On December 29th, 2013, some 1.3 million Americans suddenly faced a stark reality as extended federal unemployment benefits they were receiving – for most, a whopping $1,166.00 a month – came to a screeching halt. If nothing changes, an estimated 4.9 million Americans could be directly affected by the end of this year. Yahoo News reports that, according to the Obama administration, the benefits payments “have kept 11.4 million people out of poverty and benefited almost 17 million children.”
Republicans have long-held that extending unemployment benefits beyond the “standard” 26 weeks provided by individual states does nothing but make people lazy and discourages those receiving the payments from looking for work. It’s as if there’s some parallel universe where people are happy to just lay around subsisting on feed scraps. So, while the GOP markets itself as the party looking out for the Average Joe – the grim reality is anything but.
A recent, scathing article in The Globalist pointed out that “The Republican Party has constantly opposed children’s healthcare, efforts to reduce deaths from childbirth, infant mortality and risk factors from premature births, as equally as it opposes programs to assist the hungry and unemployed.” …read more