Letters from an American - October 1, 2024

Episode Date: October 2, 2024

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October 1st, 2024. More than 45,000 port workers, is negotiating with the United States Maritime Alliance, or USMX, employer group over a new contract. The strike will shut down 36 ports from Maine to Texas, affecting about half the country's shipping. Analysts from J.P. Morgan estimate that the strike could cost the U.S. economy about $5 billion a day. The strikers have said they will continue to unload military cargo. Dock workers want a 77% increase in pay over six years and better benefits, while USMX has said it has offered to increase wages by nearly 50 percent, triple employer contributions to retirement plans, and improve health care options. In the Washington Post, economics columnist Heather

Long pointed out that the big issue at stake is the automation that threatens union jobs. Although the strike threatens to slow the economy, depending on how long it lasts, President Joe Biden has refused requests to force the strikers back to work, reiterating his support for collective bargaining. He noted that ocean carriers have made record profits since the pandemic, sometimes in excess of 800% over pre-pandemic levels, and that executive compensation and shareholder profits have reflected those profits. It's only fair that workers who put themselves at risk during the pandemic to keep ports open see a

meaningful increase in their wages as well, Biden said in a statement. In the presidential contest, the Trump-Vance campaign is trying to preserve its false narrative. In Wisconsin today, Trump accused Vice President Harris of murder, although he appeared to get confused about the victim, and claimed that she has a phone app on which the heads of cartels can get information about where to drop undocumented immigrants. He also said that Kim Jong-un of North Korea is trying to kill him. When asked if he should have been tougher on Iran after it launched ballistic missiles in 2020 on U.S. forces in Iraq, leaving more than 100 U.S. soldiers injured, Trump rejected the idea that soldiers with traumatic brain injuries were actually hurt. He said they had a headache and said he thought the attack was a very nice

thing because they didn't want us to retaliate. Trump also backed out of a scheduled interview with 60 Minutes that correspondent Scott Pelley was slated to conduct on Thursday. 60 Minutes noted that for more than 50 years, the show has invited both campaigns to appear on the broadcast before the election. And this year, both campaigns agreed to an interview. Trump's spokesperson complained that 60 Minutes insisted on doing live fact-checking, which is unprecedented. Vice President Kamala Harris will participate in her interview as planned. The campaign's resistance to independent fact-checking of their false narrative came up in tonight's vice presidential debate on CBS between Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris's running

mate, and Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, running mate for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. Vance, running mate for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. CBS Evening News anchor Nora O'Donnell and Face the Nation moderator and chief foreign affairs correspondent Margaret Brennan moderated the debate. Walz's goal in the debate was to do no harm to Vice President Harris's campaign, and he achieved that. Vance's goal was harder, to give people a reason to vote for Donald Trump. It is doubtful he moved any needles there. The moments that did stand out in the debate put a spotlight on Vance's tenuous relationship with the truth. When Vance lied again about the migrants in Springfield, Ohio, who are in the United States legally, Brennan added, just to clarify for our viewers, Springfield, Ohio does have a large number of Haitian migrants who have legal status.

Vance responded, the rules were that you guys weren't going to fact check. There were two other big moments of the evening, both based in lies. First, Vance claimed that Trump, who tried repeatedly to repeal or weaken the Affordable Care Act, saved it. Then, Walls asked Vance directly if Trump lost the 2020 presidential election. Vance refused to answer, saying he is focused on the future and warned that the threat of censorship is the real problem in the U.S. Walls said, that's a damning non-answer. Former chair of the Republican Party, Michael Steele, said after the debate, I don't care

where you are on policy. If you cannot, in 2024, answer that question, you are unfit for office. It was significant that Vance tried to avoid saying either that Trump won in 2020, a litmus test for MAGA Republicans, or that he lost, a reflection of reality. While this debate probably didn't move a lot of voters for the 2024 election, While this debate probably didn't move a lot of voters for the 2024 election, what it did do was make Vance look like a far more viable candidate than his running mate. Waffling on the big lies seemed designed to preserve Vance's candidacy for future elections.

It seems likely that the message behind Vance's smooth performance wasn't lost on Trump. As the debate was going on, Trump posted, the great Pete Rose just died. He was one of the most magnificent baseball players ever to play the game. He paid the price. Major League Baseball should have allowed him into the Hall of Fame many years ago. Do it now before his funeral. Former Cincinnati Reds baseball player Rose died yesterday at 83. Letters from an American was produced at Soundscape Productions, Denham, Massachusetts. Recorded with music composed by Michael Moss.