Heller said the current economic downturn and policies may bring back the hobos of the Great Depression, people who wandered the country taking odd jobs. He said a study found that people who are out of work longer than two years have only a 50 percent chance of getting back into the workforce. “I believe there should be a federal safety net,” Heller said, but he questioned the wisdom of extending unemployment benefits yet again to a total of 24 months, which Congress is doing. “Is the government now creating hobos?” he asked.
I’m going to have to beg your indulgence here: this one is personal. Granted, I’ve been unemployed all of four weeks, and I’m in a pretty good situation all things considered. Nonetheless, I know that there are many millions out there in far worse shape than I am. For a clueless, insensitive dickweed like Heller to insinuate that unemployment insurance is creating a generation of hobos is unbelievably offensive. That Heller is making six figures and enjoying gold-plated health care coverage while sucking on the public teat only compounds the offense.
Instead of blaming the unemployed for their own problems, Heller would be well-advised to recognize the reality that his own party is largely responsible for the current sorry state of the economy. Of course, that would require a degree of honesty and integrity that Republicans like Keller are preternaturally incapable of. It was the inept, laissez-faire economic policies of The Worst President EVER © that ultimately led to the worst economic downturn this country has experience since the Great Depression. Keller and his fellow Republicans should be falling all over themselves in abject, repeated mea culpas. Then again, accepting responsibility is not a trait generally found in Republicans. Hypocrisy and deflecting responsibility? That’s more their style.
Even if they refuse to accept responsibility for creating the situation that we find ourselves in, would it be too much to ask Republicans like Heller to stop blaming patients for their illness? Would it be too much to hope that they could participate in finding a way to, if not to solve the problem, then at least mitigate the damages in a humane and compassionate manner? Millions of Americans are suffering, in large part as a result of years of Republican greed and mismanagement. I’m not expecting Heller and his colleagues to fall on their swords (though I wouldn’t object), but finding a way to ease the load on millions of unemployed Americans would seem a decent first step. Then again, this is why you never hear “compassionate” and “Conservative” used together in a context that doesn’t involve laughter.
We’re on the verge of potentially losing a generation…and Dean Heller is worried about money? I just hope there’s a reserved parking space waiting for him in Hell’s parking lot.
WE DESERVE BETTER.
