Former Vice President Joe Biden urged displaced coal miners to take up coding and computer programming on Monday during a campaign swing through New Hampshire.
Biden, who recently claimed that blue-collar job losses should not stand in the way of a greener economy, made the comment while discussing his plans for expanding “jobs of the future” if elected in 2020. The former vice president, in particular, suggested retraining programs were the key for workers in industries hardest hit by globalization and increased environmental regulations, especially those in the coal mines of Appalachia.
“Anybody who can go down 3,000 feet in a mine can sure as hell learn to program as well,” Biden told an audience in Derry, New Hampshire. “Anybody who can throw coal into a furnace can learn how to program, for God’s sake!”
Leftist Voters Elect Convicted Killer to City Council
New MAMDANI Act would block federal funds to NYC after socialist’s inauguration
Russia drawing up plans to conduct nuclear tests after Trump announcement
Developing: As News of Christian Massacres in Nigeria Spreads Sen. Tuberville Joins Trump, Is Ready to Blast Islamist Butchers Back to the Stone Age
Florida sheriff welcomes New Yorkers after Mamdani win: ‘It can be the beginning of a new life’
Dozens of swastikas painted in human blood daubed on property across German city
‘Wake up!’ NRA warns after progressives sweep elections
Fox News ‘Antisemitism Exposed’ Newsletter: New York’s new mayor leaves city’s Jewish community terrified
House conservatives back new funding deal to end shutdown, reject ‘wasteful’ Obamacare subsidies
Law students eager to fight corrosive campus ‘cancel culture’ spreading nationwide
As Left Celebrated Predictable 2025 Victories, Dem Rep Made 2026 Move That Indicates How Party Will Fare in Midterms
Bombshell: James Comey’s NY Prosecutor Daughter Offered Epstein Freedom if He Would Implicate Trump in Sex Crimes, Cellmate Claims
New Jersey election post-mortem: What caused Ciattarelli and other GOP losses?
Obama’s DOJ laid the groundwork for the politicization Democrats now decry
Dems Successfully Ran Against Reagan in First Off-Year Elections, But Then the Economic Boom Took Hold
The former vice president’s comments come only weeks after he pledged at the sixth Democrat primary debate to “sacrifice” economic growth and potentially “displace thousands or hundreds of thousands of blue-collar workers” in the interests of a “greener economy.”
“The answer is yes because the opportunity for those workers to transition to high paying jobs is real,” Biden told the audience.
Regardless of the former vice president’s claim, job retraining and other transitionary programs for displaced workers have mostly failed to live up to their promise. Retraining programs are often a poor fit for blue-collar workers, an overwhelming majority of whom tend to be older and lack a college education, in terms of skill set and technological literacy. Even more troubling is that the jobs eligible for retraining often are either in short supply in areas hardest hit by globalization and automation, or pay significantly less than those initially displaced.
For instance, the average pay a coal miner can expect to make, under a contract negotiated by the United Mine Workers of America union, “comes out to at least $61,650 a year, and closer to $85,000 a year with overtime.” This does not include healthcare, pension, and other benefits usually offered by such jobs. Meanwhile, the jobs available after workforce retraining generally tend to be lower-paid hourly wage positions.
Leftist Voters Elect Convicted Killer to City Council
New MAMDANI Act would block federal funds to NYC after socialist’s inauguration
Russia drawing up plans to conduct nuclear tests after Trump announcement
Developing: As News of Christian Massacres in Nigeria Spreads Sen. Tuberville Joins Trump, Is Ready to Blast Islamist Butchers Back to the Stone Age
Florida sheriff welcomes New Yorkers after Mamdani win: ‘It can be the beginning of a new life’
Dozens of swastikas painted in human blood daubed on property across German city
‘Wake up!’ NRA warns after progressives sweep elections
Fox News ‘Antisemitism Exposed’ Newsletter: New York’s new mayor leaves city’s Jewish community terrified
House conservatives back new funding deal to end shutdown, reject ‘wasteful’ Obamacare subsidies
Law students eager to fight corrosive campus ‘cancel culture’ spreading nationwide
As Left Celebrated Predictable 2025 Victories, Dem Rep Made 2026 Move That Indicates How Party Will Fare in Midterms
Bombshell: James Comey’s NY Prosecutor Daughter Offered Epstein Freedom if He Would Implicate Trump in Sex Crimes, Cellmate Claims
New Jersey election post-mortem: What caused Ciattarelli and other GOP losses?
Obama’s DOJ laid the groundwork for the politicization Democrats now decry
Dems Successfully Ran Against Reagan in First Off-Year Elections, But Then the Economic Boom Took Hold
Biden, himself, should be aware of such circumstances. A study measuring the impact of retraining programs, both existing ones and those began under the Obama administration, found that while they helped enrollees find work faster, there was little proof such programs led individuals to jobs of equal or higher wage to those they lost.
Despite such evidence, Biden has not only continued touting the idea of job retraining, but has also promised to ban energy sources such as coal, fracking, and other fossil fuels if elected president—to the detriment of millions of workers in those fields.
Story cited here.
