While not having the majority it was easy for the GOP to object to everything then go into their districts and claim credit for the middleclass projects Democrats, the grown ups, voted for. The electorate knows that the Republicans are effectively in control of the house. They can no longer play games.
If Republicans decide that they do not want to support unemployment compensation, then they have got to make that vote publicly against middleclass struggles that were actually created by policies beyond the middleclass’ control. If they attempt to get rid of provisions in the stimulus, they will have to vote and the jobs lost from many of the projects in effect will be directly attributed to them.
It is easy to poster when you know you are not responsible for either the decision or the outcome. Now that you must govern, can you. If past experience is any indication, the Republicans will create yet another mess for progressives to cleanup.
My Book: As I See It: Class Warfare The Only Resort To Right Wing Doom
Book’s Webpage: http://books.egbertowillies.com – Twitter: http://twitter.com/egbertowillies
Ohioans Protest GOP’s Opposition To Unemployment Extension At John Boehner’s Office
arthur@huffingtonpost.com | HuffPost Reporting
After Marvin Bohn lost his job running the dining services program at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, it took two years to find a part-time gig. He said even Burger King rejected him when he applied for a job.
He said he got by thanks to $365 a week in unemployment insurance.
"Unemployment benefits pretty much allowed me to pay my rent, maintain my car, gas, pay utilities and buy food. Beyond that, pretty much nothing. There was no luxuries, but it kept me from being homeless," he told HuffPost on Wednesday.
That’s why he joined a dozen Ohioans in a small protest outside the Troy office of incoming Republican House Speaker John Boehner on Wednesday. Republicans, Bohn said, "seem to think it’s more important to maintain the tax breaks for the rich than it is to get the unemployed benefits."
Working America, the community-organizing affiliate of the AFL-CIO, organized the protest. They strung up a few hundred job applications and jobs petitions. "Boehner, don’t do us wrong, stop stringing us along," they chanted. They were greeted by a handful of Boehner fans.
Working America regional director Dan Heck told HuffPost a friendly Boehner staffer accepted thousands of petitions asking Congress to focus on jobs. Working America claims 50,000 unemployed members in Ohio.
The protest focused on the impending Nov. 30 expiration of federally-funded extended jobless aid. If Congress fails to reauthorize the program, two million people will prematurely stop receiving checks by the end of the year, according to the National Employment Law Project.
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Congressional Republicans have opposed reauthorizing the benefits each time they’ve neared expiration for the past year because of their impact on the federal budget deficit. Congress has given the unemployed extra weeks of benefits during every recession since the 1950s, and usually, the benefits are funded with deficit spending.
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Ohioans Protest GOP’s Opposition To Unemployment Extension At John Boehner’s Office