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Friday, October 17,
2008
Biden Helping A
Working Family: An Untold Story
by Stephen Crockett, co-host of
Democratic Talk Radio
Very early on the morning that Senator Biden flew
to the nation of Georgia as the Russian-Georgian war was cooling down,
I received a phone call from a labor activist friend of mine from the
Eastern Region of the Laborers (LIUNA) union. The caller was Brian
McGlinchey. He asked me if I could get in touch with a certain
Laborers Local 199 member who was facing foreclosure and was trying to
support a family of ten (now eleven as a new son was born two weeks
ago). McGlinchey explained that the Senator Biden personally wanted to
discuss the difficulty facing this working family to see if he could
be of assistance.
I immediately called the wife of James Yetman,
the union construction worker whose family was facing the loss of
their home, at their house. She explained that James was already on
the job. She gave me his cell phone number. As I fired up my coffee
pot and started dialing James Yetman, I looked at my clock. It was
6:45am. I thought to myself, “How can a working man already on the job
at this hour be facing foreclosure?”
I already knew the answer. James had a wife who
was unable to work because of a uncurable serious chronic health
condition and because she was nearly 8 months pregnant. She had 5
children from a previous marriage when she married James. They had 3
more together (not counting the one on the way at that time). James
had been out of work for an extended length of time during the winter.
Fuel, food, medical, insurance and heating expenses had exploded
during the past year. They were being squeezed from every direction.
They had been victims of a mortgage that I had
viewed as predatory when I examined it. It was certainly more than
they could afford on their income. They had not had many options other
than agreeing to the lenders terms since it is almost impossible to
find landlords willing to rent to such a large family. Section 8
housing had been severely underfunded by the Bush White House and
their Republican allies in Congress. They were going to get no help
from the Bush Administration. Maybe, just maybe, Biden might be able
to help.
I managed to get James on the phone as I sipped
on my first cup of coffee. I had great difficulty getting him to agree
to meet Senator Biden. James did not want to miss the hours of work.
He neede the money. This was before Senator Biden had been selected as
the Democratic Vice Presidential candidate. James finally relented
when I told him that Biden was on a banking committee in the US Senate
and was his best chance of keeping his home.
James checked with his boss and called me back
after getting approval to leave for the meeting with Biden. I picked
him up from his job site in Newark, Delaware. We drove to Wilmington,
Delaware to meet Biden at Angelo’s Luncheonette. We arrived a little
early.
Angelo’s is a really small, working class
neighborhood establishment with excellent and inexpensive food. I was
surprised that the Senator would pick a place like this to meet. It
had no reporters hanging around nor the usual political crowd that
frequent the kind of public places where I had normally met other
political figures in the past. I liked it immediately.
I had ordered lunch for James and myself when
three of the leaders of Laborers Local 199 walked in the door. They
were Business Manager William Carter, Vice President James Maravelias
and Business Agent Toby Lamb. They explained that they were there to
show their support for the union member facing foreclosure.
They were very concerned about the plight of the
family. I understood their position. Non-union members often do not
understand that members of the union movement really do consider each
other as members of the same union “family.” We call each other
brothers and sisters. The really active members and the leaders really
mean it!
We were all finishing our lunch together when
Biden arrived. He had his sister Valerie with him and several staff
members. I was really surprised that no press were in attendance
although one of the staffers had a camera. We persuaded the staffer to
take some photos. I am really glad they did since many friends of the
Yetman family refused to believe the story about the meeting without
the photos.
There were maybe another ten customers and
workers in Angelo’s Luncheonette besides the five of us from labor.
Biden gave everyone considerable personal time and attention before
talking to us. Everyone wanted their photo taken with Biden. Most had
personal stories to share or previous personal meetings to discuss
with the Senator. It was easy to see that Biden was at home in this
middle class and working class neighborhood. He was one of them who
had made good and not forgotten them.
Eventually, Biden made it to the back of the
establishment where we were sitting. He remembered the local union
leaders and talked with them briefly. They introduced James Yetman to
Senator Biden. James was visibly nervious at first but the Senator
quickly put him at ease. Soon they were deeply involved in
conversation.
You could see the deep concern on Biden’s face as
Yetman started giving the Senator the details of the problem. I did
not hear much of the conversation except when Biden exclaimed at one
point “nine children!” and when he called to his staff for a pen and
paper to take notes.
A few minutes longer into the conversation, I saw
Biden get out his cell phone to start making calls on behalf of the
Yetman family. I was shocked. I have been a political activist for
nearly 40 years and had never seen a sitting US Senator make calls on
behalf of a voter immediately at any meeting or event. His cell phone
could not get a signal so Biden called for his staff to get him one
that worked in Angelo’s. They passed him one and he started making
calls on the spot.
Later, I learned that Biden knew the Yetman’s
currently lived in Oxford, Pennsylvania and could not even vote for
the Senator in Delaware. James Yetman had once been a Delaware
resident but now voted in Pennsylvania. Remember this meeting happened
before Biden was selected by Obama as the Democratic Vice Presidential
nominee. Biden was doing the right thing for this working family even
when there were no votes to be gained or reporters present. He was
just being Biden.
As we were leaving Angelo’s Luncheonette, Biden
noticed my union pins.I was wearing my UAW, USW, OPEIU and Delaware
AFL-CIO ones. Biden told me how much he appreciated the support the
workers of Delaware have given him over his carrer.
The last person Biden spoke with was James Yetman.
He called James by name. Biden promised him that he would continue
looking into his mortgage foreclosure problem. The last thing I heard
Biden say was “you have my word.”
As I was driving James Yetman back to his job
site, his cell phone rang. It was the first of many calls from
Washington, D.C. and Biden’s Delaware Senate office. Every few days,
Biden’s Senate office called or wrote the Yetman family. The contacts
continue to this day. The Yetman’s have even received calls from the
Biden family about their foreclosure problem. Biden has certainly kept
his word.
The Yetman family is still facing foreclosure.
This family may yet be out on the streets if their mortgage company
will not cooperate. It will not be because Senator Joe Biden did not
intervene on their behalf. It will not be because Biden does not care.
Biden is a real friend of working families even
when there is absolutely nothing in it for him politically. Biden
truly cares and truly understands working Americans. We need him as a
leading voice in the Executive Branch of the federal government. We
need him as Vice President. If he had been setting government policies
and priorities in the White House during the past 8 years, millions of
working families might not be facing foreclosure today.
Written by Stephen
Crockett (co-host of Democratic Talk Radio
http://www.DemocraticTalkRadio.com ).
Mail: P.O. Box 283, Earleville, Maryland
21919. Phone: 443-907-2367. Email:
midsouthcm@aol.com .
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