One year ago, the sequester killed my husband's job. We limped along as long as we could hoping he would get another one, but ultimately he applied for unemployment benefits. Those ran out this week, because Republicans are deluding themselves into thinking it's just great for the economy to leave people unable to pay their bills.
This little clip is from July 3rd, where Krauthammer is crowing about how 'right' nasty conservatives were to deny all of us moochers a safety net.
GOP officials have come up with a variety of rationales to defend their position – up to and including the claim that it’s “immoral” to extend jobless aid to “long-term unemployments [sic]” – but perhaps the most striking is the claim that it’s good for the economy to cut struggling families off.
Economists and the Congressional Budget Office warned Republicans about the opposite consequences: scrapping benefits would mean millions of Americans withdrawing from the economy, unable to pay bills and buy stuff, which in turns hurts job creation. But with the job market improving quickly in recent months, Republicans are patting themselves on the back, insisting their callousness forced Americans off the public dole and into the workforce.
The job applications keep going out, but today's world is harsh and unforgiving. People over age 55 go to the end of the line. Without UI, it's going to be a difficult haul. So to Charles Krauthammer and his gang of Republican thugs, I raise this salute, since I know they don't give a damn whether we eat or not, or whether families struggle without any real prospect for full employment. That 401k will only go so far, after all.
Maybe they don't care, but it made me feel better.
