At the risk of sounding cold and callous, I have to ask, haven’t these unemployment ‘benefits’ dragged on for just about long enough? And as loudly as the Democrats are screaming that they need to be extended, I can’t help but feel that they’re only trying to have it both ways. I mean let’s face it, they heavily manipulate the unemployment numbers to the point where they are no longer in any way realistic in an attempt tp make it ‘appear’ as if unemployment is actually going down, while at the same time declaring that there is a need to keep paying Americans who have already been paid going on their third year not to work. One imbecilic House Democrat, Sheila Jackson Lee, even thinks it appropriate to provide unemployment ‘benefits’ to individuals who are working.
So now with a Senate vote on extending unemployment ‘benefits’ yet again to more than 1 million Americans scheduled for Monday evening, it remains unclear whether there will be sufficient Republican support for the bipartisan plan to pass. Personally, I would hope that there is not. A proposal by Republican Sen. Dean Heller of Nevada and Democratic Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island would provide benefits to about 1.3 million eligible workers for three months, costing roughly $6.5 billion. So how much sense does that make? Are we suddenly supposed to believe that those who haven’t bothered looking for a job up to this point, will suddenly do so in the next three months? In my younger days when I was unemployed I had 26 weeks to find a job, not three years.
While this plan is said to have the support of Heller and, of course, all 55 Democrats, many GOP senators have said they won't back the program because it does not include any way to pay for the benefits. Those speaking on behalf of Republican Sens. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, Johnny Isakson of Georgia, Rob Portman of Ohio and Roger Wicker of Mississippi, all states with high unemployment rates, have said that the legislators will vote against the Reed-Heller proposal. Aides to Bob Corker of Tennessee and Mark Kirk of Illinois, also states with relatively high levels of unemployment, have said that they didn't know how the senators would vote. Look, the sad fact of the matter is that few seem to realize that our country is out of money.
And then, of course, we have ‘Organizing for Action’, Barry "Almighty’s" lobbying arm, which claims to have events planned in some 30 cities for Tuesday in what I can only assume is an attempt to pressure Republicans into supporting the plan. And of course we also have any number of labor groups crawling out of the woodwork and who will be organizing phone calls to the Capitol and holding a Wednesday rally featuring unemployed workers and Democrat members of Congress who support the proposal. But a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner, reaffirmed on Sunday that he would not consider any unemployment benefit extension unless it is paid for. But then these days Boehner says a lot of things, but he simply can’t be trusted to follow through on anything.
So is there anyone other than me who recognizes it as being completely unrealistic to keep these so-called unemployment benefits going on seemingly without end? Oh sure, everyone’s talking about only a three month extension, but who among us actually thinks that at the end of that time there won’t be calls for yet another extension? Benefits have already been extended 11 times, do we really need to make it an even dozen. I for one am growing quite tired of having my tax money used to support those who, after having grown quite accustomed to receiving their ‘benefit’ check, have become quite content to spend their days watching "Jerry Springer", "Maury’s" DNA shows, or their favorite soaps. It’s time for folks to put their big boy pants on and start supporting themselves!
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