Instead of talking about the latest media talk about Chris Christie and 'BridgeGate', I have decided to keep on a topic that is important to the American people, and that would be 'unemployment insurance' and 'job creation' and not discuss 'watergate' on this blog, at least not until more details regarding it are uncovered.
All of the quotes I've actually come across during the last couple of days from members of the hill just seem to disgust me. Starting with Mr. Mitch O'Connell who says "It's only when you believe that government is the answer to all of your problems (for example) when you talk about unemployment insurance instead of job creation". Even President Ronald Reagan stated " Government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem". The Republicans are saying that we must keep the big picture in mind, that finding jobs for people are more important than helping people with unemployment insurance that still do not have that job, and at no fault of their own. Rush Limbaugh said on his talk show program, " What is unemployment insurance? It is paying people not to work" Are you kidding me?!?!?! Talk about people out of touch with society.
These guys will be the first to tell you that there shouldn't be anyone out of work, and proof of this is the fact of the success of the stock market, now at record highs. So who does the stock market actually help? Does it help the poor or does it help the rich? Without question, the stock markets help the rich, as the poor have no means to contribute to the economy other than to put back into it for living expenses what unemployment provides, and that would be money for food, money for gasoline, money to heat their homes, money for clothes, and money to survive.
Mr. Rush Limbaugh and others with this type of thinking, and the one Senator that comes to the top of my mind is Senator Rand Paul. These guys actually believe that people who are unemployed are using the system to get free money, and do not want to work. First, I'd like to see one instance of proof of this statement that people would rather collect unemployment than provide for their family with a good-paying job. That's the other issue. The minimum wage of this country has been stagnant, and is proof that the "rich get richer, and the poor are getting poorer". Income for the poor has been the same for years, regardless of the rise in cost of living, and the income for the rich continues to climb, along with paying incificient taxes that also contribute to a slower recovering economy.
At the moment, we are in a cross-roads in time, at the point where people with jobs and have money to live and enjoy life, and the people who do not have money, who now have to support the additional fact that their own country is letting them down, leaving them to hang out to dry not only without a job, but without any substinance to survive.
The bill that was co-sponsored by both Democrats and Republicans is only a stop-gap bill, meaning that it would fund unemployment insurance for only the next 3 months. In this amount of time, Washington needs to come up with a better plan for support for the unemployed, and not just believe that the only place for someone to be in the United States without a job is to live under a bridge or in a cardboard box. The statistics are that by the end of 2014 if something permanent can be done to help the unemployed, there will be over 4 million people without any form of income to live on.
The longer the unemployed are not being helped with necessary funding to survive, the more our economy will sink. It is now estimated that all of the economic growth that has happened under President Barack Obama's two terms in office call all be for nothing if Congress doesn't get this done, to provide unemployment insurance to 1.3 million people, as soon as possible.
The bottom line here is that the Republican party does not want to help the poor, only help the rich. They believe that if you cannot find a job, then it is your fault. They believe that this country is known to be "the land of opportunity" and that you should be able to find a job. "Any job" is not what many want, but they want a job that they qualify for. Someone with a college education should not have to resort to driving a garbage truck, or become a blue collar worker fixing streets. But many of these people, the same ones with an education, just can't seem to find the right job or any job for that matter in their field of expertise. Another fact is that for every job now available to be filled by someone, even the ones who are qualified for them, there are at least three times as many people looking to fill those jobs, which mathmatically states that there just is not enough jobs for the unemployed.
So what is the answer? According to the Republican thinking, the reason why many people do not have jobs is because they do not want a job and want to stay unemployed. Again, who can live on just unemployment benefits? So the Republican thinking is so far out of touch with the working class of this nation.