It takes a lot of gall and moral turpitude to ignore the cries of heads of households and their children for sufficient monies to pay their expenses, keep food on the tables, and maintain their physical and mental health. To filibuster the extension of unemployment benefits during an economic crisis second only to that of the 1930s is antithetical to any code of decency or professional ethics. Couple those misanthropic tendencies with the selfish concern over winning in a political election, and filibustering is downright objectionable!
The economy is not rebounding fast enough, and people are still losing their jobs or had to take jobs, usually part-time ones, in which they are considerably underemployed. This condition does not take into account the many who cannot find work at all as well as those who have become so discouraged that they are not even attempting to look anymore. Rather than search for a solution in some distant tomorrow or completely overlook the dire straits in which people are living, action needs to be taken immediately to ensure these households are getting unemployment benefits to help them to sustain their families and themselves.
I agree with the complaint that government spending is not the only solution to the crisis and that we must assiduously work to find ways to cut the budget. However, when the choice is between increasing our national debt and mollifying the plight of the poor, the favored answer is to relieve the latter’s concerns—hands down! No vaunted or pompous discussion about fiscal responsibility can substitute for the necessity of the country’s attending to the emergent needs of its citizens.
Ultimately, the United States must get out of the business of war and the trillion dollars already spent in Iraq and Afghanistan. The funds directed toward such violent endeavors could be utilized to help us get a better grasp on the socioeconomic causes of poverty, generally, and on how to respond proactively to alleviate the crisis in unemployment and lack of income in the short-term.
To paraphrase Martin Luther as he spoke to the national congress in the city of Worms in 1528: “Here we should stand; we cannot do otherwise, so help us God!”
