Workers Get Little Respect

I thought Paul Krugman was being hyperbolic in the last sentence of the following paragraph:

It’s all hard to imagine now. Not the bit about financial crisis and wage cuts — that’s going on all around us. Not the bit about the state serving the interests of the wealthy — look at who got bailed out, and who didn’t, after our latter-day version of the Panic of 1893. No, what’s unimaginable now is that Congress would unanimously offer even an empty gesture of support for workers’ dignity. For the fact is that many of today’s politicians can’t even bring themselves to fake respect for ordinary working Americans [emphasis mine].

However, it's 12:35 pm on Labor Day and I have checked the Twitter feeds of Speaker John Boehner, Harry Reid, Eric Cantor, Nancy Pelosi, and Mitch McConnell's press office. (McConnell apparently doesn't have his own account.) I also checked the timelines of Kristi Noem, John Thune, and Tim Johnson.

Only Eric Cantor has a tweet honoring working people. Strangely, it's from his @GOPLeader account not his @EriCantor account.

Today, let us honor the hard working men and women who have built this great nation.
— Eric Cantor (@GOPLeader) September 2, 2013

Nancy Pelosi also has a tweet about Labor Day. She tweeted it on August 30, and it seems to be an effort to create a political issue rather than show respect for American workers.

On Labor Day, we renew our resolve to build a future that ensures a full day’s pay for an honest day’s work & equal opportunity for all.
— Nancy Pelosi (@NancyPelosi) August 30, 2013

Jean Giraudoux famously said, "The secret of success is sincerity. Once you can fake that you've got it made." I'll offer the Plainsman corollary: if you can't get people to feign respect for you, you're totally screwed.