American Jobless: “Red, White and Broke” seems to be the new reality for millions of unemployed in this country.
Is Obama listening? Well, according to an article in the James River Journal about a meeting between the President and the CBC (Congressional Black Caucus), Obama just might be. From the article:
The President mentioned he wants to possibly attach the 99ers money to some other big piece of legislation somehow… which piece, how and when is unclear… The Congressional Black Caucus continues to bring the issue of unemployment benefits to the table. In this case the big table in the State Dinning room at the White House. Were it not for the persistence of Rep. Barbara Lee the issue would never be discussed in the White House. Much like so many other issues (high incarceration, programs for the poor, and so on) they focus on — almost no one else in Congress — is doing so.
The unemployed, “are begging for help and I think that the Congressional Black Caucus and the president are both interested in trying to come up with some means of addressing that and doing it rather quickly,” said CBC Chair Emanuel Cleaver.
The bad news for 99ers: The President does not seem deeply motivated to to actively support unemployment benefits in general terms. He understands that getting legislation through Congress without a trick play will be difficult. The White House also seems to bothered by the idea of bringing “unemployment” up while at the same time arguing that “jobs are being added and things are “slowly improving.” As 2012 approaches, the White House would seem more interested in PR and pandering to certain vote blocks than in “doing the right thing.” The “doing the right thing” argument has been brought up as a motivating reason to support H.R. 589 by several CBC members. The issue of stimulating the economy has also been mentioned. Problem is: Obama and his political strategists are assuming the black vote is theirs 24/7 no matter what. With that said, why act on initiatives being pushed by black representatives in Congress? Where is the leverage? White House efforts to placate voting blocks going into 2012 can clearly be seen in the non stop focus over the last month on immigration and The Dream Act — two issues important to the Hispanic community. Just yesterday, the President three Hispanic related events on his schedule. Hispanics gave President Obam a low approval rating in a recent poll and their vote is important in 2012.
When the issue is discussed it happens because it is pushed on him rather than the other way around. Just as a backgrounder on the CBC/Obama meeting in general: The CBC members controlled 94% of the discussion. They, led by Chair Emanuel Cleaver, came up with the policy suggestions and the topics of discussion. The President, in his usual listening posture, made a few suggestions and threw out a few “my staff will followup…” statements here and there.
The thing here is that America’s jobless millions are being beat up at every turn. Check out the following links to get a clearer picture of just what is happening all over the USA to America’s Unemployed millions:
Jobless aid in Arizona is in limbo
South Carolina UI Benefits: May Be Next To Slash Jobless Aid
Long-term jobless see reduction in benefits - USATODAY.com
FLORIDA: Unemployment Benefits Denied For Misconduct Outside Office?
Bleaker outlook for New Mexico's unemployed
Held Hostage Over the Debt Ceiling
MOi lawmakers wrangled over dogs, the unemployed and designer license plates
99ers and the Long-term Unemployed Are the Elephants in the Economic Recovery Room
CBC budget proposal includes $16B for HR589
When you look at what is happening in America today, it is easy to see that lawmakers in every state as well as Washington, DC are kicking the jobless to the curb when it was their own greed and incompetence that brought these problems upon the masses. The USA is in such a deep hole today, unless there is swift and effective immediate action to fix the unemployment problem and put Americans back on the job - the USA will permanently lose their long held prestige and prominence of being a world leader. Then again, maybe that is just what it is going to take for Americans to get off their “complacent back-sides” and take to the streets to DEMAND better from Congress and Obama.
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