Bill Delahunt: “It is important to remember, too, we are not just talking blue collar workers here. There were people that were…”

“It is important to remember, too, we are not just talking blue collar workers here. There were people that were concerned and frightened about their jobs as middle managers. I can remember reading 2 or 3 years ago a series in The New York Times about corporate downsizing and restructuring. The victims of corporate restructuring and downsizing are out there, too. The individual that was making $65,000 or $75,000 or $85,000 a year, we should speak about him, too, because he has or she has not had an opportunity to secure a job, similar kind of employment, that exceeds in many cases more than 60 percent of what his or her income was. The gentleman spoke earlier about the small business person. Does anybody in America recognize what is happening in the community? The gentleman talked about the drugstore. I have this vivid memory of every day, on my way home from school, stopping at the independent drugstore: The individual who sponsored the Little League team, who knew my name, who traded with my parents, who was an integral part of the community. That does not happen today. That store is gone. The hardware store, that was part of the song that that folk singer sang to us. Rather than going down and getting your nails and hammer at the hardware store in our local town, where again we knew that individual and we connected with the owner, with the proprietor, he or she is also gone. Today we walk into Home Depot.…”