{"id":2619,"date":"2021-11-14T14:00:27","date_gmt":"2021-11-14T19:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/americancompass.beckandstone.com\/washington-is-showing-how-much-it-really-cares-about-blue-collar-families-not-much\/"},"modified":"2022-11-25T22:43:33","modified_gmt":"2022-11-26T03:43:33","slug":"washington-is-showing-how-much-it-really-cares-about-blue-collar-families-not-much","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/americancompass.org\/washington-is-showing-how-much-it-really-cares-about-blue-collar-families-not-much\/","title":{"rendered":"Washington Is Showing How Much It Really Cares About Blue Collar Families (Not Much)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>By this summer, President Joe Biden knew he was using the tagline for his trillion-dollar infrastructure bill too often. \u201cYou\u2019re tired of hearing me saying it, I know,\u201d he said during remarks about the bill in August, \u201cbut this is a blue-collar blueprint to rebuild America.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Months later, despite bipartisan passage by a 69 to 30 vote in the Senate, those plans remained stuck on the drawing board until very recently. The White House and both parties in Congress, after acting in strange concert to delay progress, finally got <a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/bill\/117th-congress\/house-bill\/3684\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the bill<\/a> passed late on Nov. 5 amid extreme legislative and political chaos, exposing just how far down the list of priorities the blueprint \u2014 and the blue-collar workers it will benefit \u2014 had actually fallen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The idea behind the blue-collar blueprint is exactly right. America\u2019s infrastructure is a mess, from crumbling roads and bridges to backlogged ports and outdated airports. Millions of Americans still get drinking water through lead pipes. The American Society of Civil Engineers gives American infrastructure <a href=\"https:\/\/infrastructurereportcard.org\/\">a C-<\/a>. Of the 17 categories of infrastructure they examine, 11 are in the D range, including roads, transit, dams and aviation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Addressing these failures is not only a vital investment in the nation\u2019s economic future, but also a unique opportunity to provide good blue-collar jobs to millions of Americans who have long struggled in a job market that favors college-educated \u201cknowledge workers.\u201d This insight is neither new nor controversial in either party. The Trump administration tried so frequently to focus on infrastructure that announcements of an impending \u201cinfrastructure week\u201d became a running joke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So why, given this widespread support for rebuilding an infrastructure worthy of our national pride and for employing working Americans to do it, was it so immensely difficult to pass the infrastructure bill? Why are congressional Democrats, even having at long last passed the bill, still warring among themselves so fiercely as to threaten the rest of their own agenda and political future? Why did almost all House Republicans refuse to follow their Senate colleagues\u2019 example, and help improve and then pass a bill rather than obstruct it? It is because neither institutional party is truly as attentive to working-class needs and beliefs as they want you to believe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>American Compass policy director Chris Griswold discusses the &#8220;blue-collar blueprint&#8221; for infrastructure and how DC politicos fail to listen to their actual blue-collar voters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":100,"featured_media":2620,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_tec_requires_first_save":true,"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7,231],"tags":[27,29],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Washington Is Showing How Much It Really Cares About Blue Collar Families (Not Much) - American Compass<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/americancompass.org\/washington-is-showing-how-much-it-really-cares-about-blue-collar-families-not-much\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Washington Is Showing How Much It Really Cares About Blue Collar Families (Not Much) - American Compass\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"American Compass policy director Chris Griswold discusses the &quot;blue-collar blueprint&quot; for infrastructure and how DC politicos fail to listen to their actual blue-collar voters.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/americancompass.org\/washington-is-showing-how-much-it-really-cares-about-blue-collar-families-not-much\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"American Compass\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AmerCompass\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-11-14T19:00:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-11-26T03:43:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/americancompass.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/The_Dallas_Morning_News_Logo.svg.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"128\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Chris Griswold\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Chris_Griz\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@AmerCompass\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Chris Griswold\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/americancompass.org\/washington-is-showing-how-much-it-really-cares-about-blue-collar-families-not-much\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/americancompass.org\/washington-is-showing-how-much-it-really-cares-about-blue-collar-families-not-much\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Chris Griswold\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/americancompass.org\/#\/schema\/person\/451ed074567b943459023f002bdf43db\"},\"headline\":\"Washington Is Showing How Much It Really Cares About Blue Collar Families (Not Much)\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-11-14T19:00:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-11-26T03:43:33+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/americancompass.org\/washington-is-showing-how-much-it-really-cares-about-blue-collar-families-not-much\/\"},\"wordCount\":382,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/americancompass.org\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Industry\",\"Understanding America\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Commentary\",\"Understanding America Page: Commentary\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/americancompass.org\/washington-is-showing-how-much-it-really-cares-about-blue-collar-families-not-much\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/americancompass.org\/washington-is-showing-how-much-it-really-cares-about-blue-collar-families-not-much\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/americancompass.org\/washington-is-showing-how-much-it-really-cares-about-blue-collar-families-not-much\/\",\"name\":\"Washington Is Showing How Much It Really Cares About Blue Collar Families (Not Much) - American Compass\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/americancompass.org\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-11-14T19:00:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-11-26T03:43:33+00:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/americancompass.org\/washington-is-showing-how-much-it-really-cares-about-blue-collar-families-not-much\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/americancompass.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/americancompass.org\/\",\"name\":\"American Compass\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/americancompass.org\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/americancompass.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/americancompass.org\/#organization\",\"name\":\"American Compass\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/americancompass.org\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/americancompass.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/americancompass.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/logo.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/americancompass.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/logo.svg\",\"caption\":\"American Compass\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/americancompass.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AmerCompass\/\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AmerCompass\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/americancompass.org\/#\/schema\/person\/451ed074567b943459023f002bdf43db\",\"name\":\"Chris Griswold\",\"description\":\"Chris Griswold is the policy director at American Compass.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Chris_Griz\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Washington Is Showing How Much It Really Cares About Blue Collar Families (Not Much) - American Compass","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/americancompass.org\/washington-is-showing-how-much-it-really-cares-about-blue-collar-families-not-much\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Washington Is Showing How Much It Really Cares About Blue Collar Families (Not Much) - American Compass","og_description":"American Compass policy director Chris Griswold discusses the \"blue-collar blueprint\" for infrastructure and how DC politicos fail to listen to their actual blue-collar voters.","og_url":"https:\/\/americancompass.org\/washington-is-showing-how-much-it-really-cares-about-blue-collar-families-not-much\/","og_site_name":"American Compass","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AmerCompass\/","article_published_time":"2021-11-14T19:00:27+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-11-26T03:43:33+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":128,"url":"https:\/\/americancompass.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/The_Dallas_Morning_News_Logo.svg.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Chris Griswold","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Chris_Griz","twitter_site":"@AmerCompass","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Chris Griswold","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/americancompass.org\/washington-is-showing-how-much-it-really-cares-about-blue-collar-families-not-much\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/americancompass.org\/washington-is-showing-how-much-it-really-cares-about-blue-collar-families-not-much\/"},"author":{"name":"Chris Griswold","@id":"https:\/\/americancompass.org\/#\/schema\/person\/451ed074567b943459023f002bdf43db"},"headline":"Washington Is Showing How Much It Really Cares About Blue Collar Families (Not Much)","datePublished":"2021-11-14T19:00:27+00:00","dateModified":"2022-11-26T03:43:33+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/americancompass.org\/washington-is-showing-how-much-it-really-cares-about-blue-collar-families-not-much\/"},"wordCount":382,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/americancompass.org\/#organization"},"keywords":["Industry","Understanding America"],"articleSection":["Commentary","Understanding America Page: Commentary"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/americancompass.org\/washington-is-showing-how-much-it-really-cares-about-blue-collar-families-not-much\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/americancompass.org\/washington-is-showing-how-much-it-really-cares-about-blue-collar-families-not-much\/","url":"https:\/\/americancompass.org\/washington-is-showing-how-much-it-really-cares-about-blue-collar-families-not-much\/","name":"Washington Is Showing How Much It Really Cares About Blue Collar Families (Not Much) - American Compass","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/americancompass.org\/#website"},"datePublished":"2021-11-14T19:00:27+00:00","dateModified":"2022-11-26T03:43:33+00:00","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/americancompass.org\/washington-is-showing-how-much-it-really-cares-about-blue-collar-families-not-much\/"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/americancompass.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/americancompass.org\/","name":"American Compass","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/americancompass.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/americancompass.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/americancompass.org\/#organization","name":"American Compass","url":"https:\/\/americancompass.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/americancompass.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/americancompass.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/logo.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/americancompass.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/logo.svg","caption":"American Compass"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/americancompass.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AmerCompass\/","https:\/\/twitter.com\/AmerCompass"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/americancompass.org\/#\/schema\/person\/451ed074567b943459023f002bdf43db","name":"Chris Griswold","description":"Chris Griswold is the policy director at American Compass.","sameAs":["https:\/\/twitter.com\/Chris_Griz"]}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/americancompass.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/The_Dallas_Morning_News_Logo.svg.png","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/americancompass.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2619"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/americancompass.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/americancompass.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americancompass.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/100"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americancompass.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2619"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/americancompass.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2619\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7837,"href":"https:\/\/americancompass.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2619\/revisions\/7837"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americancompass.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2620"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/americancompass.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2619"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americancompass.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2619"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americancompass.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2619"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}