July 4, 2010 Will Be Remembered as Time Politicians Stopped Caring About Jobless
Without Unemployment Benefits, 1.7 Million Will Not Enjoy the Holiday
The 2010 Unemployment Benefits Extension is still seemingly miles away from being put into action because of the indifference of our United States Senate. I don't care how passionate some acted. The bottom line is they didn't do it. They didn't figure out a way to compromise when Americans needed it most. Remember that line "Divided We Fall?" Except the ones falling are the people who were already near rock bottom after losing jobs through no fault of their own.
July 4, 2010 will always be painfully remembered as the year the politicians turned their backs on their fellow Americans. When time should have been of the essence, politicians in our United States Senate jibber jabbered for over a month without coming to a consensus on how the 2010 Unemployment Benefits Extension could have been passed. Both parties said they agreed that it needed to be passed. But neither seemed to compromise.
Perhaps the biggest slap of the face came from Democrat Ben Nelson-who elected to stray from his party on a crucial vote that would have allowed Americans to resume their 2010 Unemployment Benefits Extensions.
The sad thing is 1.7 million people are going to spend July 4, 2010 worrying instead of enjoying the festivities. I personally am not feeling like I am in the mood to celebrate this country-particularly the politicians who have turned their backs on their fellow Americans during a crucial time of need. I feel as if I have been betrayed by my own people-the same people we elected. And there are 1.7 million people who are feeling the exact same way I do.
Republicans and Democrats should have come together on this issue that means so much to so many people. Instead, they were divided. And divided we fall-while the Senators go on vacation until July 12, 2010.
What will the damages be by that point? Some jobless Americans, who lost employment through no fault of their own, will have been without benefits for a month and a half. That means they will have been without paychecks for 7-8 weeks. How does the Senate expect them to survive? And they have the nerve to go on recess without figuring out a way to solve the problem? The United States Senate has completely failed the good people of America. July 4, 2010 will go down as the day our politicians hurt nearly 2 million people by their lack of empathy and lack of urgency. It will also be the day that all those people were devastated to learn that they were the collateral damage in this situation. Because the Democrats and Republicans both wanted to make a point, nearly 2 million people have to suffer. Because the Democrats and Republicans have egos, nearly 2 million people have to suffer the dire consequences.
July 4, 2010 should have taught many of us in the same boat a lesson. Be very careful who you elect into office. Those people don't always have your best interest at heart. Some people when elected look out for number one. They could care less about the little guy who suffers the consequences of their indifference.
July 4, 2010 is the day nearly 2 million people learned the hard way that they are too naive. It's the day many of us lost complete faith in the political system. There was an opportunity to do the right thing in this situation. The members of the United States Senate should be thinking about the 1.7 million people who are suffering as the fireworks shoot high into the sky. They should also think about how this great country was founded and the spirit that was supposed to accompany those concepts. Then the members of the United States Senate should feel ashamed of what they have done. Or more appropriately, of what they have not done for the United States citizens.
Published by Chris Houston
Freelance Writer, Communications Specialist and Keyword Analyst in a small corn riddled Hoosier town. That's a mouthful, isn't it? Specifically I write about sports, reality television, entertainment, hot t... View profile
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5 Comments
Post a CommentIt all comes down to one thing the politicians only think about them selfs. And how much more they can take from the amercan people. This is why most politician try to get in office in the first place is what they can get.They dont care about the people in this county this is a joke look at what is going on right now in this county.Do you think this 4th of july they are thinking about the poor or the people that dont have anywhere to sleep at night.There only thinking about the BQ Pork Chops or there Steaks they are eating while sitting around there swimming pools.Thinking about how grate they are. And how much more money they can get from the tax payers to make them a little more Richer.They are all jokes.Vote them out come November.
Chris, I'd say that worry is much too mild a word for what's going on this 4th of July. 1.7 million people are going to spend this 4th feeling TORTURED by our senators. As you said, we're all sick of the rhetoric. Our senators--all 99 of them--DIDN'T PASS A BILL IN TIME TO HELP THOSE IN DIRE NEED. And the 99ers? What about them, they who have been sucking on air for months now? How long is our government going to ignore millions of desperately hurting people?
I have 55 cents in my bank account. I have barely enough food to get me through to Friday. I filed an emergency application for food stamps last Friday, and was told to come back on Wed. ("the law says 3 business days," the %$%#$ said who did not even make eye contact with me...and I had to argue with her to get THAT, even though I meet the criteria for an emergency application), and then 2 more days to activate the LINK card. That's "if" I do get one from the nastiest social service agency around--a place that treats the unemployed like numbers, garbage, lower than low.
My 12 year old cat has a very common but life-threatening male blockage problem and may die because an emergency vet will not treat him on this holiday. The irony is that my regular vet has been letting me make extremely minimal payments, but she is gone Sun. and Mon, and we tried to prepare for problems (covering every outcome but THIS one). I'm supposed to let a 12 year old family member die because I got "unluck
Chris;
You spoke from my heart also. The people that the Senate has turned their backs on yesterday are not useless memebers of society, as we have been made to feel lately. Many of us have worked 20 to 30 years, volunteered our services in our communtities, served our country in wars, donated to political campaigns, and our churches and helped our neighbors and friends through bad times etc. But our leaders have turned their backs on us, why? Because they wanted to leave early for a holiday vacation? The whole situation is dispicable! You and Suzy Garnder say in your articles, what so many of us are feeling and say it so completely! Thank you for being the voice of the "unheard and ignored Americans"!
Chris, I don't know how you did it, but you spoke from MY heart! I do understand why the democrats refused to give in to setting precedence for funding the unemployment, but I think the problem is really a much bigger issue. The filibuster itself. This rule should not be there. This rule circumvents the will of the people that voted one party into the majority. Our founding fathers would not have put language into the constitution to make the V.P. have a tie breaker vote if they they were entertaining filibuster procedures. This needs to be changed!