Why are Republicans so consistently morally bereft? (And why do so many Democrats take their cue from them?) Thank heavens for senators like Sheldon Whitehouse, who speak so powerfully about the plight of the unemployed:
A trio of Senate Democrats took the floor Tuesday evening to denounce the Republican party for its unwillingness to add the cost of extended unemployment benefits to the deficit. Extended unemployment benefits put in place by the stimulus bill expired on June 1, interrupting checks for some 903,000 people so far.
“I understand the point about the debt and the deficit and the spending,” said Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.). “But to me, that doesn’t have an enormous amount of credibility, because when President Clinton left office, he left an annual surplus… At the end of [George W. Bush's] term, we had $9 trillion in debt.”
“We would have none of this if it hadn’t been for the Republican debt orgy that they went through,” Whitehouse said.
There are currently five jobseekers for every available opening, but a major obstacle to reauthorizing currently-expired extended benefits has been deficit concerns supplemented by the suspicion that the benefits discourage people from looking for work. Rep. John Linder (R-Ga.) called the benefits, which average $320 per week, “too much of an allure.” Democrats in both the House and Senate, too, have said business owners tell them they’re having trouble hiring because of extended benefits.
Whitehouse confronted that argument.
“The notion that you’re going to cut off somebody’s unemployment insurance and have them go out and find a job is just plain nuts,” said Whitehouse. “There aren’t a lot of people lying around enjoying the luxury of unemployment insurance payments. They want to be getting to work.”
In normal times, states provide six months of benefits to people laid off through no fault of their own, but to fight the stimulus bill and subsequent measures to fight the recession provided the unemployed 99 weeks of benefits in some states. The House passed a bill to reauthorize the benefits, along with several other now-expired domestic aid programs, but the bill is stalled in the Senate, as unified Republicans and Nebraska Democrat Ben Nelson withhold their support.
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court weakened a key anticorruption law today, ruling that the law against “honest services” fraud is too vague to constitute a crime unless a bribe or kickback was involved.
The decision is likely to have a wide impact and could affect recent convictions of public figures and corporate executives.
They include former Enron chief executive Jeff Skilling and former Chicago newspaper magnate Conrad Black, both of whom had appealed to the Supreme Court. They were convicted on other charges as well, however, and those convictions still stand.
I keep reading all kinds of conspiracy theories as to why the press is unable to cover the Gulf oil spill and its cleanup. People say all kinds of crazy things when there’s an information vacuum. But I’m starting to wonder if there’s really some sensational explanation for why BP gets to keep the press from reporting on the cleanup sites, because I haven’t heard a good reason yet. Now that Helen Thomas is gone, there’s no one capable of asking a question until they get a real answer:
Mac McClelland, whose reporting from the Gulf for Mother Jones has been indispensable, brings us this latest bag of bull from BP, which insists that it’s not trying to restrict press access to public spaces.
Wheelan: “Am I violating any laws or anything like that?”
Officer: “Um…not particularly. BP doesn’t want people filming.”
Wheelan: “Well, I’m not on their property so BP doesn’t have anything to say about what I do right now.”
Officer: “Let me explain: BP doesn’t want any filming. So all I can really do is strongly suggest that you not film anything right now. If that makes any sense.”
Wheelan’s encounter didn’t stop there. Read McClelland’s entire report, and the next time someone asks you “Well, what do you want President Obama to do?”, tell them he could start by looking into why a foreign corporation seems to be allowed to act with extralegal authority on U.S. soil. It’s the sort of thing you’d think the Tea Party might care about, too.
It strikes me that allowing unemployment benefits to lapse and not fighting for mortgage cramdowns to help those losing their homes — while trying to stop homelessness — is like driving a car with one foot on the brake and the other on the accelerator.
As you probably already know, ACORN is appealing this cutoff as an unconstitutional Bill of Attainder (the kind of thing the constitution-lovin’ Republicans would ordinarily protest, except that they demanded this one).
But it’s more than the legal issues. Liberals have to stand up for our allies, and few groups have done more to help the party base than ACORN. Show your support, either by attending the hearing, or by making a donation:
Please join the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) June 24, 2010 to take a stand against Congress’ unconstitutional defunding of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN). ACORN, a community organization that serves poor and working class people across the U.S., was the subject of a targeted right-wing attack last year. CCR filed a case challenging Congress’ unconstitutional actions, and in March, a federal judgeordered the United States government and several federal agencies to rescind orders cutting off funding to ACORN and its affiliates and allies. The U.S. government has appealed this order. Join CCR for oral argument in Acorn v. U.S.A. to make the message loud and clear: give ACORN the federal funding it is undeniably due.
What: Oral Argument in ACORN v. U.S.A. When: Thursday, June 24, 2010 at 10:00 a.m. (arrive by 9:30 a.m. for security and seating) Where: United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, 500 Pearl Street, 9th Floor, Ceremonial Courtroom, New York, NY 10007Learn more about Acorn v. U.S.A.
That 5.5. earthquake we had in Canada today? Nothing to do with nothing! It especially didn’t have anything to do with that impending eclipse Saturday, either. I just want to make that clear.
