http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/contributors/1807Stephen Crockett: Biden Helping A Working Family: An Untold Story
Submitted by BuzzFlash on Thu, 10/16/2008 - 2:16pm. Guest Contribution
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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 nervous 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 U.S. 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 Yetmans 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 career.
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 Yetmans 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.
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