Just as bad inflation news sent stock markets plunging on Tuesday, another crisis looms with the threat of a nationwide railway strike that could send new shockwaves through the financial system. A shutdown would dramatically affect not just 30% to 40% of the cargo moving across the country but also would bring commuter-rail service grinding to a halt. Amtrak already has begun service suspensions in case the strike starts on Friday.
This is the last hiccup President Joe Biden needs as the nation slowly makes headway toward an economic recovery. But if Republicans are rubbing their hands with schadenfreude glee at the opportunity to blame all the repercussions on the Democrats, they might want to be careful how they phrase it. By supporting a strike by train engineers and conductors, Republicans risk being seen as cheering the economic calamity that certainly would punish all Americans with more supply-chain interruptions.
Meanwhile, Biden and the Democrats risk appearing to side with big business over unions if Congress or the White House take steps to block the strike. Alienating unions could lead to disaster ahead of a tight midterm election.
POLITICS ASIDE, the economic misfortune that could rain down on Americans if this strike happens would not discriminate between Democrats and Republicans. All would suffer equally. It wasn’t so long ago that a nationwide supply-chain breakdown clogged major ports and left store shelves empty of key consumer goods. That breakdown wasn’t the fault of Biden or his predecessor but rather stemmed from this nation and the rest of the world emerging from pandemic shutdowns, and worker-starved supply lines were unable to keep up with demand.
Add to that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which led to sanctions that severely disrupted global supplies of crude oil. Gasoline pump prices skyrocketed, boosting the inflationary spiral caused by supply-chain disruptions and a surge in consumer demand. Republicans are doing their best to draw voters’ attention to these issues and pin the blame on Biden and the Democrats, just as they tried to blame then-President Barack Obama in 2009 for the economic meltdown he inherited from George W. Bush’s administration.
At least during the previous supply-chain disruptions, the trains kept running. If they stop, even briefly, the nation’s trucking fleet could not come close to filling the gap. Rail cars carrying oil, chemicals, coal and grain would stop on their tracks. Another, worse inflationary cycle would follow. Aside from Republicans desperate to distract the nation from ex-President Donald Trump’s growing legal woes, who needs more economic headaches?
Biden should consider invoking emergency powers if necessary to avert a crisis. But no matter how much goading occurs from the GOP to portray this as an election issue, this is about preventing more economic disaster from piling onto the existing problems that, red or blue, are certain to make all Americans suffer.
