Cutting unemployment is NOT the answer.

One point three million people have lost their unemployment benefits. Americans who have been out of work for six months or longer are suddenly without the vital lifeline that kept them from ending up homeless and hungry. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said that extending these benefits will be a priority when Congress returns on January 6th, but some Republicans are already indicating they may try to block an extension.

If those on the Right keep long-term unemployment from being reauthorized, another 850,000 Americans will find themselves without financial support within the next three months. The current unemployment cuts alone may cost our economy as much as 0.4 percent of our GDP, and that number will only get larger as more Americans loose their financial assistance. And, these cuts won't save taxpayers any money, as our government will have to dramatically increase spending on programs like food stamps and housing assistance as more people have no where else to turn. If Congress doesn't act fast, more Americans will soon find themselves without any income, and many could wind up on the street.

As if that wasn't bad enough, without this meager financial assistance, out-of-work Americans will no longer be able to contribute anything to their local economies. That, in turn, can pose a serious risk to our modest economic recovery. Allowing unemployment benefits to expire isn't just immoral and un-American, it's also a bad idea for our nation as a whole. We shouldn't be imposing more austerity – we should be investing in our nation. And, our government should step in as the employer of last resort. If Republicans really want to lower spending on unemployment benefits – the answer is not slashing aid – it's helping out-of-work Americans find a job.

Comments

sandlewould's picture
sandlewould 9 years 12 weeks ago
#1

Thom, Couldn't agree with you more re. unemployment benes. The truly sad thing is that I think if Dems refused to sign on to a budget w/out benes. being continued, it would have made the Repubs look like they were holding the budget hostage over denying them, thus they would have been blamed, if again a shut down occurred. I truly think the Dems, although more covert and subtle, are as much to blame as the Repubs.

Re. the ignorance you spoke of on the show today, is as a result of lack of a ubiquitous, inescapable media in service to the people. Without getting control of the national dialogue it will be impossible to bring enough public pressure to force the hands of legislators to bring about change for the People. The only reason we know who MLK was, and even had a civil rights movement is because media that Americans could not escape covered him and the movement. Without an educated majority, which can only come about if media as ubiquitous as reality TV educates it, there will never be enough public pressure to control the dialogue and thus, force Washington's hand. Even if we got an amendment ratified in all 50 states to get $ out of politics, media in it's present state would ignore it and thus, Washington would also...Even if the constitution was amended, no one would know it or enforce it.

Unless all social/environmental justice movements join hands and combine resources to take back the FCC and corp. media, no issues will be dealt with on Capitol Hill. Thanks for showing up today , even though you are jet lagged.

chuckle8's picture
chuckle8 9 years 12 weeks ago
#2

sandlewould -- I think if you got $ out of politics it would eliminate the false equivalencies they push to pretend we have a "horse race". TV gets so much money from the $ in politics, it is hard to predict what would happen.

If we can get the FCC back, we might be able to get significant changes even with all the $ in politics.

sandlewould's picture
sandlewould 9 years 12 weeks ago
#3

Yep...I personally think that even if we got the $$ out of elections, with the revolving door between high paying consulting jobs after leaving office and Capital Hill (that being the greater incentive to do the bidding of the corps.) we wouldn't get very far if we couldn't control the dialogue enough to educate main-stream America re. the revolving door.

Kend's picture
Kend 9 years 12 weeks ago
#4

You guys are right get the money out of politics. Harry Reid is worth somewhere between 5 and 10 million dollars and he has pretty much always worked for the government.

Does anybody but me think it is ironic that the ship that is stuck in the Artic ice is there to prove global warming is happening.

CarmanK's picture
CarmanK 9 years 12 weeks ago
#5

Cutting unemployment insurance benefits is inhumane and another GOP economic policy that is doomed to failure and will harm many. For the past 40 years, the GOP has advanced Trickle Down economics that has enriched the few ;demoralized and impoverished the middle class. It is time that DEMS begin the push back that stops the GOP denigration of democracy in favor of globalists who want to dominate the world markets. The GOP is creating its own version of James Bonds Spectre with enough power to threaten all unless they pay homage. A nu god for the universe: controls the world markets and the people. A nu kind of GOP family values: The godfather reborn, Plutocracy for USA.

Gary Reber's picture
Gary Reber 9 years 12 weeks ago
#6

All the points made by Thom Hartmann will impact real Americans––individuals and families. Those who pretend things are getting better are acting rather disingenuous. But the solutions suggested, while definitely necessary emergency measures, if thought of as a panacea will continue to displace personal responsibility with collective dependency on the "State." Michael Greaney, my colleague at the Center for Economic and Social Justice (www.cesj.org) raised question today, which appropriately raises the issue of self-sufficiency or dependency.

"Does everyone have the right to an adequate income, as well as every other material need? Or do they have the right to obtain an adequate income and meet other material needs? A lot of people see no difference between the two questions, but there is all the difference in the world. If we answer "yes" to the former, we condemn humanity to a condition of permanent dependency on the State, which is the only agency that can redistribute wealth with any degree of legitimacy. If we answer "yes" to the latter, we force people to grow up and become more fully human.

"It all depends on what you mean by "respect for human dignity."

In my latest published article, I address a solution to the issues raised, stressing the critical necessity to expand individual citizen, not to just workers at corporations and companies, but to EVERY man, woman and child as the American way to secure the long-term productive capacity of the United States economy.

The real task is to change the culture, from one of wanting or lacking personal responsibility and dependency on the “State,” into one where our human nature can be sustained and advanced through a private property ownership mentality, pursuing individual virtue. We need to transform the present credo, as advocated by progressive political leaders and others from one of servitude and dependency to one of personal responsibility and sustainability by means of broadening wealth creating, income-producing private property ownership by EVERY citizen of the productive capital (non-human) means of production. Private property ownership is the cornerstone of American liberty. Without it our free enterprise system, our free markets, and our republican form of self-government cannot endure. Nor can we prosper without the equal opportunity to acquire capital ownership financed by its own earnings. We need to pursue policies that will strengthen the economic position of the individual, the family, and the local community with decreasing reliance on government welfare support financed by tax extraction and national debt.

See "Perpetual Unemployment And Underemployment" at http://www.nationofchange.org/perpetual-unemployment-and-underemployment....

DAnneMarc's picture
DAnneMarc 9 years 12 weeks ago
#7
Quote Kend:Does anybody but me think it is ironic that the ship that is stuck in the Artic ice is there to prove global warming is happening.

Kend ~ Honestly, I agree with the first part of you statement about Harry Reid and money in government. However, the ship stuck in the Arctic ice is something else. Why would any company risk an multi-Million dollar investment to support propaganda? Would you? Does excessive arctic ice really support Global warming? Please. I believe that was an accident based on honest miscalculation. That is to say that our global climate is so out of sync with what we understand, or expect, that we can't even plot a course for a sea vessel without unintended consequences. Change in climate is afoot. Whatever the cause still remains the source of much conjecture.

It is strange that the ship got stuck like it did in the arctic sea. However, I don't think that the reason proves or disproves Global warming in any significant way. It only goes to show that we have a lot to learn about our beautiful blue world; and, how to survive in it.

NewSalemWeb's picture
NewSalemWeb 9 years 12 weeks ago
#8

It really stinks that we have such a problem with unemployment.

Do we have too many people who are looking for jobs, or, not enough people creating jobs?

Aliceinwonderland's picture
Aliceinwonderland 9 years 12 weeks ago
#9

Bingo, "sandlewould"! Take back the FCC and corporate media.... now that's the ticket! - AIW

Johnnie Dorman's picture
Johnnie Dorman 9 years 12 weeks ago
#10

What really erks me is when I saw that John A-hole Boehner say on national TV that the Repugs won't extend unemployment and that the president needs to do something to create more jobs. What a crock! The president has presented more than one jobs bill and the creeps on the right keep fillibustering every jobs bill the president has offered. If that idiot John Beohner wants more American jobs, why has he been on the side of the job outsourcers for so long? Proposterous, insencere hogwash! I would suggest to Boehner that he needs to ship our jobs back to the U.S. or shut the hell up. Stinking lying creep that he is. These right wing Neo-cons need to be horse whipped for being such lying criminals.

Aliceinwonderland's picture
Aliceinwonderland 9 years 12 weeks ago
#11

Right on, Johnnie! Horse whipped, tarred & feathered, and thrown in the slammer for the rest of their lives. - AIW

Kend's picture
Kend 9 years 12 weeks ago
#12

DAnne the ship went up there to do research on how the Acritic ice is disappearing. Like Al Gore showed in his movie. The fact is that it is not. The ice there changes season to season as it has done so for thousands of years. Just ask the Eskimos. I am starting to believe global warming is just a way for environmentalists to get as wealthy as Harry Reid.

The US has spent hundreds of billions on reseach on global warming. How many could have received benefits or help with that money.

can people go on welfare after there unemployment benefits run out? They can here in Canada.

2950-10K's picture
2950-10K 9 years 12 weeks ago
#13

The American public deserves to know that the republicans planning to block the extension are also the same senate republicans who have blocked democratic job stimulus attempts. Bills like the, "Bring Jobs Home," were prevented from even being debated. They've done this with the knowledge that only one job exists for every three citizens seeking. So for every one million citizens the republicans deny unemployment benefits, more than 600,000 have no shot at a job anyway, because it doesn't exist. One thing we can all count on though....the corpse media won't make a peep about any of these truths. Truths the American public need to know!

2950-10K's picture
2950-10K 9 years 12 weeks ago
#14

On today's broadcast, Thom mentioned once again the importance of returning to pre Reagan tax rates. Not only would this extinguish the Teapublican austerity arson....the vast majority of voters, both Republican and Democratic are in favor of increasing tax rates on those in the top bracket.

2950-10K's picture
2950-10K 9 years 12 weeks ago
#15

chuckle8: In reply to Friday.....yes, I'm a big Thomas Paine fan. I have many books about him and his times. The most recent reading I recall was a book by Christopher Hitchens entitled, "Thomas Paine's Rights of Man."

2950-10K's picture
2950-10K 9 years 12 weeks ago
#16

DAnneMarc / Kend: Not only does science prove global warming is taking place, science also provides us with a 95% probability that humans are causing it. That probability may be 99.9% by now though.

Kend's picture
Kend 9 years 12 weeks ago
#17

2950 I am not saying there is no global warming. The earth has been changing tempature for 50 million years. As a Canadian we have been reducing our green house gas enmmisions for years now but there is only 33 million people here shouldn't our focus be on India and China with a combined 2.2 billion.

Kend's picture
Kend 9 years 12 weeks ago
#18

2950. I don't think returning to pre Reagon tax rates is the answer. The wealthy will just sit on there money even more. I think the answer is to find a way to get the wealthy to invest there money. Something this adminasrtration isn't very good at.

Aliceinwonderland's picture
Aliceinwonderland 9 years 12 weeks ago
#19

FACT: When taxes (on the wealthy) go up, the economy is stronger. If I had a penny for every time Thom has emphasized this on his radio show, I'd be enjoying a comfortable retirement.

FACT: Global warming is human caused, not the natural phenomenon conservatives and fossil fuel shills want us to believe it is. - AIW

Kend's picture
Kend 9 years 12 weeks ago
#20

Alice I would never try to change your mind about climate change, sorry global warming. The science I am seeing is not saying the same. Al Gore and his scientists said arctic ice is melting and it is not. Period. I know I live here. look at these idiots going up there trying to prove the ice is melting frozen stiff in the unforgiving Acrtic. people have know idea how dangerous it is there the weather can change in minutes. The Eskimos must be laughing there heads off Up there. Oh by the way the people are not stranded up there there vessel is. We can get the people out anytime. the Canadian government is building two state of the art military ice breakers as there are more and more of those morons going up there every year because Al Gore said there is no ice there anymore.

yes you are right about the economy it will pick up when you raise taxes but sooner or later you will run out of wealthy people to tax then what. Higher taxes are just a band aid. You need incentives to get people to create work. You know like Reagon did to get the US out of the mess they where in.

SHFabian's picture
SHFabian 9 years 12 weeks ago
#21

We can't extend UI. The middle class was very clear about the necessity to put strict time limits on aid (by any other name), to "serve as an incentive to get up every morning and find a job." I don't think we've ever been a full-employment nation, where there were jobs for all who desperately needed one, and this generation did decide that long-term aid to the jobless isn't the answer. When we require our most disadvantaged to somehow find jobs, in a country that has shipped out the bulk of our factory jobs, how could we possible expect less of those who have middle class advantages? All the arguments for and against extended UI applied to welfare as well, but UI costs a lot more (much more than most laid off workers actually paid into UI). How many people on UI today applauded when Bill Clinton declared that "there is no excuse" for long-term joblessness?

SHFabian's picture
SHFabian 9 years 12 weeks ago
#22

Have you seen the satellite photos taken of the arctic regions over a period of decades? It's shrinking. I do understand that some people can't grasp the impact of long-term temperature trends, much less understand the role global pollution plays. You should catch up on reading how air pollution worldwide effects weather, about the meaning of overall weather trends, etc -- too complex to address in a post. But it is with good reason that scientists have been sounding the alarms on this critical issue. This isn't a political or social issue. It's straight out, well-documented science.

SHFabian's picture
SHFabian 9 years 12 weeks ago
#23

One leading factor that isn't too complicated to squeeze into a post: Most of our air pollution is caused by burning fossil fuels. As we burn these, oil particles are released into the atmosphere. These particles magnify the intensity of the sunlight hitting the planet, sort of like a weak magnifying glass. Meanwhile, they also trap heat closer to the ground, slowly increasing global warming.

SHFabian's picture
SHFabian 9 years 12 weeks ago
#24

They have been investing a great deal of money since the 1980s, much of it in job creation -- just not here in the US. Years of massive tax cuts, etc., have been used to build factories and offices outside the US while steadily turning the US into a source of cheap, third world labor.

SHFabian's picture
SHFabian 9 years 12 weeks ago
#25

There have been two simultaneous austerity agendas, the one imposed by the rich on the middle class, and the one imposed by the middle class on the poor.

WilliamManners's picture
WilliamManners 9 years 12 weeks ago
#26

Unfortunately you are preaching to the choir here. What we need to do is to find a way to get the so called "conservatives" to understand that when all Americans are working the economy has the funding it needs to provide the Safety net programs and reduce the deficit and give tax cuts.

We also need to get them to understand that tax cuts do not encourage corporations to hire more people! When we give corporate tax cuts they see it as increasing their bottom line without having to produce more. If we raise their taxes they have to produce more to increase their bottom line and therefore they have to hire more people to produce more.

The problem with this is the Corporations would likely turn to other countries where labor is cheaper and increase the unemployment here in America.

There has to be a way to get corporations to understand that they are better off getting every ablebodied person in America working, which would allow for tax cuts and other forms of overhead reduction. Passing Single payer Healthcare would reduce or eliminate the insurance mandate while ensuring that all Amercans are covered for illness or injury further reducing employer overhead.

WE could try persuading the corporations that if every American was working they would have money to buy their goods and they would make more money, their stock value would increase and their shareholders would reap a greater dividend. And the workers would be paying taxes which would reduce the need for more taxes and allow tax cuts (since they seem to want tax cuts so badly),

Just my thoughts.

Sincerely

Wiliam Manners

Palindromedary's picture
Palindromedary 9 years 12 weeks ago
#27

The US is only as great as it's ability to convince other countries to take our funny money to produce the goods that our military requires to keep those other countries in line. Many of those countries are not buying it anymore and the US knows it.

"Oh, please Mr. Chinaman won't you accept our worthless treasury notes in exchange for those missile parts that we need to put into missiles that we are aiming at you?"

Anymore, the only thing the US is "good" for is creating bubble real estate speculation and scare insurance along with the debt producing tools in finance. Sell, Sell, Sell...borrow...borrow...borrow...buy...buy...buy. Snake oil and elixirs for the things that ails you. You just gotta BELIEVE!

"Oh, won't you all just..just .. believe! And be very afraid of the terrorist bogey man...no, no, not us....the Muslims! When WE kill millions...it's just "collateral damage". When they kill a few hundred or a couple of thousand...it's terrorism! We kill for proselytizing Democracy...and for oil, of course! When they kill, its to get back at us for killing their families and forcing our will on them..and stealing their oil! Worthless cowards...dying for something they believe in..defending their country....not like our brave soldiers who press buttons hundreds or thousands of miles away while murdering innocent civilians...innocent my A$$...we're brave Amerikuns and God luvs US..not them!" ;-0

Aliceinwonderland's picture
Aliceinwonderland 9 years 12 weeks ago
#28

Kend - You hate being called stupid, but you keep saying stupid things like "sooner or later you will run out of wealthy people to tax then what." Right. Claiming that taxes are just a band-aid for the economy is like saying food is just a band-aid for starvation, or water is a band-aid for dehydration, or... need I go on? All horse crap.

As for the climate issue... sorry pal, I"m not buying it. You fossil fuel cheerleaders and fossil fuel shills can keep on quacking; you're simply wasting your breath on us who know better. Whoever you're listening to on this topic, I'd guess it's someone who either isn't a climate scientist at all, or is one whoring for the fossil fuel industry, getting paid to lie to the public. Whatever you're listening to is propaganda, not science. And for you to claim any authority on this subject (because you're Canadian?!) is a joke. All you climate-denying fools love dissing Al Gore, trivializing the whole climate movement by suggesting those "morons" are flocking to the Arctic because of something Al Gore said or whatever. (PL-EEEZE!) Seems to me the real morons are the fossil fuel shills who have the stupidity and arrogance to argue with the experts. Now, I'm no climate scientist myself; but since over 95% of climate scientists out there are saying our weather changes are human-caused, that's more than enough to convince me that we are the source of the problem. Period. - Aliceinwonderland

Aliceinwonderland's picture
Aliceinwonderland 9 years 12 weeks ago
#29

Great rant, Palin! Take a bow!

Aliceinwonderland's picture
Aliceinwonderland 9 years 12 weeks ago
#30

Mr. Manners, all your points are correct. The only flaw I see in your reasoning is your apparent assumption that if only the neocons and corporations understood these obvious remedies, they would mend their ways; then we could be enjoying another Golden Era for workers and the middle class, living the good life again! Dream on, comrade.

I don't reckon I'm the only blogger here who believes these plutocrats are deliberately destroying our country. They know exactly what they are doing. I think Noam Chomsky is spot-on when he says that much of this relentless attack against workers' rights, voting rights, women's rights and so on is simply a reaction to all the activism of the 1960s and '70s, when us peons got a little too uppity and "needed" to be taught a "lesson". The reality is, these fascist pigs are out to destroy us. They want us all to be living hand-to-mouth, too busy just providing the barest necessities for ourselves and surviving to be politically engaged. As Thom keeps pointing out, from the piggies' perspective you have more stable government when the citizenry is disempowered. When We The Peons are too poor, demoralized and frightened to be protesting or making waves, the elites can keep on plundering and thieving without interference or consequence, which is what "stability" and "freedom" means for them. The sad truth is, we are in a heap of trouble and it's worse than you think. - Aliceinwonderland

Kend's picture
Kend 9 years 12 weeks ago
#31

Alice they are stuck in the ice that isn't supposed to be there. Remember Al Gores movie. The science is: the ice is there and they are stuck in it.

Aliceinwonderland's picture
Aliceinwonderland 9 years 12 weeks ago
#32

Gee kend, how enlightening. Thanks for setting me straight.

Ducinni's picture
Ducinni 9 years 12 weeks ago
#33

I DO NOT AND WILL NEVER FEEL SORRY OR GIVE A FU*** FOR ANYBODY WHO VOTE REPUBLICAN. 27% of Union Households put Wisconsin (R) Gov. Scott Walker back into office after he was recalled. They tried to tell the people of Michigan what (R) Gov. Rick Synder was going to do to Michigan after he gets into office and what did Synder do, he told the whores (Michigan People) "I PROMISE!! I WILL NOT CUM IN YOUR MOUTH" and he shot a HOT WAD OF CUM ""DEEP"" INTO THE MICHIGAN PEOPLE'S THROATS.

chuckle8's picture
chuckle8 9 years 12 weeks ago
#34

Kend -- I have a few questions. Why are they studying Artic ice in Anartica? Do you know that when we lower taxes on the rich they pay more taxes? Do you know Raygun tripled our national debt? Do you think that CO2 in the atmosphere traps energy from the sun?

Aliceinwonderland's picture
Aliceinwonderland 9 years 12 weeks ago
#35

I hear ya, Ducinni. And I hope they choke on it. - AIW

chuckle8's picture
chuckle8 9 years 12 weeks ago
#36

Kend -- About 10 years ago, the scientists pointed out that the ice they are stuck in the ice that used to be somewhere else. As the antartic melts it creates a high relative humidity which forms into snow storms. Those snow storms are probably what they are stuck in. The metric of interest is the total ice mass which satellite photos seem to show that total ice mass is decreasing. Al Gore tried to simplify what is happening due to the increase in trapped energy caused by excess CO2. These simplifications were to help explain what could happen. The right, like you, pick on his simplifications not the real problem of the extra enegy. One should note that the amount of enery to melt one unit (be it gram, kilogram, pound, ton etc) of ice is 80 times the amount of enery to raise the same unit 1 degree. To vaporize (you know to make snow) that same unit would consume 512 times as much.

chuckle8's picture
chuckle8 9 years 12 weeks ago
#37

AIW, Ducinni -- Choke on it, yes, but choke to death on it, no. Hopefully, enough may have learned enough from the experience to come over to our side. Okay, call me an optimist.

Palindromedary's picture
Palindromedary 9 years 12 weeks ago
#38

28 pages of an 800 page report, based on FBI and CIA documents, that was censored by the Bush Administration are still being censored by the Obama Administration. And the couple of Senators that managed to read parts, after a great struggle to do so, were very much disturbed by what they read...and they were not given all those 28 pages...only a few select pieces...most of which was blacked out...whole pages.

Quote New York Post article:Some information already has leaked from the classified section, which is based on both CIA and FBI documents, and it points back to Saudi Arabia, a presumed ally.

The Saudis deny any role in 9/11, but the CIA in one memo reportedly found “incontrovertible evidence” that Saudi government officials — not just wealthy Saudi hardliners, but high-level diplomats and intelligence officers employed by the kingdom — helped the hijackers both financially and logistically. The intelligence files cited in the report directly implicate the Saudi embassy in Washington and consulate in Los Angeles in the attacks, making 9/11 not just an act of terrorism, but an act of war.

http://nypost.com/2013/12/15/inside-the-saudi-911-coverup/

But, the Saudis weren't alone in planning and carrying out 911...the Bush administration and the Royal Saudis were hand holding...nose rubbing..conspirators. And I believe it is not just a matter of trying to protect the Saudis...I believe the Neocons conspired with the Saudis and others in carrying this out. That's what US officials are most worried about...that it was mostly an "inside job" and high level US officials committed treason against the American people.

Look at Saudi Arabia's behavior against Syria and threats against Russia, against Sochi, the bombings in Volgograd. There is information that Saudi Arabia, Britain, Israel, and the US were responsible for that chemical attack in Syria. Look at the US backing of Al Qaida forces in Syria...staging another false flag operation.

Palindromedary's picture
Palindromedary 9 years 12 weeks ago
#39

Oh, yeah, happy New Year, ya' all!

Aliceinwonderland's picture
Aliceinwonderland 9 years 12 weeks ago
#40

Okay "chuckle", fair enough. Pain is the only language ignoramus voters will ever understand.

On another topic, why bother explaining the facts about global warming to Kend? He used to work in the fossil fuel industry; he's already an expert on the subject! Who needs climate scientists anyway?

Science is a hoax. Just ask any Republican! Today I heard on the radio (from Thom Hartmann?) that a majority of Republicans believe in creationism.

It never ceases to amaze me, the ease with which some folks can reject things like science. Whenever the facts are uncomfortable or inconvenient for them, they simply create their own little reality. I suppose these dingalings also believe my gender came into existence popping out of some guy's ribcage. It's a clear example of arrested development, the adult version of Santa Claus & the Tooth Fairy but with a patriarchal twist!

Personally, I'd prefer to imagine myself having evolved from the apes (or even from termites or fruit flies) rather than from inside this dude's goddam ribcage.

With geniuses like that rulng the universe, each additional year we survive is a miracle. Anywaaay... Happy 2014, my friends! (And Kend, that includes you.) - Aliceinwonderland

Palindromedary's picture
Palindromedary 9 years 12 weeks ago
#41

Aliceinwonderland: They'd rather believe in hocus-pocus, tooth-fairy stories than face reality. And, of course, many of those Biblical stories are just plain male superiority propaganda to keep females oppressed. Garden of Eden..Sodom and Gomorah..and many others depict women as evil and vile creatures that need to be tamed. I just cannot understand how women, especially, can lower themselves to believe in such crap! Believe in crap that helps to exploit them and keep them submissive? Maybe they should take a hint from reading Lysistrata instead of made up fairy tales like the Bible. Of course, both are fiction but at least they'll "stay on top" if they stop reading trash that "keeps them on the bottom".

Palindromedary's picture
Palindromedary 9 years 12 weeks ago
#42

Oh, my gosh, lookie here...I just noticed..look at the time stamp of my #39 post! Must have been the fireworks and gun fire in the neighborhood! 1. January 2014-0:00

And, yes, I realized I committed an unforgivable faux pas..."most of which was blacked out" should have been "most of which were blacked out". And, I suppose, I got the previous "was"/"were" wrong as well...referring to the "28 pages".

SHFabian's picture
SHFabian 9 years 12 weeks ago
#43

The problem is that we had agreed, as Bill Clinton stated, that "there is no excuse" for long-term unemployment. We said that extending aid beyond a strict time limit only serves as a disincentive to "get up every morning and find a job." This is what we evidently still believe. When we require this of our most disadvanatged, how can we expect less of middle class workers?

SHFabian's picture
SHFabian 9 years 12 weeks ago
#44

Children, and those with cognitive limitations, take things literally. Scripture was often not intended to be taken literally (consider the parables, etc.) In the pre-science world, the story of creation could only be outlined in the terms used. Those who believe in God as the creator of life (as we know it) do believe in evolution, and don't view this as being in conflict with faith. The Bible says that it is a sin to squander the gifts God gave us. This includes our brains, folks, our ability to do the research, the science, to understand more about life -- like evolution.

SHFabian's picture
SHFabian 9 years 12 weeks ago
#45

Interesting, in view of the long friendship between the Saudi rulers and the Bush family. Remember the photos of Bush holding hands with Saudi royalty, who were visiting on the Bush ranch in Texas? Ah, no matter, there is nothing new about any of this. Withholding information from the public is just the way our government functions, and I would guess this has always been true. Maybe in another 30-40 years, we'll get the "startling details" in what they will call, "Newly discovered documents."

SHFabian's picture
SHFabian 9 years 12 weeks ago
#46

Reality is, not everyone can work, due to health or circumstances, and there simply aren't jobs for all who need one. What should we do about them? (That's an open question, folks -- ) America does have the money to fund a legitimate safety net. It was largely wiped out because that's what the middle class demanded -- end welfare aid. Middle classers might grumble a bit about the fact that our govt. has redistributed several trillion taxpayer dollars to the rich (since the 1980s), but what sends them into a frenzy is the very thought of someone purchasing food with a food stamp card.

SHFabian's picture
SHFabian 9 years 12 weeks ago
#47

Although the problem with the liberal discussion is that they try to address current conditions while excluding a big chunk of the population - the poor. I suspect the reason that lib media, along with Dem pols, have been waving the Middle Class Only banner for years is to keep the middle class distracted from seeing how our policies against the poor have actually been phasing the middle class out. You can understand the importance of getting rid of the middle class once you consider the tremendous political power they can have (when they feel like using it). They have the means to organize, walk out, and bring US business to a halt, if they felt like it. This would address their immediate concerns, anyway, and slow the continued deterioration of the US. Still, history shows why and how this generation "blew it." This isn't the first time in our history when the richest few took a dangerous degree of power over govt, to everyone's (and the nation's!) harm. Each time in the past, the poor and middle class united to successfully push back, to the benefit of both. That can't happen this time, so it will be interesting to see how this all turns out.

DAnneMarc's picture
DAnneMarc 9 years 12 weeks ago
#48

Gary Reber ~ Although I agree with your conclusion, your implication that providing unemployment benefits to people is the problem it is both flawed an uncompassionate. First, the unemployed by far are not responsible for their situation. They had jobs and lives that were perfectly fine until Bill Clinton and his fascist friends plunged this country into the dimension of free trade by removing import tariffs that for centuries have been used by nations to protect their own citizens from just this kind of a disaster. Mass Unemployment was caused by a government who decided to put Corporate profits above it's own citizens well being. The people who have been victimized were stuck in lifestyles they had earned for themselves and their families. Their only means to maintain that lifestyle was removed by government policy; and, therefore, it is the government that is responsible for the consequences.

You are right when you say that unemployment compensation can be a habit forming lifestyle. However, encouraging people to seek any work possible by stripping them of their benefits is as impractical as it is inhumane. If you cannot understand the concept of human dignity then I question your own humanity.

The last thing the government should do is to cut benefits. There are so many other practical approaches to the problem then that. Like Thom suggested, the government can become the employer of last resort. Like you suggested the government could sponsor worker owned coops. Personally, I like the idea of ending free trade for ever and cutting off incentives for industrial flight. Any and all of these ideas can be accomplished without cutting benefits or disrespecting human dignity. If there is any hesitation for recipients to take advantage of new government sponsored employment opportunities it would be fine to make the acceptance of them a condition to receive benefits.

To cut massive benefits thinking that the unemployed will simply have to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps overlook the fact that the current unemployment problem was caused by powers far beyond the control of the individual. Personal responsibility begins and ends when the actions of the many victimize the lives of the few. FYI Human dignity assumes that all people are created equal and that it is right to extend the same respect and compassion to others that you would have them extend to yourself. Cutting unemployment benefits without ensuring any other income opportunity capable of paying peoples current bills would plunge a huge segment of society into a life of pauper servitude, permanent under compensation, abject poverty, and in many many cases, homelessness and death. Not only would it completely ignore the real causes of this problem; but, it would officially destroy the American way of life for everyone. Such a solution is irresponsible and intolerable in any advanced civilized society. It is also safe to say that such a course of action is nothing less than soft genocide.

DAnneMarc's picture
DAnneMarc 9 years 12 weeks ago
#49

William Manners ~ Very good thoughts! I agree 100%.

DAnneMarc's picture
DAnneMarc 9 years 12 weeks ago
#50
Quote Kend: The Eskimos must be laughing there heads off Up there. Oh by the way the people are not stranded up there there vessel is. We can get the people out anytime. the Canadian government is building two state of the art military ice breakers as there are more and more of those morons going up there every year because Al Gore said there is no ice there anymore.

Kend ~ Just because there are larger than normal ice sheets floating around in the shipping lanes doesn't discredit global warming. Where do you think these ice sheets came from anyway? If they were created in the shipping lanes than your theory is credible. On the other hand, if they somehow broke off from melting glaciers and floated there while they continue to melt then you theory is incredibly flawed and misleading.

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