Work For Food

"Sheriffs came with pistols and their starry sleeves/Gimme thirty days to leave"--Dramarama, "Work For Food"

This Tuesday, July 20th, the United States Senate is expected to once again vote on a measure that would extend unemployment benefits to more than 2 million out of work citizens. The last vote was taken just prior to the July 4th recess and fell one vote short of breaking a Republican lead filibuster. So, while the Senate went on vacation, these 2 million unlucky souls lost their unemployment insurance. They have been left to fend for themselves while both houses of congress returned to their homes or to the places where they "summer."

The reasons given by the 40 Republican Senators and Nebraska Democrat, Ben Nelson, typically fall into two categories.

The first is that we can't continue to add to the national debt. I don't think that anyone would argue that the national debt is a major issue. With current figures pointing to an I.O.U. of more than $13 trillion, the number is staggering. However, the cost of extending these benefits is $34 billion. A sum that amounts to a fly on the hind quarters of an elephant.

The argument by Republicans is that we must find an offset for this $34 billion before we can pass this extension. This is really fascinating coming from this group of jesters. These are the people that voted against "Paygo," which is defined as "the practice of financing expenditures with funds that are currently available rather than borrowed." When Democrats tried to pass "Paygo" in February of this year, it was a complete non-starter with the other side of the aisle. Under "Paygo" Government expenses would have to be "paid as you go," instead of simply putting it on the card as we did during the last administration.

Which brings me to another point. During the Bush years, we had the "tax cuts for the rich." Was that paid for or offset in any way? Nope. We had the "prescription drug benefit" for seniors. Again, not paid for or offset. And, we had a war of choice (Iraq), that wasn't even included in any of Bush's budgets. Most of the Republicans in both houses of congress were present during those eight years, and fiscal responsibility obviously wasn't a grave concern. They managed to turn the surplus left behind by Clinton into a complete boondoggle of debt that they dropped on the porch of this President like a flaming bag of crap.

So, if you're following the Republican logic here, we have money to give back to the top 1% of income earners in this country, we have cash to pass unfunded bills, and we can start a war with a country that did NOT attack us and not even account for the expense. But if you're an unemployed citizen in this country, we've got nothin' for ya. Got it? Good.

The second argument against passing the legislation has come from folks like the Republican Senator from Arizona, John Kyl, who argues that these ongoing extensions are a "disincentive" for people to look for work. His belief is that if you continue to send these people a government check, they will just sit on their fat asses and do nothing.

Now, in a typical, semi-normal economy, Senator Kyl might have a point. But is there anything typical about this economy? The unemployment rate is just under 10% right now, and that number doesn't include people who have dropped off the rolls because they have given up looking for work. Even worse, the underemployment rate (which is the unemployment rate + the number of people who are in part-time positions but are looking for full-time work) is 18.3%. Nearly 1 in 5 people in this country are either without work or in a position that is less than what they are wanting.

Current estimates find that there are 6 job searchers for every open position. So, this "disincentive" argument is simply nonsense. There just aren't enough jobs out there.

Let me give you a more specific example: I know a guy that lost his job when the construction company he worked for went out of business during the fall of 2008 when the fit started to hit the shan. In the nearly two years since, he has scoured the internet and the local newspapers on a daily basis. He had his resume professionally updated and has sent it out to scores of businesses. Despite all of his efforts, he has only found two temporary jobs that paid well below what he was making before. But he took them anyway, because he would rather work than not. Hell, he's not even looking for full-time. Because he is at an age where he can draw Social Security, he would be more than happy with a part-time job. Unfortunately, even those types of positions are scarce.

Most of the 2 million people who lost their unemployment insurance are not lay-a-bouts. They are individuals who are willing to take a job even if it's for less than what they feel they are worth. Now, we have politicians in congress who seem to be saying that they are worth even less than that.

Something that gets lost in all of this, is that these benefits are actually insurance. Insurance that these 2 million people have paid into for just this type of "rainy day." Now these people are being told that they don't have any right to the fund that they have been paying into for years. It's a lot like the poor people of Hurricane Katrina who had purchased hurricane insurance only to be told by their agent that they weren't covered because they didn't have flood insurance. When everyone knows the damn hurricane and busted levees were what caused the flood in the first place.

Make no mistake, this joblessness has been caused by a hurricane of fiscal irresponsibility on the part of banks, investors, mortgage companies, etc. The people who are being most harmed are not the ones that caused this mess. Yet, they seem to get far less consideration than the corporations who nearly sank our economy.

And here's another point: Denying an extension of these benefits will only further hurt the economy. Every dollar that is paid to an out of work citizen creates 1.6 dollars worth of revenue back into the economy. It is truly one of the most stimulative measures that can be applied in a recession. Without these emergency funds--and make no mistake, this is an emergency--many of these people will not be able to buy groceries, make their house payment, or fill their tank with gas. How is this going to help anyone?

As I mentioned at the beginning, the Senate will be taking up this bill again on Tuesday. What will make this week any different than last week, you might ask? Well, the Governor of West Virginia will be selecting a replacement for their recently deceased Senator, Robert Byrd, as early as today. Governor Manchin is certain to appoint a fellow Democrat to the seat, and therefore give the Democrats the 60th vote needed to pass the bill, restoring both order and compassion.

For some, it can't come quickly enough. I am blessed to have a decent, secure job myself. But everyday on my short travels to and from work, I am almost guaranteed to see some poor gentleman holding up a sign that says "Will work for food." Since July 1st, the number of people holding this sad sign has gone up exponentially. I know we don't want to see them. For the more compassionate among us, it's truly painful. For the less considerate it might be annoying. But these desperate people are out there. They are not invisible. No matter how much the Republicans in congress might wish them to be.

Sumo-Pop
July 16, 2010