Posted on 12/15/2011 9:36:07 AM PST by COBOL2Java
A crowd of about 50 unemployed D.C. residents swarmed House Speaker John Boehner's Capitol Hill home Wednesday night. (WTOP Photo/Alicia Lozano)
WASHINGTON -- "Jingle bells, Congress smells, Republicans laid an egg," sang a group of otherwise jubilant carolers outside House Speaker John Boehner's Capitol Hill home Wednesday night.
The crowd of about 50 unemployed D.C. residents swarmed the quiet residential street, candles and lyrics in hand.
"Oh what fun it would be if the sick could afford their meds," they bellowed.
They also carried holiday themed signs that read "Boehner stole Christmas," "Boehner - jobs of Christmas present" and "Scrooge Boehner, we need jobs."
Despite a jovial mood, the protest -- organized by Our DC -- had a very serious message for the Ohio representative: Keep unemployment benefits.
"D.C. residents need jobless benefits extended with no strings attached," Our DC said in a news release. "Working residents need to keep payroll taxes in our pockets."
The unemployment extension bill sponsored by Boehner will eliminate benefits for nearly 15,000 District residents, they say.
In states with high or rising unemployment, the ceiling on federal and state benefits combined is now 99 weeks. The Republican-led House has passed a bill that extends the coverage but gradually reduces it by 20 weeks by mid-2012.
An improving job market could reduce eligibility for extended benefits by another 20 weeks in some of those states, making the new effective ceiling 59 weeks.
Conservatives argue that prolonging government assistance to the unemployed can discourage active job searching so long as it lasts, keeping jobless rates higher than they would be if aid were ended.
Supporters of a full new extension argue that these are unusually dire times and that jobs are harder to find than after run-of-the-mill recessions. Therefore, additional aid is warranted and can contribute directly to economic growth, they say.
"I've been out of work since October," said Dominique Lawrence, a resident of Ward 8. "This Christmas I won't be able to give my kids the presents they deserve and it just kills me."
If they had any critical thinking capabilities, they would be singing to Reid and Obama .
And Christmas is all about giving gifts, right?
Maybe this is an opportunity to for people to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas.
Looks to me like Holder’s people are holding the man who is charge of 1/3 of the government for 1/2 of Obama’s term, responsible.
That, is why we are in such trouble. These people are irredeemably stupid.
Go over to Reid's house, he's the one playing games with legislation.
They must be real mad about Solyndra...
or the stealth drone debacle...
"D.C. residents need jobless benefits extended with no strings attached," Our DC said in a news release.We want public money indefinitely, with no strings attached. Well, at least you don't have to parse the true character of their demands from any mitigating rhetoric about how they only want what is best for the country or something.
They must be really pissed at Obama for stopping the pipeline that would have created 20 thousand real jobs that would not have cost taxpayers a dime, in fact would have added tax revenue.
It Ain’t 1994 and the socialists have run out of other people’s money!
Father Christmas, give us some money
We got no time for your silly toys
We’ll beat you up if you don’t hand it over
We want your bread so don’t make us annoyed
Give all the toys to the little rich boys
Government-run schools + endless entitlements = a permanent underclass of ignorant, irresponsible, and lazy people who do nothing but demand ever-larger shares of other people’s stuff. You know: Democrats.
“D.C. residents need jobless benefits extended with no strings attached,”
So, they don’t really want jobs. They just want to complain and whine, while I carry them on my back.
“If they had any critical thinking capabilities, they would be singing to Reid and Obama.”
If they had any critical thinking capabilities, they would have jobs.
Black folk have been voting for Democrats since the 1930s, and they’re still poor.
You’d think that, at this point, they’d realize there’s something very, very wrong with this voting record of theirs.
Duh!
LOL!
Astroturf. Thanks COBOL2Java.
Are those morons really that ignorant?
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