In view of the Republican blockage of the Democrat's proposed jobless benefits bill, all the usual class warfare lingo so beloved of the Left has had a fresh airing, especially by the Kommissar-In-Chief.
"It's time to do what's right, not for the next election, but for the middle class," Obama said in a presidential statement in the Rose Garden this morning. He accused the Republicans of being out of touch,lacking compassion and of poisoning small puppies, and he was joined by the usual suspects.
The Republicans response? They simply want to know where the $34 billion to fund it is going to come from.
"Everyone agrees on extending the additional unemployment insurance, but the Democrat way is to insist we add it to the national debt at the same time, while blocking Republican efforts to pass the same extension without the debt," said Don Stewart, spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
Considering that the Democrats and the White House have not even bothered to submit a budget for this year to a vote, but simply 'deemed it passed', these are not exactly inconsequential concerns. Especially when you have an administration that has quadrupled the deficit in a mere 18 months.
To those of you wondering where the money to fund yet another federal extension of your unemployment benefits went, here's the answer: Obama and his pals already spent it.
4 comments:
It is so much easier to make other people pay for your mistakes. Instead of creating jobs the Obama administraiton is creating more debt which will eventually lead to higher and higher unemployment. The unemployment numbers are also a sham. It is not that there have been jobs created , it is that people in droves have stopped looking for work because quite franly it is fruitless.
That being said, there are families suffering in the immediate and that unemployment check is what keep them in their home and being able to put some food on the table. Unfortunately we must help these people in the short term until we can get rid of that Nothing and his Mao/Che/Chavez/Castro/Marx loving advisors.
Well and good, IP. Let's help the unemployed.
Now show me what you're willing to cut to help pay for it or what you're going to do to raise the money - that President Obama and the Democrats would go along with.
Eliminate the Department of Education? Lay off superfluous Federal workers? Cut off the almost one billion in aid we've pledged to the 'Palestinians' and the $500 million in baksheesh we're giving to Pakistan? Sell off Federal properties? Cut the clandestine funding for ACORN and the SEIU in ObamaCare and the Financial 'reform' bill?
Just like in your home and mine, when you want something, you have to figure out how to pay for it.
Regards,
Rob
I agree with FF in principle. Find a way to pay for the extension of benefits. As for the cuts to spending suggested by FF to pay for this, I agree with every one of them, however, I would add some areas as well.
Cutting off aid to the Palestinians is certainly an excelllent place to start. It seems insanely dumb to be giving a billion dollars to an enemy, as the Palestinians are. In addition to this, I would eliminate ALL foreign aid to EVERYONE for a minimum of five years. This should give us ample time to conduct a top down review of this to determine where it is best spent to serve our interests.
Also, withdraw all troops from Iraq and Afghanistan immediately and redeploy them to defensible positions along our borders. In addition, the fleet of air craft carriers should be cut while the nuclear arsenal should be expanded and upgraded. This gives us greater utility for our national security interests and it saves money.
While I agree with FF in principle, Mr. Obama and his team are playing politics with this. They can extend unemployment benefits right now. They don't need the Republicans. As I've discussed here and elsewhere before, pass the extension in the House, pick off enough Republicans to avoid a filibuster, and sign the bill into law. If all this fails, use "reconciliation" or whatever. If that fails too, sign an executive order. In any event the Democrats are playing politics with this.
It appears the extension of these benefits has cleared the Senate. Robert Byrd's replacement apparently will give the D's they need to clear a filibuster by the R's.
Actually the D's could have gotten this through a long time ago. Getting enough votes to stop a filibuster by the R's has never been particularly difficult. Instead they let this drag out. They could have let this drag out a few more weeks. The D's must have concluded that they get better political benefits by getting this through now than by letting it drag out a few weeks and blame the R's for it.
Actually the best thing both the D's and the R's could do for the economy and those who are jobless is to GET THE GOVERNMENT OUT OF THE WAY OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR!! In today's overly burdsome regulatory environment few employers want to take on additional workers right now.
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