WASHINGTON, D.C.—Edward Wytkind, president of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), issued the following statement today regarding the results of the 2014 midterm elections:
“Last night, voters had a chance to express their views on the state of our politics and our country. They doled out low grades to almost everyone. With that in mind, we now move forward, resolved as ever to shift the debate away from senseless wedge issues intended as little more than petty schoolyard attacks, and toward the economy and modernization of our failing transportation infrastructure.
“Indeed, the landscape in Washington has changed; these pendulum swings occur every few years. What hasn’t changed is that too many politicians talk a good game in their states and congressional districts about the need to create jobs, expand the shrinking middle class, and boost America’s economy, but act very differently when they’re in Washington. Too many lawmakers seem indifferent at best to the long-term economic consequences of sitting still – or even worse, embracing dangerous austerity policies – as our transportation system slides into a severe state of disrepair.
“The results of these elections aren’t simply about the fortunes of a political party. Last night was about a nation where in exit polls, 8 in 10 voters gave lawmakers – most of whom are returning for another term – a resounding thumbs down. Clearly, Americans have grown weary of elected officials who fail to get things done and who push legislative gimmicks to placate their base instead of embracing policies that create jobs and put our economy on a stronger footing.
“So as we have done for more than two decades, we will mine both sides of the aisle for lawmakers who want to work with us to protect the rights and jobs of working people and to find bipartisan solutions to the transportation investment deficit that has become a noose around our economy.”
CONTACT: Elizabeth Weinberg, elizabethw@ttd.org, 202-628-9262