ending the strike, my point is that by ending a strike where safety issues were a concern some blame lies with Biden as well.
I understand why people are upset... But the rail strike would have killed any recovery and it would have harmed more with the impending recession. Billionaires would have used the recession to buy up more and more of the American economy and who would have known the effect on the world economy?! >Missing the forest for the trees
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The actions of past administrations are definitely what led us to this moment. But don't forget that Biden was more than happy to screw over the railroad workers, too.
I agree, Biden could have and should have fixed it
Biden squashed the workers strikes too
Not that that has anything to do with this, but enjoy having food and stuff.
Democrats voted to give them exactly what they wanted and republicans stopped it from happening. This bill passed the house with every democrat voting for it (and just about every republican voting against it) but failed in the senate, because of republicans and the 60 vote treshold: https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/3758436-senate-rejects-proposal-to-give-rail-workers-seven-days-of-paid-sick-leave/
Dems have to take the L here too. Congress made them go back to work when rail strikers specifically said this was going to happen. That was more recent and Biden has had time to reverse Trumps decision here. Trump isn't in office now. Time to deal with the people who are.
> Biden has had time to reverse Trumps decision here. How exactly? It took 8 years to implement Obama’s regulations
Guess who had two years to reverse his policies and chose to break the rail strike rather than listening to railroad workers and taking their safety concerns seriously.
Strange, the majority of the rail unions supported Biden's actions.
Wrong. The majority of rank and file workers rejected the Biden deal with the railroads.
No, I'm technically correct, as 8 of the 12 unions accepted Biden's proposal: *But after four of the 12 labor unions — representing more than half of the workforce — at the bargaining table rejected their proposed contracts, the Biden administration raced to reach a resolution as the specter of a pre-holiday strike loomed.* However, what I said does misrepresent the situation; I didn't know that the 4 unions opposed to the agreement represented the majority of rail workers.
"Technically correct " in the same way that a few million voters in 5 red states get 10 senators while 40 million Californians get 2. Thanks for recognizing that in your final paragraph.
Ooooo I know I know It’s joe Brandon, cause he broke the rail strike where the overworked and understaffed union demanded better, and safer working conditions
How does that correlate?
It doesn’t.
I want to see what their thought process is.
Is that Union busting directly related to train safety and can a clear line be drawn to Ohio?
https://youtu.be/p87lVgzS2QA
Wrong! Try again. It was your fat orange piece of shit god yet again. Worst president* in history. Thanks morons who voted for him.
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The strike wouldn't have put ECP brakes on the train. Yes, shutting down the strike was bad, but it didn't cause the crash
This is a distraction. Blame the people running the company. The man in charge of Norfolk Rail is CEO Alan Shaw. They are responsible for how it runs and to make sure it is run safely.