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Erik Loomis
@ErikLoomis
, 6 tweets, 2 min read Read on Twitter
Everyone on the left who is saying that workers won the shutdown and not Pelosi is an asshole and every liberal who is saying that Pelosi won the shutdown and not workers is also an asshole, especially Kevin Drum.

motherjones.com/kevin-drum/201…
I take the radical position that workers, unions, Nancy Pelosi, and rank and file Democrats all contributed to defeating Trump's shutdown.
In case this has to be explained--it took Pelosi's leadership and Democrats standing 100% (except for the racist Manchin) against any compromise with Trump to create a situation that moved workers to action. And it took workers shutting down travel to force Trump's hand.
Everyday TSA agents and controllers started finding other work because they had to. And then the AFA called for a general strike, the other unions began preparing to walk off the job, and this all contributed to Trump freaking out about rich guys not being able to travel.
And it took Democrats standing strong and together in Congress against racism to lay the groundwork for workers to feel they needed to act.
What makes me angry is everyone using the end of the shutdown as a proxy to relitigate the 2016 primary, which is exactly what is happening. The left saying Dems are lame and liberals saying workers didn't do anything are both wrong in a real odious and dishonest manner.
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More from @ErikLoomis see all

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Erik Loomis
@ErikLoomis
Book #10 of 2019. Jack Kelly, The Edge of Anarchy: The Railroad Barons, the Gilded Age, and the Greatest Labor Uprising in America. I very rarely histories not written by academics, but this was worth it.

amazon.com/Edge-Anarchy-R…
Largely, it's interesting for me to read as a writing exercise in how popular historians write narrative histories. But the history itself is strong.
Mostly, this is a very good way to get your dad or whoever who isn't going to read an academic history to engage with a story on the evil of Gilded Age capitalism. George Pullman was so awful.
Read 3 tweets
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Erik Loomis
@ErikLoomis
My post-birthday favorite film run has now included The Wild Bunch, The General, and The Maltese Falcon. Hard to choose what to watch next. Big Lebowski? Goodfellas? Seven Samurai? Some Bergman or Hitchcock? Maybe Lawrence of Arabia for like the 13th time? So many choices!
The hardest part about The General is that Keaton changed the story from being about a Union railroad engineer to a Confederate one to gain sympathy with audiences, since white people are awful. And Keaton himself was more than happy to use blackface, though not in The General.
On the other hand, The General was filmed near Cottage Grove, Oregon, which is like 20 miles from where I grew up and seeing the landscape, black and white it may be, makes me homesick. Also, the film is awesome, despite dubious politics.
Read 8 tweets
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Erik Loomis
@ErikLoomis
Yes, absolutely. Tuition is increasingly a smaller percentage of overall costs and just going tuition-free will encourage this trend in higher ed. Debt free is really the more important principle. And it also has to come with proper state funding to make up for the lost $$$.
I mean, if you just institute debt free college without making up the funds, it just means no professors will be hired.
The other critical issue is not to make this means-tested. Universal programs are the only way to really make this work. Otherwise, you end up with, say, the byzantine rules of food stamps, which is a bad outcome.
Read 3 tweets

Related threads

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Tracy Mitrano for Congress
@MitranoForNY23
I oppose the use of a federal government #shutdown to achieve political goals. 5 lessons learned from the latest:

1. Local impact: Workers furloughed at IRS offices in Elmira, Jamestown. TSA at NY23 airports worked payless for a month. Farmers: no credit, contact with USDA.
1/6
2. Even people in safe middle class jobs can have trouble making ends meet if they miss a paycheck. When so many are living so close to bone, what is the rationale for a government #shutdown with nothing to show for it but suffering and a permanent $3 billion debt?
2/6
3. New Yorkers care about one another. We saw an example of that when the Lansing Food Pantry provided relief for TSA workers at the Ithaca airport. Similar efforts happened around the district during the latest government #shutdown.
3/6
Read 6 tweets
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Joseph Britt
@Zathras3
So Trump has caved, agreeing to Congressional Democrats' demand to fund government agencies for (evidently) three weeks while negotiations on border or immigration measures proceed. One story on this from @burgessev @AndrewRestuccia & @JakeSherman politico.com/story/2019/01/…
2. That was 35 days of hardship for federal employees and contractors; 35 days of disruption to government functions, from criminal investigations to international diplomacy to air traffic control; and 35 days of reckless rhetoric about invasions & emergencies, all for nothing.
3. Yet Trump's ignominious surrender is not necessarily a victory for the Democrats or the country. The deal to reopen government agencies is only for three weeks. We could be right back where we were last night when that time is up.
Read 15 tweets
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Tom G Stark ⭐⭐⭐
@TomStark913
If I was a federal employee, I would have minimal 4 months of bills in reserves. Period. It's call PLANNING.
Seeing how this happened 19 prior times since 1976, stands to reason yes?
Then, once I get my back pay, replace the depleted funds.
Don't expect me to get all upset for people that fail to plan for obvious potential issues.
Only excuse is a newer hire that didn't have the opportunity just yet to tuck away the funds.
Save the "but the contractors". These federal contracts are some freaking windfalls. VERY GENEROUS. Why do you think so many dream of landing a governments contact? They pay $500 for hammers!
They'll be just fine.

If I'm fine... They're better than fine. Trust me. 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Read 8 tweets
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Ford Fischer
@FordFischer
Right now: Activists with @WomenforTrump are gathering at the Capitol for a “Build the Wall” press conference with @replouiegohmert as the host and several parents of children who lost their lives to drugs speaking.

The group wants to ”End the #Shutdown and build the wall.”
Fairly large crowd assembled here for #BuildTheWall press conference.

I’ll be live on @N2Sreports Facebook momentarily with the entire event, beginning to end: Facebook.com/n2sreports
Today, @replouiegohmert led a "Build the Wall" press conference attended by a few other members of congress and a coalition of Trump supporters.

He said that for America to be a "shining light on a hill," it needs "secure borders."

Full speech here:
Read 9 tweets
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Liz Borkowski
@LizBorkowski
So much great reporting and commentary about how the #shutdown is affecting science within and well beyond federal agencies! A thread (1/many):
EPA has furloughed inspectors who detect illegal levels of contaminants in air and water, @CoralMDavenport reports. Eric Schaeffer of @EnviroInegrity recalls damaging impact of 1995-6 shutdown on inspections & enforcement. nytimes.com/2019/01/09/cli… #ScienceNotShutdown 2/
With FDA surveillance of drugs & pharmacies down to a "bare minimum," workers in agency labs are concerned about slow responses if problems arise, @vyurkevich & @jechristensen report. #ScienceNotShutdown #ScienceShutdown #ShutdownStories
cnn.com/2019/01/08/hea… 3/
Read 33 tweets
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Roscoe B Davis🎖⭐️⭐️⭐️
@RoscoeBDavis1
On Oct 26 2006 Congress passed The Secure Fence Act 120 STAT. 2638 PUBLIC LAW 109–367 with 283 votes in the House & 80 in the Senate, including unanimous Democratic support. This included $20 billion in funding for multi layer fencing along about 600 miles of the US-Mexico border
This wasn't a solid 600 miles of continuous fencing along the border, this was bits and pieces, mostly erected with surplus Marston Mats used by the Military to laydown in areas that the ground isn't solid enough to handle landing gear, the military has mountains of it.
in 2007 Congress made clear it didn't really mean what it said. The new law was amended to make fence building optional. so you ended up with very little fencing and $20 billion pretty much unaccounted for, dispersed to heavens knows where. No one was held accountable for the $$
Read 57 tweets

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