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It’s the Jobs, Stupid
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So the U.S. Senate ran off on vacation and left the House to pass a jobs bill that the august body won’t consider for another week, when up to 1.2 million jobless workers will have lost their unemployment insurance (UI) because the Senate failed to act.
Nice.
Expect to win any elections anytime soon? Guess not. Because what working families voters care about—job creation—clearly is no match for the chance to fire up the limos and head out of town.
This makes the third time Congress let extended UI lapse and the second time Congress left town for a recess knowing it would cause massive hardship for workers unable to find jobs.
But in the view of some lawmakers, that’s just fine because helping jobless workers feed their families only encourages them to not look for jobs. Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.)—who as Dave Johnson points out makes $174,000 with the best benefits in the nation—says jobless workers on UI “don’t want to go look for work.”
Here’s a message for Judd from Deborah, a jobless worker who commented at the AFL-CIO Now blog:
I have been a lifelong Republican. I believed that if you were willing to work, you could always find a job and support yourself and your family. Confident, even cocky I suppose, in hindsight, I generally thought that welfare was a lifestyle people chose.
After working more than 20 years at a well-paying job, I was a victim of widespread job cuts. The fact that I was a long-term employee actually worked against me as bureaucrats eagerly cut many of us who had the highest salaries to maximize their savings.
Her job ended Dec. 3 and her UI is now expired.
I have faithfully applied to job after job….What will I do when my unemployment benefits end? I am outraged that our representatives seem willing to let people go under when they have lost a job through no fault of their own and there are not enough jobs to make a dent in the jobless situation.
Not enough by a long shot: There are more than five workers for every one job, according to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). As EPI vice president Ross Eisenbrey said via MarketWatch:
People who are trying to find a job, no matter how hard they try, most will not be able to find a job in the near future. They have to have some income or they end up having their house foreclosed, or declaring bankruptcy.
Instead of stirring up class war, Judd and others should take a lesson in economics: By replacing a portion of a worker’s income, unemployment insurance benefits can support consumer demand and so fuel the economy.
Job creation is what will make the U.S. economy strong. Working family voters know that. Congress may soon, too. As AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said after Congress left jobless workers hanging:
We are in a jobs emergency—a national crisis. Millions of lives are in ruins and children are being condemned to poverty. Excuses from their elected representatives are of no help to them….Working family voters will not forget who sided with them and who did not.
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15 Comments
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Yes, Judd is an idiot! But so are Senators on both sides of the isle.
Democrat and Republican alike may find themselves in the unemployment line come November when American workers remember that they turned their backs on us.
It is just as bad to Go on Vacation and forget those who died to protect our Nation. Oh, wait that was Obama who was the First Modern US President Not to follow tradition of Honoring our fallen Vets at Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day in Favor of his own Vacation.
Great Job Commander and Thief!
You are 100% absolutely wrong about President Obama being the only modern president to follow tradition on Memorial day. Reagan in 81,83, and 87, George H.W Bush in all four years did not attend, W. Bush in 02 and Clinton in eight years didn’t miss a one. So quitting listening to Mike Savage get the facts first before you quote.
People making six figures don’t understand people who have to struggle to make ends meet.
I am a life long Democrat; I’ve been vice president of a local union, shop steward, etc. Here’s the rub. Who has the majority in the Senate? Oh, I know…the Democrats! Who has the majority in the House? Oh, I know that one…the Democrats! What party does Obama hail from? Wait…let me think…Oh I know the Democratic Party.
So when you correctly attack the Congress for leaving millions of Americans in dire circumstances…DO NOT COVER FOR THE DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP.
The result of 6 years of George W was to give the Democratic Party an overwhelming majority in the Congress. The result of the Obama Administration and 4 years to Democratic Party Control has produced a circumstance where the majority of Americans are disgusted with both parties.
So…if you want to help working people, or in this case, unemployed working people…STOP RUNNING COVER FOR THE COWARDLY AND CORRUPT DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSIONAL AND WHITEHOUSE LEADERSHIP!
I agree. The two parties are using the unions along with the rest of the mice behind the pied piper. Democrats will trade American’s jobs for votes of illegals and the republicans trade the unionized work force of America for the cheap wage of the non American labor force. Why aren’t we watching out for the American worker in America. Wake up union brothers and sisters, we’re getting sold out.
BTW..I am a union officer. Somebody cuss me out if i’m wrong.
What has happened without extending benefits is a culmination of neglect of the American worker by not only this Congress but this President and past Congress’ and Presidents of the past 30+ years. yes, we are in a very tough economic period and as a business owner, I might have to close my business after 40 years because many people have no money to buy anything other than the necessities, if even that.
What presidents and congress have in the past have signed treaties and agreements, like Nafta and with the WTO, to send our jobs overseas instead of taking care of us, the American people. So, no one really should be surprised that with an economic downturn like we’ve had for a couple of years, and many jobs we have taken for granted being done overseas, that so many people are jobless and benefits running out.
Maybe it is time to turn back the clock and start electing from the President on down, real working people like truck drivers, factory workers, mom & pop store owners, mom & pop farmers & etc to be elected officials and NOT PROFESSIONAL POLITICIANS or COLLEGE GRADUATES WHO GO STRAIGHT FROM COLLEGE TO GOVERNMENT WORK.
I have come to believe that the US Congress is not just corrupted by corporate influence, but that it has become itself a “corporation.” I say this in all seriousness and from experience. I worked as a US Navy civilian in the blue collar trades (machinist) for 31 years. During that time, the Civil Service was hollowed out; a new retirement system based on the stock market was implemented; the Navy, or at least the command that directs ship building and repair (NAVSEA) began to call itself a corporation, repeatedly, obviously, in daily briefings, in policy, and in management style. Instead of Destroyermen, Jet Jockies or Sub Drivers taking the helm of the Shipyard, more and more pencil pushers with MBAs became ascendant.
The private yards that build the ships are monopolies. They have been closely integrated into the ‘one shipyard” concept, meaning that the high standards of the US Government for safety, work practices and integrity are at grave risk.
The brazen and self-serving ethos of Congress reflects the same cavalier attitude of transnational corporations regarding treatment of workers, and “externalities” like an uncontrolled gusher of toxic petroleum into the Gulf of Mexico.
Logic and observation leads me to the conclusion that the three major divisions of our Federal Government have been captured by this amoral ethos. The government itself has become corporate, and we as workers are fodder for their avarice.
The Democratic Congress will not get any excuses put up by me, They are just as bad as Judd Greg and the rest of the Republican Party. But if you think it is bad now wait until the Republicans get back in power they will finish what they started in sending jobs out of country. I hope you have a skill in Fry Cooking and Waiter work, because that will be all that’s left. Oh, and by the way, maybe they will start a couple more wars to support their War Machine Base.
November is coming and who will need to go?Those that are self-centered,caring for no one but themselves.Let these a-holes know what happens when they ignore the needs of the average voting worker in November!!!
If we are so concerened about Jobs than how come we are not opposed to ilieagle’s doing our jobs?
I have to agree with Fox Trot , no one [ elected official]really cares about getting the jobs back there just putting on the show. And the republicans don’t care if you starve to death when you run out of unemployment
Good Article.
This is what I think about Senator Gregg and what he and the other Senators should do.
http://keepamericaatwork.com/?p=8749
I don’t have a way to get it out there in front of them, but perhaps ya’ll can.
Regards,
Virgil
http://www.KeepAmericaAtWork.com
Hey Sen. Gregg. Let my unemployeed wife come over to visit you. After working for 12years, she was let go because she was the only person to do her job. 6 months have gone by, no job, alot of tears, lost her desire to eat & her husband me, trying to get unemployment disability insurance which my doctors were shocked that I didn’t get. So, don’t say people don’t want to work, we do. I suggest that you reread,”A Christmas Carol”. We could wind up homeless.
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Joe keep drinking that Fox “news” cool-aid and believe all the BS THEY FEED YOU!!
There are plenty of jobs to be done.
The infrastructure of the country needs fixing, There are waste sites that need cleaning, Offer to teach folks how to be farmers and supply them with the necessary tools and help. We need more teachers, doctors, nurses, etc. These are just a few ideas.
As far as the money goes to do all this, well we’re printing trillions of dollars of the stuff. We just need a formula that addresses capitalism in a way that allows for our inate greed, but has some price controls built in. Nixon applied wage and price controls in the 70′s and it was successful. I don’t know why it was stopped. Probably because the big money folks don’t like the idea of controls, and still like the idea of the so called free market system, which is a joke. Money is just a tool. We can use it to create prosperity and peace. I tend to simplify, but i know it can be done. I’m surprised some smart guy like Bill Gates hasn’t come up with something. Promote Soliditary!