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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Respect: Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio

Respect: Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio

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It was a delight to watch this 9-minute video of Sherrod Brown this morning.

He’s so genuine, and I love his smile – you see it on and off all through the interview.  Unlike the other side, he’s a real person whose emotions and facial expressions are connected to what he is talking about.

I love his response when Lawrence O’Donnell points out that he won with 100% of the vote.

His respect for the people of Ohio shines through whenever he speaks, no matter what the topic.

Think about taking a listen.  It’s really inspirational.

Ohio peeps, and everyone else, can you share your thoughts on what Sherrod Brown has done for Ohio?  And for the rest of us.

Open thread.

Reader Interactions

48Comments

  2. 2.

    AddiePray

    My wife was head of a small Jewish school in OH in Oct 2018, when Tree of Life was shot up in Pittsburgh. Sherrod called and left her a message to please contact his office if there was anything he could do, if she had any concerns, etc. A real mensch.

  3. 3.

    Kay

    Brown is probably best known for his work on pensions. His latest pension success was also his biggest:

    WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) announced that the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) approved $35.8 billion in Special Financial Assistance (SFA) funding to the Central States Pension Fund. This means about 40,000 Ohio retirees, workers and their families keep their hard-earned pensions with no cuts. The funding is a direct result of the passage of Brown’s Butch Lewis Act which was included in the American Rescue Plan that Brown helped write and pass.

    “Today, we are putting money back in the pockets of hard-working Ohioans and are keeping our promise to union workers by restoring the retirement security they’ve earned,” said Brown. “After years of advocacy by workers, retirees, and small business owners, Democrats in Congress and this administration finally saved the pensions that union workers in Ohio earned over a lifetime, with no cuts.”

    Brown has been figting for this fix for years touring the state to stand with Ohio retirees, workers and their families, and co-chairing a Congressional Committee on the pension crisis in 2018. Those efforts led to Brown’s Butch Lewis Act being included in the American Rescue Plan, which saved the pensions of more than 100,000 Ohioans. Brown named the legislation in memory of Butch Lewis the former retired head of Teamsters Local 100 in Southwest Ohio. Without this funding, the Central States Pension Fund was expected to run out of money in 2025. Lewis’ widow, Rita Lewis, who joined Brown to lead the fight to protect the pensions of millions of Americans, shared her thoughts on the announcement.

    “Seven plus years of not giving up in the fight to save our hard-earned pensions has finally been rewarded by receipt of $30 billion dollars to secure the promise of a secure and dignified retirement,” said Rita Lewis. “My heartfelt gratitude to everyone who made this wonderful day possible especially Senator Brown, Mike Walden, former President of the NUCPP, who spearheaded our grassroots movement and especially President Biden, a man of principle who kept his promise to millions of Retirees! Without Democratic support this day would have never happened!”

    He also restored pension benefits for Delphi retireees (auto industry) – that was for salaried retired workers (not hourly) so administrative and clerical, managers, engineers, etc. They didn’t have a union to protect them like the hourly workers did, so got screwed.

    He has ads up with retired workers thanking him.

  6. 6.

    Kay

    @WaterGirl:

    I think it mostly stays within Ohio – also, you know the problems with our national media and substantive or complex issues-  although to give Ohio media credit they cover it extensively.

    These are people who earned a pension (so did not save for retirement in a tax advantaged stock plan like a 401k) and then it is just taken from them during a sale of a company or a reorganization. They’re (obviously) too old to go back and do it differently so just screwed. There are enough of them so they could be his margin in a close race in Ohio.

  10. 10.

    Kay

    Sherrod’s 2024 race to me is a test of labor – whether labor can turn voters out when they’re supporting a pro-labor Senator. The same is true nationally with Biden. It’s time for them to put up or shut up. They either support pro labor pols and policy and get them elected or they don’t. If they don’t, I don’t think anyone can blame Democrats if Democrats don’t prioritize their issues.

    They won’t get any better than Brown and Biden. They can’t fail this test.

  13. 13.

    UncleEbeneezer

    Morning everyone.  Anyone else watching Manhunt on AppleTV?  It’s a series about the hunt for John Wilkes Booth immediately after the assassination of Lincoln.  It stars Tobias Menzies as Edwin “Mars” Stanton, the Secretary of War and good friend of Lincoln who more or less led/oversaw the search effort.  Like the excellent podcast 1865, only one episode in, Manhunt is already not shying away from the likely involvement of the Confederacy in the conspiracy to kill Lincoln (a fact that most of my history books never mentioned).  It’s really good.

  14. 14.

    Kay

    @WaterGirl:

    In the past they could complain that Democratic Presidents weren’t pro labor enough – true of both Clinton and Obama. They can’t say that with Biden. The most pro labor ever.

    This is a choice. Their members can choose the financial health and security of themselves and their families OR they can choose to bitch about how much they resent black people, immigrants and women. Voting for Republicans is a luxury for them. They can indulge in these ridiculous culture wars if they want, but don’t come crying to Democrats when Trump and Merino screw you. They will.

  15. 15.

    Bupalos

    He’s an absolute mench, and quite simply does the legwork.

    Your question prompts me to consider just how responsible he is for my conversion from ‘reasonable centrist’ to flaming dem. He showed up to a small classical music event at St. Anne’s church in Cleveland Heights, probably in 1997, and gave a little speech that was really just imploring people to understand that politics was going off the rails, giving very detailed unprecedented examples of things the Gingrich crew was doing with scheduling votes at midnight or somesuch. It was completely inside baseball and made for a technically terrible speech and in a funny way was really nonpartisan and it was in no way about voting for him. It was like a public service announcement and also the most earnest and honest thing imaginable. You could really tell the guy badly wanted to do a job he was working incredibly hard at and believed in and was being prevented from doing.

    Somehow actually being exposed to these “conservative” operatives and their norm-breaking mindset through my (Heritage funded) grad school with the Neocons wasn’t as effective as that little presentation. I kind of forgot that. I owe that guy.

  17. 17.

    rikyrah

    @Kay:

    He also restored pension benefits for Delphi retireees (auto industry) – that was for salaried retired workers (not hourly) so administrative and clerical, managers, engineers, etc. They didn’t have a union to protect them like the hourly workers did, so got screwed.

    He has ads up with retired workers thanking him

     

    CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP

  18. 18.

    RevRick

    We have a bunch of vulnerable Democrats defending Senate seats in this cycle, Montana (Jon Tester) and Ohio foremost among them. But we also need to support Jacky Rosen in Nevada, Tammy Baldwin in Wisconsin, Ruben Gallegos in Arizona, and likely Elissa Slokin in Michigan. My Senator, Bob Casey, seems pretty safe. Much as I loathe Ted Cruz and Rick Scott, they are probably safe, unless Joe Biden wins Texas and Florida, in which case it’s a Democratic landslide and pop the champagne.

  19. 19.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Kay:

    In the past they could complain that Democratic Presidents weren’t pro labor enough – true of both Clinton and Obama. They can’t say that with Biden. The most pro labor ever.

    Oh, I’ve seen some of that anyway, about blocking the railroad strike. “Union Joe, what a joke.”

  20. 20.

    Kay

    Ohio is unusual because it is the only state with pro union STATE policies and a substantial union presence that is also (now) a red state so they’re essentially “free loaders” on people in other states who vote for Democrats. They could shift that with Sherrod in 2024, so we’ll see.

  22. 22.

    Kay

    @Matt McIrvin:

    That was just ignorance though. Freddie deBoar, who is just lazy, wrote an entire whiny essay about Biden and railway workers AFTER it had become clear that Biden did not screw them. His entire essay was wrong, and wrong because he didn’t read anything. He writes for the NYTimes! Jesus Christ, buddy. Pick up a newspaper. Get current.

    They don’t actually follow labor issues, our ridiculous and useless  “Left”. None of them know anything about unions or labor policy. It’s like they have some vague notion of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire and that’s where the thought and analysis ends.

  23. 23.

    Bupalos

    @Kay: I’m considering doing some burma-shave down rt. 82.

    “DON’T LET MERINO PULL THE WOOL OVER YOUR EYES”

    “DON’T LET MORONO MAKE US ALL STUPID!”

    HOWEVER YOU SPELL IT

    WE CAN ALL SMELL IT

    A PILE OF MERENO BRINGS FLIES.

  27. 27.

    Jackie

    @RevRick: Very true. We will ALL be dancing in the streets should Colin Allred oust Cancun Cruz!

    I don’t know who’s running opposite of Scott – not enough national exposure? Although that hopefully changes as election season heats up!

  28. 28.

    AM in NC

    @UncleEbeneezer: Mr. AM in NC and I are watching this, and it was news to me about the Confederate Secret Service plot.  Interested to see more of this series and to read more about this conspiracy and why it might have been memory-holed.  A LOT of people were reasonably invested in NOT going back to war immediately after the surrender.

  29. 29.

    Jackie

    WaterGirl, I watched LO’D’s interview last night, and you’re right; Sherrod Brown is a true asset to the Democratic Party.

  31. 31.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Kay: This was actually a good moment for Erik Loomis, who was operating in his area of expertise and was skeptical of the “Biden screwed the railroad workers” narrative from jump. In part because he knew how rare it was for a US administration of either party to not be totally anti-union.

    (In other areas, like immigration policy, he totally buys the “Biden is almost as bad as Trump” line.)

  32. 32.

    Jager

    In 1999 my wife and I bought a Mercedes Benz from the car store Bernie Moreno ran in Boston. We had a terrific salesman. Our sales guy was walking my wife through the ins and outs of our shiny new car when Bernie pulled him aside and started a long conversation, while my wife and I watched his performance and waited. After about 10 minutes Bernie walked away and never acknowledged the couple who just dropped close to 60 Grand in his store. He is a real asshole, Brown is right, Moreno is all about Moreno.

  33. 33.

    Salty Sam

    He’s so genuine, and I love his smile…

    In fairness, I’ve seen Ted Cruz smile.  It caused babies to cry…

  34. 34.

    JML

    @Matt McIrvin: yeah, I know some lefties who do that too. (Funny, they were all the kind of Bernie people who bashed Biden for not having perfect fidelity and ignored Bernie’s record on say, guns.) Biden’s been fantastic for Labor, the most pro-union president since…LBJ? Truman?

    Every GOP president has been bad for Labor. Obama was…mostly ok? Wasn’t a priority for him but he was bad for teachers. Clinton…not great. manufacturing got slammed under him and they didn’t navigate free trade well for Labor, and his triangulation often left unions twisting in the wind. Carter? Congress did all the heavy lifting there, but it was a tough era for unions as they were needing a  major transition and cleanup in leadership.

    I hope Union Joe keeps pushing things forward for unions. the only people really mad about it are the millionaire and billionaire class, and they can go fuck themselves. With a chainsaw.

    Sherrod’s great. Is he just unique, or is there a real reason someone like him hasn’t been able to rise up in Missouri, Indiana, Iowa, or state like that?

  35. 35.

    Ohio Mom

    it didn’t get anywhere but in my book, Brown gets tons of credit for trying to raise the SSI asset limit (this was a couple of years ago) (one day I’ll figure out how to put a box around excerpted and quoted materials).

    “Today U.S. Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) announced the first bipartisan, bicameral push in decades to reform the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, which has not been updated in nearly 40 years and currently punishes older and disabled Americans for saving for emergencies and their futures.

    …Right now, individuals receiving SSI benefits are limited to $2,000 in assets; for married couples it’s $3,000. The average current monthly benefit is $585 for individuals. For approximately 60% of recipients, SSI is their only source of income…The Savings Penalty Elimination Act would raise those caps, which have not been changed since 1984, to $10,000 for individuals and $20,000 for married couples, and index them to inflation moving forward.

    “The government shouldn’t punish seniors and Ohioans with disabilities who do the right thing and save money, said Sen. Brown. It’s long past time we end these out-of-date government restrictions and allow Americans on SSI to save for emergencies and for their futures without putting the benefits they rely on to live at risk.”

    (https://www.brown.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/brown-cassidy-announce-first-bipartisan-bicameral-bill-in-decades-to-update-supplemental-security-income-program)

    I should note that there are ways around the limit — a special needs trust is one — but not everyone has the wherewithal to hire an attorney to shelter funds.

    Like a lot of social safety net programs, it’s punative, to say the least. Disabled people who can’t support themselves are consigned to poverty, Brown’s proposal would have given them a little breathing room.

    I expect he’ll try again, assuming a Blue Wave.

  36. 36.

    Suzanne

    @Kay:

    This is a choice. Their members can choose the financial health and security of themselves and their families OR they can choose to bitch about how much they resent black people, immigrants and women. 

    But saltiness is just sooooo tempting!

  40. 40.

    Jackie

    @Jager:

    Moreno is all about Moreno

    #1 requirement for being a rethuglican.

    Being for your constituents FIRST before self and Party gets you primaried.

  42. 42.

    Ohio Mom

    @Bupalos: When is the next redistricting vote? Will that be in November, and will that bring out Brown voters?

    (I signed the petition but otherwise I haven’t been following Round 2 of un-gerrymandering Ohio).

    I understand why you rue the timing of the abortion rights vote but you can’t be upset at the results.

  43. 43.

    WaterGirl

    @Betty: A true statesman.  We have a lot of them.

    I am struggling to come up with EVEN ONE true REPUBLICAN statesman currently serving in in congress.

    edited to add REPUBLICAN, which I had inadvertently left off!

  44. 44.

    Ishiyama

    @WaterGirl:

    @Betty: A true statesman.  We have a lot of them.

    I am struggling to come up with EVEN ONE true statesman currently serving in in congress.

    I’m uncertain what sort of person qualifies as “statesman”. AOC or Tammy Baldwin?

  45. 45.

    sab

    Every time I have called Brown’s office with a problem or a question his people have called me back. Not true of Portman or Vance.

  47. 47.

    Ohio Mom

    @sab: In my experience, most of the time, Portman’s office never answered the phone, and often the voice mailbox was full; Brown’s staff never lets it ring long at all. Haven’t had the heart to bother calling Vance, what is the use? is my feeling.

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