Pointless

Last weekend at the same time as the historic passing of President Obama’s Healthcare legislation something ugly was happening on the streets of our nation’s capitol as once again the Tea Party was on display brandishing their true colors proving the movement is full of racist homophobes. Crowds of angry Tea Baggers gathered outside the capital building in protest as the voting took place and taunted congressional representatives with verbal racial and homophobic slurs. House Majority Whip James Clyburn of South Carolina and Georgia Congressman John Lewis were called niggers. Protestors spit on Illinois Congressman Emanuel Cleaver and Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts, who is openly gay, was called a faggot as the crowd of protesters erupted in laughter.

So what was the response from the Republican lawmakers who invited and incited these rabid protestors? They say they are isolated incidents…Hunh?? Isolated incidents, no condemnation for their actions, no apologies for their racist bigoted behavior and no denouncement of their vile acts. Instead out of fear of alienating these lunatics, which they plan on using in this years upcoming congressional races, they chose to defend them. California Republican Congressman Devin Nunes said, “Yeah, well I think that when you use totalitarian tactics, people, you know, begin to act crazy”. I assume he uses Totalitarian to mean majority rules and as a slight against the Democrats who lead both houses. Funny how this rule doesn’t apply when the majority decides to deny basic human rights to a group of minorities by passing Proposition 8 in his home state. Republican Congressman Steve King from Iowa stated, “I just don’t think it’s anything” and “There are a lot of places in this country that I couldn’t walk through. I wouldn’t live to get to the other end of it.” So because he’s apparently afraid to walk through Watts, United States Congressmen should buck up and take it on the chin when protestors spit on them and use racial and homophobic epithets.

The truth is these Tea Party demonstrators who claim they are energized in protest of government spending did not become energized until a Black man came to the White House. Where were they when the Bush administration was spending billions of dollars on a made up war? In fact the bill will reduce the Federal deficit by $143 billion over the next ten years. The irony is that a great majority of these protestors will in fact benefit from Healthcare legislation and will not be affected by the increase in taxes. I doubt that very many of them earn over $200,000 a year. A lot of these protestors who have been denied insurance based on pre-existing conditions will now become eligible to receive healthcare. And from the looks of the crowd of mostly seniors, they will now benefit additionally from the legislation. So what was the point of this protest and what of all things Obama will they choose to target next?

Tough Shit

I don’t know if you’ve ever had to apply for unemployment benefits but back in the day it was a pretty humiliating experience. Forced to stand in long lines and face invasive questioning from unemployment workers who acted as though you were a burden to their workload and day when in fact you were the very reason they had jobs. Forms had to be filled out and you had to keep a record of your job searches to submit weekly in order to maintain benefits you in fact had already earned. Anyway, nowadays it's a much more pleasant event and is mostly handled on line. But imagine this. Imagine you’ve suffered a job loss and you’ve applied on line. Imagine knowing that the small amount of money you receive from unemployment in no way will make ends meet. Imagine struggling to survive and the stress associated with calls from bill collectors unsympathetic to your plight. Imagine, as your bills pile up, this entire scenario taking place while you seek employment in a recessed economy. Then imagine what little you’ve come to expect from your unemployment benefits suddenly cut-off because one lone Republican Senator has decided he objects to a bill to pass a 30-day extension of jobless benefits and other expired measures, including health insurance assistance and funding for road and infrastructure projects across the country.

Kentucky Senator Jim Bunning is using that famous filibuster we’ve heard so much about in recent news or at least a variation of it and has been single-handedly blocking legislation since last Thursday thereby affecting over half a million people depending on the extension of benefits passing in order to survive. His objection includes demands that the Senate come up with a way to pay for the 30-day extension package by reducing spending elsewhere. Ok but in the meantime how do people pay their rent? What do people do about health insurance? And what about those currently working in jobs in infrastructure projects already begun across the country which have had to suspend workforces? This sadly, is just the latest attempt by the Republican Party to block all things Obama. The Republican party which claims to be that of the working people but I wonder how many Tea Baggers and other conservatives who claim to “want their country back” are affected by Senator Bunning’s irrational decision and how they feel about what it’s doing to our nations economy. Well Senator Bunning has certainly made his feelings clear. When pressed to acquiesce his refusal because of the affect it would cause to thousands of unemployed Americans and those who depend on Medicare he muttered “tough shit” under his breath.