- Op-ed by Joshua Neary
Fixing the unemployment insurance debacle in this country passed a key hurdle today, with a bill to re-instate benefits advancing through the Senate. One man stands in the way of potential relief for millions of Americans – Speaker of the House- John Boehner (R-OH). His pure disdain towards restoring the Unemployment Extension Insurance, which had been cut since December 28th of 2013 is baffling.
Benefits had historically been extended when the unemployment rate matches the current one, but Boehner has been quoted in recent weeks as saying that the implementation of the program would be, "unworkable".
The program would include retroactive payments to more than 2 million Americans whose benefits were slashed in late December.
Frankly, allowing the benefits to lapse in the first place was cold-hearted to begin with, but letting citizens suffer in the three month interim is nothing short of disgusting. You scratch your head trying to understand why the Republicans are so dead set against restoring a program that would instantly put money back into a struggling economy. http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20140126-OPINION-401260323
The stories from around the country get more and more disheartening, from people being evicted and living with their family in order to keep some sense of normalcy, to families being unable to put food on the tables of their loved ones. Word is that the democrats are scrambling to find bargaining chips to satisfy Boehner enough to push this bill through.
Times are getting tougher, and it would be a great leap forward to see our representatives do the right thing and get some relief for the struggling low to middle class sects of this country.