A tribute to the 99ers: We are not invisible.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Rambling Rumblings.

I missed most of the State of the Union address last night. I was meeting with a local restaurant owner, assuring him I had the requisite skills to take food from his kitchen door to a neighborhood house.  I think he's going to offer me a two week tryout. When I got home I found I lacked the patience to watch a replay of the speech of the two responses.

According to my Twitter stream President Obama did not mention the plight of the 99ers in the State of the Union. I was not surprised.  The President has never mentioned the 99ers. I don't expect him to start now. Any help for the 99ers is going to have to come from the legislative branch.

Rep. Barbara Lee has committed to introducing legislation similar to HR 6556 which she brought forward  at the end of the 111th Congress.  The support of Rep.Lee and other members of the Congressional Black Caucus is great support for the long term unemployed, but...

The Republicans chose Rep. Paul Ryan (ever notice how his eyes resemble the eyes of stormtroopers in WWII movies?) to give their response to the State of the Union. Rep. Ryan wants to work toward deficit reduction by privatizing Medicare and minimizing Social Security.  I don't see how it will be possible to expand safety nets with a Republican majority in the house unless...

Perhaps unemployment benefits can be temporarily expanded beyond 99 weeks as part of an overall plan to destroy Medicare and Social Security? Talk about a deal with the devil. Are you comfortable with legislation that assists 99ers today and totally screws 99ers (and everyone other than the ultra wealthy) in the future?  Please offer your opinion or an alternative.

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