The Unemployed, Organized Online, Look to the Midterms

[unapatriciated]

Sometime this spring, Republicans turned against unemployment. In Nevada, Sharron Angle (R), the candidate facing incumbent Sen. Harry Reid (D), told local reporters, “You can make more money on unemployment than you can going down and getting one of those jobs that is an honest job.” (Untrue.) Angle also called the unemployed “spoiled.”
Rand Paul, a candidate for a Kentucky Senate seat, made similar statements, and politicians in Washington followed suit. Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) said on C-SPAN that extending unemployment would discourage “individuals that are out there to actually go out and go through the interviews.”
But unlike most comments from politicians, these criticisms did not diffuse into the generic noise of political chatter. They began reverberating in what might be termed the unemployed netroots — a system of highly trafficked, influential blogs and sites connecting the jobless and updating them, often in minute detail, about the ins and outs of Congress’ work on unemployment issues.
When Jordan, a former programmer living in Nevada, lost his position with a local university, he began sending out resumes, but he also found himself following the eight-month battle for an unemployment extension closely — each failed Senate vote, each new House proposal. (He requested I withhold his last name to avoid impeding his job search.) Online, he started surfing list-servs, posting on message boards and using resources from the unemployed. A few times, he has worked up the courage to call his legislators’ offices.....

“Even Republicans say they aren’t voting Republican anymore,” the soft-spoken former technical writer says. “You have millions of unemployed people out there. If even half of them voted, they could swing a nationwide election.”

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latest-news/unemployed-organized-online-look-midterms

[dkf]

1. What I don't get is why unemployment insurance is the end all and be all for the unemployed.

Why isn't there some organized effort to address policies that create jobs? Or is it really that hopeless that unemployment compensation as far as the eye can see is the solution? That is depressing.

[eShirl]

2. who said it was the "end all" ???

[dkf]

10. Well what policies are these groups of unemployed advocating for?

All we see them speaking up on is unemployment insurance.

[donheld]

13. What policies? JOBS policies

I know many many of them want jobs. Whatever policies will give them jobs is the one they want.
If all you see them speaking up on is unemployment you are not paying very close attention.

[TBF]

15. Maybe that's all YOU'VE seen -

and you've proven through your words that you have little to no understanding of what it is like to be unemployed. Unemployed and poor. While you are busy checking your stock options the rest of us (or some of us anyway on this site) will worry about people who have absolutely no money and nowhere to live.

[unapatriciated]

3. It's not the end all, until we actually put programs in place

that provide solutions and living wages, it is necessary minimum means of survival.

[daligirl519]

6. When you are struggling to feed your family

And keep a roof over your head, unemployment insurance is pretty important. When you cannot meet the most basic of your needs, you don't really have the mental energy or material resources to advocate for anything else.

[dkf]

11. That is part of the problem.

I can be screaming for jobs jobs jobs till kingdom come but I'm not the one people are listening to because my situation isn't dire. If the unemployed don't complain loudly then it isn't going to happen.

[alfredo]

12. The Reps won't listen, and will keep filibustering jobs bills

like the small business loan legislation. A sure way for the Reps to lose in Nov is if jobs returned. So they are taking a big gamble by making life more miserable in hopes the people will blame Obama and the Democrats.

One way to defeat this tactic is expose it to the light of day.

Remember the Shock Doctrine.

[laughingliberal]

4. It would be smart for candidates to advocate for jobs programs. There are a LOT of unemployed...

and the candidates who are on their side will get their votes.

[unapatriciated]

5. They could also explain how we will pay for it by,

taking the bold step and advocate defunding the wars. It took a critical mass of protestors as well as average americans burying their loved ones to achieve defunding of the Vietnam War.

[laughingliberal]

8. +1000 nt

[Greyhound]

14. +01

[Snotcicles]

7. Unemployment is only the tourniquet. nt

[Triana]

9. outright revolt may be the only thing that gets any attention

....marching in the streets, demanding an end to the effing pointless money-pit wars and demanding those 'green jobs' that Obama promised and which are inexcusably absent from the economic picture. In the aftermath of the Gulf oil spill and with unemployment being ridiculously high for ridiculously long, there is no excuse to have sidelined the Energy Bill and it should have included the aforementioned.

Instead, they gave the MIC 33 billion more to burn in Afghanistan for no damn good reason Washington has its guns aimed at Social Security and Medicare and unemployment benefits as "budget cutters"- and we are still building bridges and infrastructure in Iraq while ours crumbles here and the maintenance and rebuilding of those is outsourced to China. Our jobs are still being insourced and outsourced and no politician has the brain cells to figure out that until people have decent jobs nothing's going to improve.

So - maybe the unemployed (and anyone else who is able) revolting in the streets will shake some damned trees. THEY need to be afraid of American workers, not vice-versa. Until THEY (Washington) themselves have something to lose, and until it hurts THEM to continue with this shit, the abuse and bullshit won't stop.

It has to hurt THEM - THEN they'll get it.

[Kurovski]

16. The houses will remain Democratic.

All the media bullshit abot Repubelickins winning seats is just that, bullshit.