Think they’d do this to Murtha or Kennedy
An ABC news crew tried to corner Jim Bunning on his decision to block a bill which included extending unemployment benefits;
Bunning later explained;
“I support extending unemployment benefits, cobra benefits, flood insurance, highway bill fix, doc fix, small business loans, distant network television for satellite viewers. If we can’t find $10 billion to pay for something that we all support, we will never pay for anything on the floor of this U.S. Senate,” he said.
I don’t remember an ABC crew cornering John Murtha on his many corruption inquiries, or i don’t see ABC crews cornering Charlie Rangel about his ethics violations. No ABC crew camped outside Harry Reid’s office waiting for answers on his land deals, or Nancy Pelosi’s payoffs to the tuna special interests.
But Bunning merely wants the Senate to pay for the stuff it wants – that warrants a news crew treating him like a criminal doing a perp walk to the prison bus.
And McClatchy predicts the fall of civilization because of Bunning. Highway projects stopped – really? Anyone in DC or Virginia see any construction projects last week? In the dead of winter, under a foot of snow? Who do these bozos think they’re kidding?
Category: John Murtha, Media
Perhaps things like what you write about are why ABC is having to undergo some deep surgery in staffing..?
Anyone in DC or Virginia see any construction projects last week?
No, I’ve just been inudated with calls from clients wanting to know why their unemployment insurance isn’t paying out and wanting to know how they are going to pay their bills.
I notice that Bunning didn’t have any problem voting for other programs he couldn’t pay for…
I dunno–I’ve run into people who would rather collect unemployment checks than look for a job. Take away the unemployment dole and guess what happens, Doc?
Yeah, they’re all going to get their money eventually. Bunning understands why the Republicans aren’t in the majority now. Voters got tired of Republicans who acted like Democrats.
Doc, and anyone else that might be ready to jump on the “evil heartless Republicans” bandwagon, consider this:
–Who instituted PayGo?
–Which party was clamoring for it a mere year ago?
–Why aren’t they being held to the standards THEY demanded?
–Where do you get off demonizing someone who rightly asks why we’re voting for something without the first idea of how to pay for it?
The Democrats can push this through anytime they want. They’re refusing to schedule the cloture vote so they can try and make Republicans look bad, they have WAY more votes than they need…..so in reality the Dems are screwing the unemployed to make Bunning look bad…..damn Republicans…
Sparky:
I run into those people myself on occasion. However, people who are simply living off the system are the exception not the rule. One of the reqiurements of the extensions is that people must have reached certain wage thresholds before it pays. For example, around here a lot of my construction workers are laid off and cannot get work until this weather breaks. I know all of them are looking, but the work is scarce.
Then if this so dire of a need, why are the Dems not willing to pay for it? Plenty of funds sitting in stimulus fund that are not being used.
Gary,
Bunning has already given a number of ways to fund this, no takers on the other side of the aisle. They only want the issue…..
Okay, Doc–so you saying that someone who swings a hammer or pulls wiring can’t do something else in the meantime? Seriously?
But,……..if the dems agree to fund the unemployment extension with Porkulus money, there won’t be any to give out to ACORN, or their designated hitter, or to SEIU/UAW/etc for “get out the vote” efforts. They just want to give money out, never mind actually paying for it.
Sparky:
I’m saying that in small town America where the local unemployment rate ranges from 7.9% in this county to more than 10% in the surrounding counties (the next county to the south is at 16.8%) “finding something else” is not as easy as it sounds. Moreover, the few jobs that are available pay far less than the average claimant makes. In other words you are suggesting that the unemployed electrician I just talked to take a $12 an hour pay cut and not be able to make his truck and mortgage payments. That would have far reaching ecconomic consequences for our area let alone the affected individuals.
On the issue of politics as usual, I agree with some of what you say. However, there is plenty of blame to go around. The Republican Party took this country from a balanced budget and record surplus to record deficits. The Republican Party, including Mr. Bunning, had no problem with running up debt and not paying for what they did. There is more than enough blame to go around.
HM2 FMF-SW Ret;
There hasn’t been a balanced budget in your lifetime – better check your facts.
Doc–he’s not able to make his payments on unemployment now, so why should I have to fork over his UEI so he can sit on his ass at home when he could be making the same (or more) even if it isn’t the kind of salary he’s accustomed to? The fact that the drain on state and federal budgets if the sugar teat was cut off and people HAD to find something (even if they didn’t WANT to) would be greatly reduced, and the revenue stream would be increased. Good deal all the way around. It’s been shown time and time again that extending UEI benefits NEVER helps the economy. Only when people are removed from the dole does any sort of long-term improvement result.
Ok, Jonn. I checked my facts. My statement stands.
http://www.factcheck.org/askfactcheck/during_the_clinton_administration_was_the_federal.html
HM2 FMF-SW Ret:
Read your own sources; The debt the government owes to the public decreased for a while under Clinton, but the debt was by no means erased.
Sparky:
I’d like to see longer term fixes available. Education programs, small business grants/loans, federal grants to switch over to sustainable technology, the services offered by my agency should be heavier on counseling and retraining services. All of which would improve the economy.
But I am where policy implementation meets your broad economic theories and can tell you that what you suggest would only hurt people and the economy. Until we make real investments in our country, nothing will change.
Jonn,
I didn’t say the federal debt was erased. I said that the budget was balanced. So now we are in a nuanced argument over what each of us thinks that term means. SO if you want to say that the budget wasn’t balanced, fine. It’s not fully relevant to the conversation, except some here want this to be a fully partisan fight. It’s not, your boy screwed up worse than mine. But my guy is still screwing it up. We need people who are willing to actually do something rather than party unity which only screws regular americans.
HM2 FMF-SW Ret:
Um, you said “The Republican Party took this country from a balanced budget and record surplus to record deficits.” We can argue “nuance” all day, but you were inferring that all of our ledgers were black until the Republicans took over. That wasn’t the case.
Well, they certainly can’t now, since both of those slimy weasels are taking permanent and well deserved dirt naps. But the media would never have dared to do so before anyway. Only republicans can be so accosted.
Refresh my memory on who tried to ram through a massive (expensive)universal health care bill during the Clinton years? And then freshen my memory who held the purse strings during the “surplus” years. (surplus can be nuanced as well)
Factcheck.org? Really, a “project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center”? Those wonderful folks involved in the Annenberg Challenge? Sorry, HM2 Fm2, they aren’t really a credible source.
Doc, you better delve a bit deeper. The “surplus” you saw under Clinton was an accounting gimmick. The GAO said as much.
Seems like there needs to a better balance for UIA. Months worth of extensions seem too long, it encourages a certain type of person to not do anything but collect it. In Michigan, they get a debit card that gets the cash on it every 2 weeks. The certification is done on the internet in about 30 seconds.