It's not odd that I can support the Tea Party, Fox News, and the Conservatives...and then criticize them too. No one person or organization is perfect.
The unemployed are NOT the root of today's budget woes, or the cause of the waste and fraud in Washington's spending. Just as during the Great Depression, the unemployed are the victims of poor government policy and of financial institutional risks. (Google "The Money Masters" for more on this argument).
Most of the unemployed are not lazy kids living with mom and dad. I would guess that most are parents trying to raise their children, and using unemployment benefits as their only source of income (which is below the poverty level).
And I would also guess that they aren't lazy; that most held full-time jobs and worked hard all their life.
To attack these people (whose political associations have no bearing on their present predicament), is not only morally wrong, but naively miss-guided.
I understand the frustration of out-of-control government spending, but shoving unemployed people on the streets will not solve your problems...but probably will only make them worse.
Why was the focus re-directed from government ineptness and corruption, and passed to the unemployed? Because of a failure for the citizens to correct the real problems? Were unemployed people an easier target to blame for this country's ills?
The Jobs Bill was insanely MEAGER compared to what we give to charities and in foreign aide alone. Why diss your neighbors, brothers and sisters, and your own countrymen for all the woes of the country today? Don't you think most would rather have a job?
I believe they would. There's something to said about the pride one feels for a job well done; the pride of getting up and going to work - to survive. Accepting "hand-outs" is shameful for most, but an economic reality. Food and shelter comes before pride - surviving to live and be proud another day.
A job occupies their time during the day; sitting in front of a TV watching re-runs get very old, very fast. Co-workers are a pleasure to be around for most people - experiencing a comradery that can't be found at home. Time spent on the job offers diversity during the day, and new experiences. A beer after work with your co-workers can't be matched to standing in line to collect an unemployment check.
The unemployed know hardships that they have no control over, and feel the desperation and shame and helplessness that someone WITH a job could never understand. They are not PROUD to be out of work, and sometimes end their life because they are.
The unemployed wants better for themselves and/or their families, not less. But the unemployed must make due with what they have...no shopping, movies, or restaurants.
Yet the people who are out of work must now contend with ridicule as well...
I'm conservative but very concerned about the conservative's (and Fox News) attack on the unemployed (which by the way, could be up to 20% of the population!)
All the Liberal blogs says the Tea Party supports Senator Bunning (which they do), as does Fox News. But consider this:
$780 billion went for TARP to help the banks, but they still foreclosed on mortgages and raised interest rates. (Too many people have already fallen behind in their mortgage payments and lost their home. The banks didn't want to renegotiate their adjustable-rate mortgages to conventional 30-year loans at 5% or 6% - - - and keeping the property occupied and maintained, while upholding the housing market prices. Instead, those homes were abandoned, vandalized, and fell in disrepair. Now some of those evicted families are living in their cars.)
The Stimulus Bill (now projected to be $821 billion) went for waste and fraud (much going to jobs in foreign countries).
$180 billion went to AIG (who wants another $10 billion more) to pay domestic AND foreign banks 100% on the dollar for risky credit-default-swaps.
Hundreds of billions more went to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to back government guaranteed loans to those nice banks.
Not to mention billions of dollars more are going to the IMF and to foreign aide. So what's the fuss if we help our own brothers and sisters?
...yet the Tea Party, the conservatives, and Fox News wants to hail Bunning as a hero for blocking as measly $10 billion to help the unemployed? What are they thinking? Using the down-trodden as the scapegoat for the liberal's wasteful spending???
I would guess that 60% of the unemployed are either Republican, conservative, or a Tea Party member. I don't see how punishing them would help their cause. Even if a small percentage of those collecting unemployment benefits were supposedly "lazy", how can that possibly compare to "cash-for-clunkers", cash-for-caulkers", cap-and-trade, Obama-care, TARP, Stimulus Package, Omnibus Bill, or the national debt?
As a conservative with alliance to the Tea Party, I believe that attacking the unemployed only hurts the TPP's cause. Bunning could have used any other spending bill to make his case, but he picked the smallest one (and targeting the weakest people) to make his point.
The jobs bill (to help American citizens out of work) is paultry compared to the government excess and waste in Washington.
Senator Bunning is on his way out, and could care less about the Tea Party or the Progressives running our government...he is a cranky and senile old guy that the Tea Party does NOT want.
Unemployed Republicans, conservatives, and a Tea Party members can still vote!
On my blog, I question Fox News' attacks on the unemployed as well.
Many people are desperate. Stop the attacks on the unemployed, but give them a job instead. We'll ALL be better off.
Related posts on the current unemployment situation:
Unemployment - Foreclosures, Might See Rise in Suicides
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2010/03/10/unemployment-foreclosures-might-see-rise
The Great Depression: Then and Now - Is There a Difference?
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2010/03/08/the-great-depression-then-and-now-is-the
The New Poor - Millions of Unemployed Face Years Without Jobs
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2010/02/21/the-new-poor-millions-of-unemployed-face
The Jobless and Suicides in 2010
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog3.php/2010/03/07/out-of-work-buy-a-shotgun
Government Jobs (Bigger Government) Drive Employment Numbers
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2010/03/01/government-jobs-bigger-government-drive
Actual Unemployment in 2010 - Recession Worse than Reported
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2010/02/04/actual-unemployment-in-january-2010-rece
Deep Recession Shows No Sign of Letting Up - Maybe Getting Worse
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2010/02/24/deep-recession-shows-no-sign-of-letting
Largest U.S. Labor Union: AFL-CIO says Jobs Won't Return
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2010/01/07/largest-u-s-labor-union-afl-cio-says-job
More Bad News for the Unemployed in 2010 - and Beyond
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2010/02/23/more-bad-news-for-the-unemployed-in-2010
Almost 1 out of 5 People are Out of Work in the U.S.A.
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2009/12/31/unemployment-december-2009-new-release
FOX News Wages War on Unemployed - Thinks They're Lazy
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2010/03/02/real-reason-why-extended-unemployment-be
Extended Unemployment Benefits in 2010 - Fully Explained
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog3.php/2010/02/16/extended-unemployment-benefits-in-2010
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