Monday, December 22, 2003
Jobless Benefits Allowed to Expire by GOP-Controlled Congress
Ho! Ho! Ho!
Just in time for Christmas, the kind-hearted Republicans inhabiting the US Congress have allowed federal unemployment benefits to expire as of Saturday, December 20th.
Their reason for cutting off benefits to many of the nearly 2.5 million people who have lost their jobs since President Hoover, errrr, Bush took office?
The economy is getting better and joblessness is decreasing, of course!
While it's true that our national GDP has gone up, a paltry 57,000 jobs were created last month. Unemployment is still 5.9%, and signs of hiring are far less than promising.
So what does this mean? Well, let's ask someone who is actually effected by this somewhat predictable turn of events:
"A lot of us don't know where our next meal is coming from," said John Mahoney, 55, of Battle Creek, Mich. He was laid off in December 2002 from an automotive plant, where he had worked for 11 years. He earned $15.07 an hour.
Mahoney's unemployment benefits run out later this month. "I'd like to see you walk a day in my shoes and tell me the same thing in the morning," Mahoney said he would tell Congress and the president.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/ap/20031219/ap_on_go_co/unemployment_benefits
|
