Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Unemployment is bad
And in a recession any program that succeeds at getting people back to work is a good thing. Unless you are a Republican. In case you have been asleep the last few years, the Republicans are actively opposing any policies that might help the US recover from the Great Bush Depression. Their purpose is to punish Americans for voting them out of power after 8 years of failure and putting a black man in the White House. Their aim is to regain the power they lost though it is beyond my understanding why anybody should be rewarded for trying to destroy their own country. Their latest effort in this regard is to block refunding of a very successful program.
Is there a better reason why all national Republicans need to be removed from office for the good of our country?
Congress is set to increase unemployment by not reauthorizing a fund for a subsidized jobs program that will expire on September 30, jeopardizing 240,000 jobs in 37 states.The perfidy of Republicans on display, no welfare for poor people, that is reserved for corporations and their rich friends. But it remains curious that state Republicans who have benefited from this program want it to continue.
"Unless Congress extends the fund, tens of thousands of people across the country will lose jobs -- potentially raising the unemployment rate in places with particularly large programs, such as Illinois and Los Angeles," writes LaDonna Pavetti of the progressive Center for Budget and Policy Priorities.
The stimulus bill created the jobs in question by creating an Emergency Fund to help states with their Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (welfare) programs. The TANF Emergency Fund, among other things, helped states provide jobs for people with children.
In May, the House approved a bill that would have reauthorized funding for the TANF Emergency Fund program, but the "tax extenders" measure crumbled in the Senate over deficit concerns from the right. Senate Democrats eventually dropped the TANF funding, as well as $16 billion in Medicaid assistance to states, in an effort to pass an urgent reauthorization of unemployment benefits, which lapsed for 2.5 million people before Democrats finally succeeded in breaking a Republican filibuster last week.
Republicans have targeted the program, saying the it pays poor people not to work and that it represents a backdoor effort to undo welfare reform. (Republicans outside of Congress have praised the program.)
Is there a better reason why all national Republicans need to be removed from office for the good of our country?
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