Avoiding an Answer
President Obama pointed out: “For a long time, there’s been a tradition under both Democratic and Republican presidents to offer relief to the unemployed. That was certainly the case under my predecessor, when Republican senators voted several times to extend emergency unemployment benefits.
And I have to say, after years of championing policies that turned a record surplus into a massive deficit, the same people who didn’t have any problems spending hundreds of billions of dollars on tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans are now saying we shouldn’t offer relief to middle class Americans...
“Over the past few weeks, a majority of senators have tried not once, not twice, but three times to extend emergency relief on a temporary basis. Each time, a partisan minority in the Senate has used parliamentary maneuvers to block a vote, denying millions of people who are out of work much needed relief. These leaders in the Senate who are advancing a misguided notion that emergency relief somehow discourages people from looking for a job should talk to these folks!
“It’s time to stop holding workers laid off in this recession hostage to Washington politics. It’s time to do what’s right not for the next election but for the middle class. We’ve got to stop blocking emergency relief for Americans who are out of work. We’ve got to extend unemployment insurance. We need to pass those tax cuts for small businesses and lending for small businesses. Times are hard right now. We are moving in the right direction. I know it’s getting close to an election, but there are times when you put elections aside. This is one of those times.”
Republicans claim, that they want the deficit reduced, before extending unemployment insurance, but when Senator John Cornyn of Texas was asked on national TV to name one program that he would cut, he repeatedly avoided giving an answer.
Republican Congressman Pete Sessions of Texas was also asked repeatedly, to name a single program that he would cut, but, he wouldn’t give an answer. Republicans love the idea of cutting government spending, but they won’t name a single program they personally would cut.
“Over the past few weeks, a majority of senators have tried not once, not twice, but three times to extend emergency relief on a temporary basis. Each time, a partisan minority in the Senate has used parliamentary maneuvers to block a vote, denying millions of people who are out of work much needed relief. These leaders in the Senate who are advancing a misguided notion that emergency relief somehow discourages people from looking for a job should talk to these folks!
“It’s time to stop holding workers laid off in this recession hostage to Washington politics. It’s time to do what’s right not for the next election but for the middle class. We’ve got to stop blocking emergency relief for Americans who are out of work. We’ve got to extend unemployment insurance. We need to pass those tax cuts for small businesses and lending for small businesses. Times are hard right now. We are moving in the right direction. I know it’s getting close to an election, but there are times when you put elections aside. This is one of those times.”
Republicans claim, that they want the deficit reduced, before extending unemployment insurance, but when Senator John Cornyn of Texas was asked on national TV to name one program that he would cut, he repeatedly avoided giving an answer.
Republican Congressman Pete Sessions of Texas was also asked repeatedly, to name a single program that he would cut, but, he wouldn’t give an answer. Republicans love the idea of cutting government spending, but they won’t name a single program they personally would cut.
posted by Jim O'Leary | 8:55 AM
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