Wednesday, June 23, 2010

POLITICS - GOP Doesn't Get It, Never Will

From Harry Hope, alt.politics.usa 6/22/2010

REPUBLICANS JUST DON'T LIKE THE UNEMPLOYED, CONT'D....

The evidence continues to pile up to suggest Republican lawmakers and candidates actively dislike -- on a personal level -- those who've lost their jobs in the recession.

It's been remarkable to watch this unfold of late.

One GOP congressman recently compared the unemployed to "hobos."

Several Republicans have blocked extended benefits for the unemployed.

In the House, GOP lawmakers tried to eliminate a successful jobs program.

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) actually started pushing a measure to require the unemployed to take mandatory drug tests in exchange for benefits.

And now Republican Senate candidate Rand Paul, in his infinite wisdom, wants the jobless to quit their bellyaching and "get back to work."

Kentucky Republican Senate candidate Rand Paul has a blunt message for the millions of Americans who remain unemployed in the long-term:

"Accept a wage that's less than [you] had at [your] previous job" and "get back to work."

According to Paul, the issue is "bigger than unemployment benefits" and the Tea Party-backed Senate hopeful made his position on the matter clear in an interview with talk radio host Sue Wylie on WVLK-AM last week.

"As bad as it sounds, ultimately we do have to sometimes accept a wage that's less than we had at our previous job in order to get back to work and allow the economy to get started again," Paul explained. "Nobody likes that, but it may be one of the tough love things that has to happen."

It occurs to me that, as bad as it sounds, ultimately someone has to tell Rand Paul to accept the fact that he's a bit of a nut-job.

Nobody likes that, but it may be one of the tough love things that has to happen.

Honestly, does this guy have any idea what the job market is like right now?

Does he understand the ratio of applicants to openings?

Can he appreciate what happens to a struggling family, that's desperate to get back on track, that loses meager unemployment benefits?

For the record, at 10.4%, Kentucky has one of the higher unemployment rates in the country.

One wonders if the state's jobless intend to vote in November.

And in the larger sense, I continue to marvel at the Republican Party's fundamental dislike of the unemployed.

It's almost as if the GOP finds the jobless personally offensive.

This just highlights the GOP philosophy: You are out of work because you are lazy and a bum. Take ANY job even if wages cannot pay for a dinner, or rent, or any other normal living expense. AND we have NO responsibility to anyone but our Paymasters (aka BIG Business).

UPDATE

"Unemployment extension fails for 3rd time" Reuters 6/25/2010

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