One common theme in our conversations at KK&F — which has been around just a few weeks longer than the Biden presidency, letting us follow and comment on Biden’s methods of governance from the very beginning — has been the way that this White House denies its access to certain forms of presidential power when it could benefit working people most. We’ve compared Democrats’ and Republicans’ willingness to avail themselves of measures and roles like executive orders, parliamentarians, and so on in order to get things done.
Well, it’s arguably a pretty powerful move on the government’s behalf to shut down a potential strike on behalf of capital, knowing that the workers involved are being denied paid sick leave. Where, from the party that claims it represents the interests of labor, is the opposite, equally powerful move to get the votes, push through a different plan, seek out other options like nationalizing rail corporations? What can we expect from the remaining period of Biden’s leadership? We’re asking the big questions with our return guest, labor reporter Jonah Furman, on the latest episode of KK&F. As always, we’re grateful to you for joining us and tuning in. Remember that you can listen to this episode as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Pandora, Spotify, and more.
Episode 101 Audio: Jonah Furman