George Will stars as the Grinch this Christmas.
Just when you thought that George Will might have a heart that wasn’t three times too small, because he’s objected to some of President Trump’s worst abominations, he goes ahead and shows us his true colors. Green, as in the Grinch. And green, as in being the spokesperson for greedy billionaires.
In a column for the Washington Post, Will insults home care workers in Washington State, calling them “unsophisticated,” questioning their ability to understand whether sticking together in a union for better wages and benefits is in their best interest.
These home care workers—who care for the elderly and people with disabilities so they can live at home—used to make the minimum wage of $7.18 an hour with no benefits before they formed their union 15 years ago, SEIU 775. Now most will be at $14 an hour with retirement benefits by the end of next year, because they used their power in numbers to improve their jobs.
Is it really so unsophisticated to believe that you’d probably still be making the minimum wage if you weren’t united in a union? What’s Will’s more sophisticated alternative? Maybe it’s investing that $30 or so in union dues each month into Bitcoin?
In a real Grinch move, Will actually praises the extreme anti-worker organizations that are spending tens of millions in dark money to convince workers like those in Washington State that they are better off on their own than united in their union.
What would drive rich libertarians to spend so much money to engage with these caregivers and persuade them to stop paying union dues? Is it the true Christmas spirit of caring for your fellow man and woman? Or maybe it’s a more Grinch-like reason: they don’t want to pay their fair share in taxes to fund quality, reliable care for our loved ones through Medicaid as the senior citizen population is about to almost double.
Medicaid pays for the majority of long-term care in America, including home care and nursing home care. We’ve already seen how Republican leaders in Congress have tried and tried again to destroy Medicaid this year. Spending millions to dupe home care workers into believing they are better off alone then in their union is just the latest way for the rich and powerful to rig the system in their favor, with potentially disastrous results for working people and the most vulnerable among us who rely on the care they provide.
An upcoming Supreme Court care, Janus v. AFSCME, would make it easier for anti-worker extremists to divide working people and weaken their collective power. George Will seems to be looking forward to the case, which is brought by the same extremist groups and funded by the same dark money.
All of which makes George Will just another GOP Grinch this Christmas.
